Most goal involvements since 2000: From Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi and Harry Kane as Mohamed Salah rises up rankings
The 21st century has been the era defined by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The iconic pair have gone toe-to-toe in just about everything whether it was league titles, Champions Leagues and Ballons d’Or. Ronaldo and Messi are arguably the best players everGetty That was epitomised by the fact that between 2008 and 2023, only two other players (Luka Modric and Karim Benzema) won the prestigious individual award. But who else has been crucial to their team? Here, talkSPORT.com looks at the players with the most goal involvements – that’s goals and assists – since 2000 across Europe’s top five leagues. This means that contributions from other leagues and international fixtures, like Messi and Ronaldo at the MLS and Saudi Pro League respectively, do not count. Starting us off it’s an Italy legend who could not stop scoring for Udinese… 20 – Antonio Di Natale (445 games, 277 goal involvements) The Italy legend started off his career at Empoli, but moved to Udinese in 2004 where he was prolific. He won the Serie A Golden Boot twice and was named in the team of the season on three occasions. 209 of his 277 involvements were goals, showing just how much of a superstar he was up front. Di Natale averaged 163 minutes per goal in Serie A, and he sits as the outright sixth-highest scorer ever in the league. Di Natale kicks off the top 20 list 19 – Miroslav Klose (446 games, 279 goal involvements) Klose was one of the most prolific Bundesliga strikers in the 21st century, starting at Kaiserslauten before starring for Werder Bremen and then Bayern Munich. He was a two-time Bundesliga winner with Bayern before he finished his career at Lazio. In Germany, the frontman’s 121 goals and 74 assists saw him claim 195 total involvements in 307 appearances in his career. Then he continued his form at an older age in Italy, netting 54 times and assists 30 goals in Serie A. Klose has an enviable record across Germany and Italy 18 – Antoine Griezmann (507 games, 289 goal involvements) Although born in France, Griezmann has spent his entire career in Spain’s La Liga. That has included two spells at Atletico Madrid sandwiched between his time at Barcelona. His longevity has helped him gain a place on this list, with consistent goal and assist returns over his career. The striker is now nearing 200 goals in the Spanish top flight as he continues to show that he’s one of the best. Griezmann has been a top LaLiga star for yearsGetty 17 – Thierry Henry (321 games, 300 goal involvements) A true great of the game and remarkable, he still makes the list despite his professional career beginning in the mid-1990s with Monaco. The four-time Premier League Golden Boot winner became an absolute legend at Arsenal, terrorising defences up and down the country. Henry’s 175 Premier League goals for the Gunners see him sit seventh in the all-time scoring charts. And he’s also incredibly just short of being inside the top 10 for all-time assists in the division too. There have been few better Premier League forwards than HenryGetty 16 – Mohamed Salah (358 games, 303 goal involvements) After a tough start to his career at Chelsea, Salah has gone on to become one of the most lethal attackers in world football. He joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017 and has become a Premier League champion and three-time Golden Boot winner. The Egyptian King is the Red’s third all-time top scorer and stands as the highest-scoring African player ever in England. In recent years, he’s also added some superb assists to his locker, with his passing ability also one of the best in the sport. Salah is an undisputed Premier League iconGetty 15 – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (459 games, 309 goal involvements) Aubameyang’s struggles in his later career make it easy to forget just how prolific he was for much of his career. He was a superstar for Borussia Dortmund and for Arsenal for most of his time at the club. The forward is also one of the highest-scoring African players ever to be seen in the Premier League, along with Salah. He now continues to score in Saudi Arabia, but what is potentially his final spell in Europe came with Marseille in the 2023/34 season. Aubameyang was one of the best at his peakGetty 14 – Gonzalo Higuain (428 games, 309 goal involvements) The Argentina striker was prolific in Europe for Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus, winning six league titles in total. Competing with superstar names like Ronaldo and Messi, he was only once named league top scorer. That was in the 2015/16 Serie A season. Higuain contributed to 152 goals in 224 appearances in Italy which is a superb tally, especially when combined with his time in Spain. For Madrid, he played 190 LaLiga games and scored 107 goals while also providing 45 assists. Higuain had a brief spell at Chelsea, but his best years came on the continentGetty Imag
The 21st century has been the era defined by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The iconic pair have gone toe-to-toe in just about everything whether it was league titles, Champions Leagues and Ballons d’Or.
That was epitomised by the fact that between 2008 and 2023, only two other players (Luka Modric and Karim Benzema) won the prestigious individual award.
But who else has been crucial to their team? Here, talkSPORT.com looks at the players with the most goal involvements – that’s goals and assists – since 2000 across Europe’s top five leagues.
This means that contributions from other leagues and international fixtures, like Messi and Ronaldo at the MLS and Saudi Pro League respectively, do not count.
Starting us off it’s an Italy legend who could not stop scoring for Udinese…
20 – Antonio Di Natale (445 games, 277 goal involvements)
The Italy legend started off his career at Empoli, but moved to Udinese in 2004 where he was prolific.
He won the Serie A Golden Boot twice and was named in the team of the season on three occasions.
209 of his 277 involvements were goals, showing just how much of a superstar he was up front.
Di Natale averaged 163 minutes per goal in Serie A, and he sits as the outright sixth-highest scorer ever in the league.
19 – Miroslav Klose (446 games, 279 goal involvements)
Klose was one of the most prolific Bundesliga strikers in the 21st century, starting at Kaiserslauten before starring for Werder Bremen and then Bayern Munich.
