Lautaro Martinez claims spot among top strikers worldwide

The Inter Milan captain told France Football he belongs in the global top five, and recent stats partly support his bold statement

Lautaro Martinez was clear in his latest interview with France Football: “Where do I rank among the world’s best strikers? Among the top five, for sure. I don’t want to name names. Everyone classifies players as they prefer, there are top-level forwards. But what I have done in recent years allows me to say I am part of the best five.”

La Gazzetta dello Sport via Fcinter1908, analyzing these statements, focused on the numbers from the last five seasons to check whether the Inter Milan captain’s words are accurate. The newspaper examined the goal charts over the last five seasons across league and cups, both including and excluding penalties.

Numbers confirm Lautaro Martinez just behind Salah in the rankings

Leading the chart is Kylian Mbappé, with more than 200 goals. Following are Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski, level on total goals. 

Then come Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah, with Lautaro sitting in sixth place, about thirty goals behind. 

However, it must be noted that the Egyptian is not an out-and-out striker. So in the ranking of pure number nines, the Inter Milan forward effectively makes the top five also by numbers.

Here is the ranking with penalties included:
1 - Mbappé, 212 goals
2 - Haaland, 197 goals
2 - Lewandowski, 197 goals
4 - Kane, 176 goals
5 - Salah, 152 goals
6 - Lautaro, 124 goals

The chart without penalties remains nearly the same in positions, but with key differences. 

Lautaro is still sixth, but he has closed the gap to Salah in fifth place, trailing by only four goals. Mbappé remains first, though Haaland has closed in compared to the overall tally. Behind them are still Lewandowski and Kane.

Here is the ranking without penalties:
1 - Mbappé, 176 goals
2 - Haaland, 166 goals
3 - Lewandowski, 163 goals
4 - Kane, 140 goals
5 - Salah, 117 goals
6 - Lautaro, 113 goals