Gyökeres 19th, Sesko 5th – the most costly strikers in the world in the last five seasons

Cost per goal scored 

When it comes to clubs breaking transfer records, no position in world football comes close to demanding the highest fees than that of the striker. Whether it’s Kylian Mbappé or Cristiano Ronaldo, the history of European giants breaking the bank to sign the best players in the world has always revolved around their remarkable ability to stick the ball in the back of the net. However, not all strikers live up to the billing and for every top talisman there has been at least one or two misfiring poachers. So which centre forwards have cost their respective clubs the most money and the biggest regrets? Looking back through the last five years and calculating the cost of each goal scored in domestic competitions based on their initial transfer fee, Transfermarkt has today ranked the top 20 most costly strikers.

When we take a look through the top 20 list, starting at the bottom spot we have none other than Everton striker Thierno Barry, who has so far cost the Merseyside club €6.0 million per goal scored, due to the French striker scoring just five goals to date after costing €30m. Just above him are Arsenal’s misfiring No.9 Viktor Gyökeres and relatively new AC Milan forward Christopher Nkunku, who have very similar scores of €6.1m and €6.2m per goal scored for their respective clubs. Just above them are Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitiké (€6.3m per goal), John Durán (€6.4m per goal) during his time at Al-Nassr and Real Madrid prospect Endrick, who cost the LaLiga giants €6.8m per goal scored prior to his loan move to Lyon.

Rounding up the rest of the players between 20th and 11th on our list are no less than two former Chelsea flops in João Félix and Romelu Lukaku, who sit 14th and 12th respectively having cost the Stamford Bridge club €7.4m and €7.5m respectively before calling it quits at the club. Manchester City back-up forward Omar Marmoush sits between them with an unenviable score of €7.5m per goal scored at the Etihad and none other than former Anfield striker Darwin Núñez (€7.6m per goal) currently sits just outside the top 10 having scored just seven goals since joining Al-Hilal for €53m.

When we get to the top 10 we can see far more recent signings among the higher positions on the list. In tenth place is Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade, whose nine goals since joining for €75m means he is currently costing the Geordie club €8.3m per goal scored in all competitions. Randal Kolo Muani takes ninth spot after flopping hard in the French capital, costing Paris Saint-Germain €8.6m per goal scored. Another Frenchman takes eighth place in the form of Mathys Tel (€11.7m per goal), whose move to Tottenham has seen him score just three goals despite costing €35m. That puts Tel almost level with Chelsea striker Liam Delap, who has the same number of goals but made his move to Stamford Bridge for an extra €100k.

Two new Manchester United forwards claim sixth and fifth spot in the form of Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko respectively. While both are likely to score plenty at Old Trafford, they’re currently costing the Red Devils €12.4m and €12.8m per goal scored, which puts them just behind fourth-placed Vitor Roque, whose ill-fated move to Barcelona cost the Catalan giants €15m for each of his two goals scored before heading back to Brazil. Third place goes to Brighton striker Charalampos Kostoulas (€17.5m per goal), who joined the club for €35m last summer and has so far managed just two goals and Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa claims second with a staggering €19.2m per goal for Eddie Howe’s team, having managed just three goals since swapping Brentford for St James’s Park for €57.7m.

However, the striker that currently holds the unenviable title of being the most costly forward in world football over the last five years is none other than Liverpool’s Alexander Isak. Having joined the club unfit and then after suffering a broken fibula in late December, the Sweden international has managed just 16 games for Liverpool and just three goals despite costing a staggering €145m to sign in the summer window. That, incredibly, means that each of Isak’s goals has cost the Anfield club €48.3m and unless he can hit the ground running when he returns from injury, he’s likely to stay top of this notorious list for the foreseeable future.