Ranking the 5 most underrated strikers of the 21st century

#3 Gonzalo Higuain

Gonzalo Higuan in action for Napoli.

Gonzalo Higuain is a mercurial and at times frustrating striker. He is now seeing out the end of his career at Inter Miami in the MLS. But a glance at his statistics provides us with an eye-watering number of goals for the biggest clubs in Spain and Italy in prolific fashion.

Cruelly overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema at Real Madrid, many forget Higuain scored a remarkable 107 goals in 190 games for Los Blancos. Sent out to pastures anew in Napoli, he became a cult hero as a talisman for their first real title challenge since the days of Diego Maradona.

Higuain went on to score 71 goals over the course of three seasons, once equalling the record of most goals in a season with 36. He then moved on to bitter rivals Juventus for a record £90 million fee that saw him labeled a turncoat and a "judas."

On the international front, he had to bear the pressure and brunt of being unable to "gift" Leo Messi an international trophy. Regardless, Higuain recorded 75 caps and scored 31 goals and will go down as one of the best strikers in Argentina's history.

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#2 Miroslav Klose

Miroslav Klose in action for Germany.

German hitman Miroslav Klose is a recognizable yet severely underrated talent in his professional career. His career honors include a DFL Ligapokal with Werder Bremen, and two League Titles, two DFB Pokals, one DFB-Ligapokal, one German Super Cup and one UEFA Champions League final appearance for Bayern. He also won a Coppa Italia with Lazio, while winning a World Cup and securing two runners-up medals (World Cup 2002, Euro 2008) with Germany.

An outstanding career that saw him plunder 202 goals in a little more than 500 club games does not reflect how effective and lethal a striker Klose was. Ever so imperious in the air, he often pulled the attention of two center backs to mark him, freeing up space for his teammates to attack.

🎯 The #WorldCup's all-time leading scorer 🔝🇩🇪 Happy birthday, Miroslav Klose 🥳#HBD | @DFB_Team_EN pic.twitter.com/laWmUKIcpL

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 9, 2021

The German team's all-time top scorer is also the highest scoring player in FIFA competitions with 16 goals. Yet, when talking of the legendary strikers of the 2000s and early 2010s such as Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Raul and David Villa, Klose's name only comes in as a cruel afterthought.

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#1 Olivier Giroud

Chelsea's Olivier Giroud celebrates their 2020-21 UEFA Champions League victory.

It seems pointless to need to defend a man who, over the course of his career, has been a Champions League, Europa League and five-time FA Cup winner. And that's not even starting off with his French national team career, with whom he won the World Cup in 2018. Olivier Giroud is also the nation's second all-time top scorer with 46 goals.

Yet he's somehow been slandered and maligned as a "go-kart" and a one-dimensional player. In an era of pacy forwards, Giroud is the last of a dying breed of "target men" renowned as much for his strength and heading ability as he is for his composure in the box.

🤯 Does Olivier Giroud score normal goals? pic.twitter.com/6kgFkGP6Gx

— SPORF (@Sporf) February 23, 2021

Powering Montpellier to their unthinkable 2012 title win earned him a move to the Premier League with Arsenal. Giroud ended up scoring over 100 goals for the Gunners. Sold as a "past it" to Chelsea, the Frenchman still managed to add two European trophies to his cabiner. By the time he departed to AC Milan, Giroud had an enviable 90 goals and 32 assists to his name in 255 Premier League appearances for the two London clubs.

The compilation of his greatest goals will also leave many future generations thinking he must be one of the greatest players of all time. Giroud is a certain bonfide legend, if there ever was, who will hopefully get the praise he deserves in hindsight.