As the latest international break makes way for the return of club football, focus turns back to domestic and continental competitions.
Heading the list to become the 2021/22 Golden Shoe winner as the continent's top scorer are some of the greatest strikers in world football – from Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema, to Mohamed Salah and Robert Lewandowski.
It was Bayern Munich's Lewandowski who took the honours last season, ahead of two names who have won the award a remarkable 10 times between them: Lionel Messi (six) and Cristiano Ronaldo (four), who were plying their trade at Barcelona and Juventus, respectively.
Those two have since switched clubs – to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United respectively – and have not made it on to the list, so far, this time round.
“I'm still here, and I will be here for a long time,” said Lewandowski at last season's ceremony held at Bayern's Allianz Arena.
“Age is just a number, I feel very good, my form indicators have never been so good. I know that with my body I can still play for years at the highest level. I hope to become even better.”
Since the 1996-97 season, European Sports Media have used a points system to decide who wins the award based around the Uefa coefficient ranking of the league in which each player plays. This means that goals scored in a higher-ranked league will count more than weaker ones.
You can see the current top 25 European hotshots – from the big five of La Liga, Serie A, the Premier League, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 – in the gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.
