Kylian Mbappe proves the worst value for money of all the European Golden Boot contenders
- Paul Okey
- 21 July 2022
Each of Mbappe’s 2021/22 Ligue 1 goals came at a cost of more than £750,000, according to a study from Sportingpedia
Robert Lewandowski won the European Golden Boot for a second consecutive year, bagging 35 Bundesliga goals for Bayern Munich.
The Poland international beat the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema to the coveted award.
There were some notable absentees, with Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi not featuring among the top 10 for the first time in 15 years.
However, at what cost did each of Lewandowski's 35 goals come?
Sportingpedia have divided the reported salaries of the 17 2021/22 European Goal Boot contenders and divided it by their respective goal count, with interesting results.
Mbappe's goals come at a price
Kylian Mbappe's goals came at the highest price, with each costing £761,429, while those of his Les Bleus partner in crime Karim Benzema cost £529,630.
At the opposite end of the scale is Ohi Omoijuanfo who is probably the least recognisable name on the list. The 28-year-old has spent most of his career in his native Norway, before recently moving abroad to Serbia. Besides Lewandowski only Omoijuanfo managed to score more than 30 goals last season, with the cost of every single one being just £18,182, which is almost 42 times less than the most expensive ones in the chart.
Incidentally, had Lionel Messi featured on the contenders' list, his disappointing season at PSG with just six goals would have put him at £8.3 million per league goal.
Kylian Mbappe - £761,429 per goal; 28 Ligue 1 goals
Mbappe was the best of the MNM trio of Neymar Jr, Leo Messi and himself at PSG last term. Gifted with incredible pace and speed, Mbappe bagged 28 Ligue 1 goals. He was the topic of a much-discussed free transfer to Real Madrid but has opted to remain in Paris.
Karim Benzema - £529,630 per goal; 27 La Liga goals
Benzema was a major factor in Real Madrid's success last season.
Los Blancos defeated Liverpool to lift the Champions League and Benzema's goals also propelled Real to their 35th domestic title, with the Frenchman claiming the "Pichichi" award for La Liga highest goalscorer.
Now 34, Benzema is the oldest player to feature on our list.
Mohamed Salah - £508,696 per goal; 23 Premier League goals
The Egyptian was the driving force behind Liverpool's quadruple bid last term.
In the first half of the campaign, he was unstoppable but things slowed down from mid-February onwards, after Salah lost the AFCON final.
Salah did help the Reds win the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, but they fell just short when it came to the Premier League and Champions League.
Robert Lewandowski - £488,800 per goal; 35 Bundesliga goals
Even at 33 years of age the Pole is showing no signs of slowing down.
In 2022, the striker helped Bayern Munich win another Bundesliga title, earning his second European Golden Boot in succession.
A third may prove a little harder after his free transfer to Barcelona.
Heung-Min Son - £434,087 per goal; 23 Premier League goals
The South Korean had another impressive season with Tottenham Hotspur but once again failed to win a trophy with the north London club.
The attacker finished tied with Mohamed Salah in the Premier League Golden Boot race, with both bagging 23 goals, but unlike Salah, none of Son's goals came from the penalty spot.
Erling Haaland - £312,000 per goal; 22 Bundesliga goals
The towering Norwegian striker missed around three months of football due to injury, but still finished as the third highest goalscorer in the Bundesliga.
Haaland chose to follow in his father's footsteps, joining Manchester City in June. Having just turned 22, Haaland is the youngest player to make the list.
Wissam Ben Yedder - £266,240 per goal; 25 Ligue 1 goals
This was the best season on a personal level of Ben Yedder's career.
He was the second highest goalscorer in the French top flight, behind only Mbappe.
His goals helped Monaco return to the Champions League, as they finished in third in Ligue 1.
Ciro Immobile - £234,963 per goal; 27 Serie A goals
The 32-year-old was the top scorer in Italy - the third time he has won the award.
Immobile scored over 30% of Lazio's league goals, helping them reach the Europa League places.
Lautaro Martinez - £188,890 per goal; 21 Serie A goals
The Argentinian was tasked with the scoring burden at Inter following Romelu Lukaku's transfer to Chelsea last summer.
Even though the Nerazzurri finished as runners-up in Serie A and were eliminated by Liverpool in the last eight of the Champions League, Lautaro proved he could lead the line and deliver the goods.
Patrik Schick - £177,677 per goal; 24 Bundesliga goals
After winning the Golden Boot at Euro 2020, the tall striker has continued to impress at club level, with his goals helping Bayer Leverkusen qualify for the group stage of the Champions League.
The Czech international has drawn the attention of many clubs around Europe, but the German side have made it clear that he will stay in Leverkusen for at least one more year.
Anthony Modeste - £156,000 per goal; 20 Bundesliga goals
The striker helped the modest FC Koln secure European football, as they finished seventh in the Bundesliga last time out.
Modeste's chances of earning a call-up to the French team for Qatar are slim, as the nation's main striker is another 34-year-old veteran.
Christopher Nkunku - £132,600 per goal; 20 Bundesliga goals
Nkunku was rewarded for his brilliant season with RB Leipzig by Didier Deschamps, who gave the attacker the chance to represent the French national team earlier this year.
His club side won the DFB Pokal, where the player scored four more goals.
Nkunku recently signed a contract extension with the German team.
Moussa Dembele - £126,286 per goal; 21 Ligue 1 goals
Dembele is coming off a personal best season. scoring at least one goal in each of his last nine appearances in the Ligue 1, including braces against Metz and Bordeaux.
Lyon's failure to qualify for the European tournaments may lead to a transfer, however.
Dusan Vlahovic - £56,333 per goal; 24 Serie A goals
In the first half of the season the Serbian scored 17 goals in 21 games for Fiorentina, which resulted in a transfer to Juventus worth just over €70million.
With the Bianconerri, the player endured a tough start, but still managed to net seven goals in 15 league matches.
Martin Terrier - £47,048 per goal; 21 Ligue 1 goals
The 24-year-old performed very well for the Rennes side that finished in fourth position in Ligue 1, securing Europa League football last term.
His main position is on the left wing but Terrier is quite versatile and can fill in at any attacking position.
Marko Livaja - £33,429 per goal; 28 HNL goals
In his first full season with Hajduk Split, Livaja showed brilliant composure in front of goal.
The striker's 28 league goals helped Hajduk finish as runners-up in Croatia.
He scored another four in the domestic cup competition, which his side won.
Ohi Omoijuanfo - £18,182 per goal; 33 goals (27 Eliteserien/6 Super Liga)
Omoijuanfo spent the first half of the season in Norway with Molde, scoring 27 goals in 29 games.
In the winter transfer window a free move to Red Star Belgrade followed.
There the Norwegian striker took part in just nine matches, but added another six goals to his tally for the season.
