Jermain Defoe‘s return to international goalscoring has led to Football Whispers assessing the top veteran strikers across Europe with three Premier League stars named
THREE years and eight months after his last England cap, Jermain Defoe made his international return and, after just 22 minutes, gave his side the lead in their 2-0 win.
The 34-year-old turned back the clock to show he has never lost his deadly eye for goal, here Football Whispers look at the top 10 strikers in Europe that are still firing.
The players have been ranked on how many goals they score per 90 minutes, their success at shots finding the target and their overall conversion rate.
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10. Massimo Maccarone - Empoli
Goals: 4 - Goals per 90 mins: 0.323 - Shot on Target per 90: 1.373 - Conversion: 23.5%
Eleven years after leaving Middlesbrough Massimo Maccarone is still finding the back of the net. The 37-year-old has scored four times in 21 appearances.
Only two players on this list have played fewer minutes than Maccarone but he has found the net more often per 90 minutes than Sampdoria’s Fabio Quagliarella and is just outside the top five in terms of his shots landing on target.
His goal against Napoli before the international break was his 100th for Empoli in 275 appearances.
9. Peter Crouch - Stoke City
Goals: 4 - Goals per 90 mins: 0.39 - Shot on Target per 90: 0.982 - Conversion: 40%
Scoring against Everton racked up Peter Crouch’s 50th goal for Stoke City and helped him into the Premier League 100 club.
The 36-year-old has played the fewest minutes of anyone on this list but his goal ratio per 90 minutes is just outside the top five and his ability to find the net with 40 per cent of his shots on target ranks him fourth.
8. Alexander Meier - Eintracht Frankfurt
Goals: 5 - Goals per 90 mins: 0.363 - Shot on Target per 90: 1.379 - Conversion: 26.3%
Alexander Meier has scored five times while also contributing two assists this season but the Eintracht Frankfurt forward has started 15 games, which has damaged his goal per 90 ratio.
Landing in the the 34-year-old’s favour is his ability to find the target.
With a conversion rate of just 26.3 per cent, it may not find the net, but he’ll make sure it’s on target.
7. Fabio Quagliarella - Sampdoria
Goals: 7 - Goals per 90 minutes: 0.314 - Shot on Target per 90: 1.388 - Conversion: 22.3%
This veteran Italian goalscorer has found the net wherever he’s played.
Spells at Udinese, Napoli, Juventus and seemingly his true love, Sampdoria.
Currently playing in his third spell at the Genoa club, Fabio Quagliarella has seven goals in Serie A this season.
Starting 27 times in the league, the 34-year-old has struck seven times and only three players on the list aim shots on target more than the Italian striker. However, his conversion rate, at 22.5 per cent, is the worst of the 10.
6. Sergio Pellissier - Chievo
Goals: 6 - Goals per 90 minutes: 0.54 - Shot on Target per 90: 0.91 - Conversion: 60%
The veteran forward has played over 460 games for Chievo and is as close to a one-club man as you will find on this list.
Scoring five times in just 1098 minutes, 37-year-old Sergio Pellissier has the fifth best goal ratio on this list, with only one player finding the back of the net more with the limited number of chances he has on goal.
The Italian helped the club win promotion to Serie A in 2008 and the Flying Donkeys haven’t looked back since.
In 412 games in the top flight he has scored 104 goals and deserves his place in the top 10.
5. Ruben Castro - Real Betis
Goals: 9 - Goals per 90 minutes: 0.436 - Shot on Target per 90: 1.594 - Conversion: 27.3%
This Spanish forward is consistent across the board. The 35-year-old has scored nine times in 24 starts, plus he has contributed three assists.
Rubén Castro has been at Real Betis since 2010 and has scored 143 goals in 271 games. He has hit a slump of late, scoring twice in his last 10 games but his numbers still match up.
He ranks third in shots on target per 90 minutes but his 27.3 per cent conversion rate suffers and is why he is scoring just 0.43 goals per 90. Still, not too bad for someone in his mid 30’s.
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4. Aritz Aduriz: Athletic Bilbao
Goals: 9 - Goals per 90 mins: 0.554 - Shot on Target per 90: 1.66 - Conversion: 33.3%
Only getting better with age, the talismanic Spanish striker has scored nine times in La Liga for Athletic Bilbao.
Aritz Aduriz joined the Basque club in 2012 and has found the net 138 times in 307 games and needs one more for the 140th La Liga goal.
After recovering from a recent hamstring injury, he found the net again against Real Madrid and he was able to continue his rate of 1.66 shots on target per 90 minutes.
The 36-year-old has a conversion rate of just 33.3 per cent and that is the only area keeping him out of a place on the podium.
3. Marco Borriello: Cagliari
Goals: 12 - Goals per 90 mins: 0.634 - Shot on Target per 90: 1.32 - Conversion: 48%
The former Italy international has an astounding 12 goals in Serie A this term.
Marco Borriello has started 21 games for Cagliari and is finding the net with 48 per cent of his shots that make it on target.
With six goals in his last 11 games, he’s not looking like slowing down anytime soon.
At 34 years old, if you compare to the others on this list, the former West Ham United and Milan forward has a lot of quality years left.
The Italian striker is scoring 0.634 goals per 90 minutes, which is the second best return out of the top 10.
Borriello has scored 91 Serie A goals in 316 games and his form would make it very likely that he will make the big 10o but maybe next season.
2. Jermain Defoe: Sunderland
Goals: 14 - Goals per 90 mins: 0.557 - Shot on Target per 90: 0.875 - Conversion: 63.6%
Jermain Defoe has scored a fantastic 14 goals this season for the Black Cats and without the goals of the England international, the North East side would possibly already be confirmed as relegated.
The former West Ham United and Spurs striker is bottom in terms of getting shots on target, but with an amazing conversion rate of 63.6 per cent, he is as deadly as they come.
Defoe may not rain down with shots but when he does the 34-year-old finds the back of the net.
But it’s not enough to knock a legend off the top spot.
1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Manchester United
Goals: 15 - Goals per 90 minutes: 0.667 - Shot on Target per 90: 1.911 - Conversion: 34.8%
Manchester United fans had doubts when the Swedish legend arrived at Old Trafford and they were quickly dashed as their new talisman continued to find the back of the net.
His 15 goals in the Premier League this term would probably be enough to rank him on top of this list regardless, but the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star doesn’t stop there.
No one completes more shots on target than Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his record of 0.667 goals per 90 minutes ranks him also on top.
The only thing that lets him down is his conversion rate of 34.8 per cent.
It’s quite scary to think that the 35-year-old could still improve.
Never underestimate Zlatan.