Who is the best goal scorer in the world right now?

[Wee Baby Seamus]

He doesn't have the longevity...and tbh probably never will given his durability is unlikely to improve with age...but his start is on another level from everyone but the all-time greats. Not just the greats, but the all-time greats.


But the answer to the OP is Mouki, just give it a few years for him to prove it

Mouki breaking out - like Xavi Simons breaking out - makes me very happy. It’s hard to be a teenage prodigy in the social media age. It’s nice to see them shake off that pressure and fulfill that potential.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Mouki breaking out - like Xavi Simons breaking out - makes me very happy. It’s hard to be a teenage prodigy in the social media age. It’s nice to see them shake off that pressure and fulfill that potential.

Has he?

I mean he was incredibly hyped like Halilovich and Odegaard. One completed busted and the other didn't live up to the insane exceptions although became a good player.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Has he?

I mean he was incredibly hyped like Halilovich and Odegaard. One completed busted and the other didn't live up to the insane exceptions although became a good player.

He’s been the best player in the Eredivisie at 19 this year, I feel like that counts?

Also honestly I think Odegaard has done just about as well as any 16 year old prodigy could be expected to - he’s the captain and top scorer at 24 on a team that’s leading the Premier League

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Comparing Haaland to Nash is such a brutal comparison. Haaland is already oceans away from Rick Nash at his very best.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

He’s been the best player in the Eredivisie at 19 this year, I feel like that counts?

Also honestly I think Odegaard has done just about as well as any 16 year old prodigy could be expected to - he’s the captain and top scorer at 24 on a team that’s leading the Premier League

Its something to build off but I remember someone on here telling me Stengs was elite.

Odegaard is certainly a good player, just dont think he was billed to be a good player but rather WC.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Its something to build off but I remember someone on here telling me Stengs was elite.

Odegaard is certainly a good player, just dont think he was billed to be a good player but rather WC.

Point of my post was that so often "15 year old social media prodigies" don't even end up making first team appearances. By that metric, Simons, Moukoko, and Odegaard are all unambiguous successes.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Point of my post was that so often "15 year old social media prodigies" don't even end up making first team appearances. By that metric, Simons, Moukoko, and Odegaard are all unambiguous successes.

That's a fair point. But OOTH I dont think Madrid envisioned him playing for another team when they signed him.

 

[Elvis P]

Haaland, but Mbappe brings more to the table.

This. This thread is more about hockey than football.

 

[The Abusement Park]

He still has years to go before reaching Ovi levels imo.

Maybe Nash is a undersell. Peak Heatley/Kovalchuk?

He's way past those guys. He's comparable to any top goal scorer you want. Ovi, Bossy, etc. The start of this dudes career is basically unrivaled.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

That's a fair point. But OOTH I dont think Madrid envisioned him playing for another team when they signed him.

Eh, that's on Madrid for selling him even though he probably is Madrid quality TBH. His season at Sociedad and what he's shown at Arsenal both convey a player good enough to play for Madrid.

But also, I think they bought 16 year old "next big thing" anticipating they could conceivably sell him down the line, similar to what Chelsea do with 17- and 18- year olds.

And none of this negates the overarching point, which is that - for a 16 year old "wonderkid" in the age of social media and intense 24/7 scrutiny - the kid has done great.

And, it's not as if either Barcelona OR PSG envisioned Xavi Simons breaking out at PSV rather than at either of them. Sometimes shit happens!

Also, s/o to @Michigan for liking every post in this thread

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Eh, that's on Madrid for selling him even though he probably is Madrid quality TBH. His season at Sociedad and what he's shown at Arsenal both convey a player good enough to play for Madrid.

But also, I think they bought 16 year old "next big thing" anticipating they could conceivably sell him down the line, similar to what Chelsea do with 17- and 18- year olds.

And none of this negates the overarching point, which is that - for a 16 year old "wonderkid" in the age of social media and intense 24/7 scrutiny - the kid has done great.

And, it's not as if either Barcelona OR PSG envisioned Xavi Simons breaking out at PSV rather than at either of them. Sometimes shit happens!

Also, s/o to @Michigan for liking every post in this thread

I disagree dont he has it never have though.

I agree with you point tho it is incredibly hard and they usually fail for what ever reason.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

I disagree dont he has it never have though.

I agree with you point tho it is incredibly hard and they usually fail for what ever reason.

Lay off the sauce friend, I genuinely have no idea what you're trying to get at here

 

[Cloned]

He's way past those guys. He's comparable to any top goal scorer you want. Ovi, Bossy, etc. The start of this dudes career is basically unrivaled.

He needs to sustain it to be compared to Ovi and Bossy. Those two basically have no “peak” because they were elite their entire careers.

