Forwards
Trending
That Arsene Wenger quote on why South Americans produce the best forwards in the game couldn’t be more relevant when you look at the three best forwards the CONMEBOL countries have produced in the last few years.
All the three of them play for Barcelona and they’re often referred to as the deadliest combination of forwards the game has ever seen – scoring goals, setting them up for one another and just all in all demolishing opponent defences with one pass or one lob.
On the left-wing, we have Brazilian sensation Neymar. Currently regarded as one of the best players in the world thanks to his skill, panache and eagerness to get into scoring positions, the 24-year-old is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of player.
Valued at a staggering €100 million, he’s also the youngest ever player in the world to reach a valuation of eight figures. Neymar has played 21 games this season so far scoring 7 goals and setting up 15 assists for the next two people on this list to put away.
As the lone centre-forward on this list, there really is no one else in the world who comes close to Uruguay’s Luis Suarez. The 29-year-old has easily been the world’s best striker for a long time now – right from when he peaked at Liverpool.
Valued at €90 million, he’s also only one of two Uruguayans to make the list – along with Godin at the back. Suarez is having the usual treat of a season. Having played in 25 games this season, he’s scored 18 goals and set up a further 8 meaning he’s either scored or assisted in every game he’s played.
Moving to the right of the front three, we have one of the two best players in the world in Argentina’s Lionel Messi. There’s not something we can say about him that you already don’t know, so we’ll skip straight to his valuation and his stats for the season.
Messi is valued at a mind-boggling €120 million and is currently – and over the past few years – the most valuable footballer in the world. He’s also the only Argentine to make it to the list and given the country have reached the finals of the last two Copa Americas and the FIFA World Cup in 2014, it’s almost unbelievable just how much of a boon he is to his national side.
Having represented Barcelona 24 times this season, Messi has scored 27 goals and has assisted a further 9 meaning he’s either scored or assisted 1.5 times in every game he’s played for Luis Enrique’s side this season. There’s not a single player in the world who can match those stats – not even Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