 

[cgf]

He needs to sustain it to be compared to Ovi and Bossy. Those two basically have no “peak” because they were elite their entire careers.

True, but they are also the only players that can be compared to Haaland.

He hasn't matched their careers, but they're the only ones that matched the start to his career.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Lay off the sauce friend, I genuinely have no idea what you're trying to get at here

Typing on my phone.

I disagree I don’t think Odegaard has the level to play for madrid and I said this while he was breaking out in La real.

I do agree with your overall point in most prodigy prospects fail for what ever reason. So odegaard isn’t actually a failure for not living up to the hype.

 

[Cloned]

True, but they are also the only players that can be compared to Haaland.

He hasn't matched their careers, but they're the only ones that matched the start to his career.

Kovalchuk started extremely well.

29-38-41-52-42-52-43-41.

 

[The Abusement Park]

He needs to sustain it to be compared to Ovi and Bossy. Those two basically have no “peak” because they were elite their entire careers.

Well how can you compare him to players that he's already flown by in terms of peak? Comparing him to someone who wasn't even that elite makes even less sense. Kovy had a decent peak but Haalands is already surpassed that.

 

[Cloned]

Well how can you compare him to players that he's already flown by in terms of peak? Comparing him to someone who wasn't even that elite makes even less sense. Kovy had a decent peak but Haalands is already surpassed that.

Kovalchuk is pretty comparable. 7 straight seasons of ~40+ goals near the start of his career.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Typing on my phone.

I disagree I don’t think Odegaard has the level to play for madrid and I said this while he was breaking out in La real.

I do agree with your overall point in most prodigy prospects fail for what ever reason. So odegaard isn’t actually a failure for not living up to the hype.

A1, I getcha, was just teasing you about the clusterf*** sentence.

His failure to break through at Madrid, IMO, is down to system rather than quality. He was never gonna fit in Madrid's tidy 3-man midfield, simply because he's not a pure-8. Whereas the guys they've found to replace Kroos/Modric/Casemiro (Tchouameni, Camavinga, and Valverde) are all more hybrid midfield types, Odegaard is far more of a pure attacking midfielder. He was a square peg in a round hole in Madrid's midfield.

Overall we're on the same page with the overarching point. Odegaard/Moukoko/Simons represent the successes of the social media prodigy generation, whereas Mastour/Halilovic/(perhaps too early to say, but I'll say it) Karamoko Dembele represent the busts.

 

[cgf]

Kovalchuk started extremely well.

29-38-41-52-42-52-43-41.

And Kovy still doesn't compare to Haaland. Erling (obviously) doesn't have Ovi's longevity, and I don't think he ever will...human bodies just aren't supposed to move that much meat that abruptly...but the start of his career has been every bit as astounding as Ovi's was.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Kovalchuk is pretty comparable. 7 straight seasons of ~40+ goals near the start of his career.

But he was never a top 5 player in the world, nor was he the unambiguous best goal scorer in the game (which, based on this poll margin, we can say that Haaland is). That's the point we're all trying to make here.

Obviously Haaland has a million ways to go to match Ovechkin in terms of career longevity and consistency, and he probably won't! In terms of pure player profile, right here right now, for this season right this second? Ovechkin is a great analogue.

 

[Cloned]

And he still doesn't compare to Haaland.

But he was never a top 5 player in the world, nor was he the unambiguous best goal scorer in the game (which, based on this poll margin, we can say that Haaland is). That's the point we're all trying to make here.

Obviously Haaland has a million ways to go to match Ovechkin in terms of career longevity and consistency, and he probably won't! In terms of pure player profile, right here right now, for this season right this second? Ovechkin is a great analogue.

So he’s probably somewhere in between Kovalchuk and Ovi.

 

[cgf]

So he’s probably somewhere in between Kovalchuk and Ovi.

When all is said and done? Probably, but so far in his career? No, he's Ovi.

 

[Cloned]

When all is said and done? Probably, but so far in his career? No, he's Ovi.

So far he’s likely closer to Kovalchuk than he is to Ovi. Ovi has generational longevity. No other player has scored goals at an elite level consistently for nearly 20 years.

 

[cgf]

So far he’s likely closer to Kovalchuk than he is to Ovi. Ovi has generational longevity. No other player has scored goals at an elite level consistently for nearly 20 years.

You're missing the point. We don't know how Haaland will age so we can only guess about his longevity. What we can discuss with more certainty is his career so far and so far into his career it compares to Ovi's. Not Kovy's, not between Ovi's & Kovy's, but Ovi's.

He may or may not match Ovi's longevity, but SO FAR his NHL comparable is Ovechkin. Not just a very good start, but someone who was immediately dominant and one of the best players on the planet.