He was a two-time Bundesliga winner with Bayern before he finished his career at Lazio.
In Germany, the frontman’s 121 goals and 74 assists saw him claim 195 total involvements in 307 appearances in his career.
Then he continued his form at an older age in Italy, netting 54 times and assists 30 goals in Serie A.
18 – Antoine Griezmann (507 games, 289 goal involvements)
Although born in France, Griezmann has spent his entire career in Spain’s La Liga.
That has included two spells at Atletico Madrid sandwiched between his time at Barcelona.
His longevity has helped him gain a place on this list, with consistent goal and assist returns over his career.
The striker is now nearing 200 goals in the Spanish top flight as he continues to show that he’s one of the best.
17 – Thierry Henry (321 games, 300 goal involvements)
A true great of the game and remarkable, he still makes the list despite his professional career beginning in the mid-1990s with Monaco.
The four-time Premier League Golden Boot winner became an absolute legend at Arsenal, terrorising defences up and down the country.
Henry’s 175 Premier League goals for the Gunners see him sit seventh in the all-time scoring charts.
And he’s also incredibly just short of being inside the top 10 for all-time assists in the division too.
16 – Mohamed Salah (358 games, 303 goal involvements)
After a tough start to his career at Chelsea, Salah has gone on to become one of the most lethal attackers in world football.
He joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017 and has become a Premier League champion and three-time Golden Boot winner.
The Egyptian King is the Red’s third all-time top scorer and stands as the highest-scoring African player ever in England.
In recent years, he’s also added some superb assists to his locker, with his passing ability also one of the best in the sport.
15 – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (459 games, 309 goal involvements)
Aubameyang’s struggles in his later career make it easy to forget just how prolific he was for much of his career.
He was a superstar for Borussia Dortmund and for Arsenal for most of his time at the club.
The forward is also one of the highest-scoring African players ever to be seen in the Premier League, along with Salah.
He now continues to score in Saudi Arabia, but what is potentially his final spell in Europe came with Marseille in the 2023/34 season.
14 – Gonzalo Higuain (428 games, 309 goal involvements)
The Argentina striker was prolific in Europe for Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus, winning six league titles in total.
Competing with superstar names like Ronaldo and Messi, he was only once named league top scorer. That was in the 2015/16 Serie A season.
Higuain contributed to 152 goals in 224 appearances in Italy which is a superb tally, especially when combined with his time in Spain.
For Madrid, he played 190 LaLiga games and scored 107 goals while also providing 45 assists.
13 – Edin Dzeko (509 games, 513 goal involvements)
Manchester City fans will be well aware of Dzeko’s talents in front of goal and has been one of the best strikers around this century.
As well as two Premier League titles, he lifted the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg.
He actually scored the most goals in his career in Italy with Roma and Inter Milan though, netting 107 times.
On top of that, he provided 50 assists in his 268 appearances.
12 – Wayne Rooney (491 games, 316 involvements)
Manchester United’s record goalscorer Rooney burst onto the scene as a teenager with Everton.
He was one of the most devastating forwards throughout his career, winning five Premier League titles.
Despite all of his 208 goals in the English top flight, he incredibly never won a Golden Boot before retiring.
His tally does put him third in the all-time scorer list though, only behind Harry Kane and Alan Shearer.
11 – Edinson Cavani (479 games, 318 goal involvements)
An out-and-out lethal goalscorer who was prolific for Palermo, Napoli, PSG, before finishing in Europe with Man United.
As well as numerous league titles, he won the top scorer award in both Italy and France throughout his career.
Cavani is massively underrated and has superb contribution records in Serie A and Ligue 1 specifically.
The Uruguayan helped provide 127 goals for Palermo and Napoli combined while also netting 138 times in 200 PSG appearances.
10 – Harry Kane (364 games, 325 goal involvements)
Kane may have never won a trophy in his career still, but he has been lethal for Tottenham and Bayern Munich.
The 31-year-old is a three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, plus he won the Bundesliga equivalent in his first season at Bayern.
He has broken multiple records in just his first two campaigns in Germany, carrying his immense quality elsewhere in Europe.
Kane has averaged over a goal a game for Bayern so far in the league, while he is the second-highest scorer of all time in his home country.
9 – Francesco Totti (459 games, 327 goal involvements)
Totti is the epitome of a one-club man, spending his entire career with Roma.
He scored 250 Serie A goals over an illustrious career, that included one league title.
The Italian also provided 160 assists across his whopping 618 league appearances in his home country.
He’s, of course, known as a Roma icon and he will certainly go down as one of the best scorers Italy has ever seen.
8 – Sergio Aguero (454 games, 336 goal involvements)
Aguero became one of the greatest forwards in Premier League history after moving to Man City from Atletico Madrid.
He helped them win five league titles, before a move to Barcelona that abruptly ended because of a heart problem.
That was a sad ending to a very successful career that sees him inside the top 10 of this list.
His 184 goals in the Premier League have him fifth in the all-time rankings, amongst some of the best strikers ever.
7 – Luis Suarez (368 games, 356 goal involvements)
A truly devastating forward that embarrassed Premier League and LaLiga defenders for Liverpool and Barcelona.
His goal involvement-per-game ratio is up there with the very best in history, almost averaging one a match.
Suarez provided 96 goal contributions in just 110 games in England, winning one golden boot during his time there.
He continued his success in Spain afterwards, winning five league titles with Barca and Atletico Madrid, scoring 176 times in the competition.
6 – Thomas Muller (486 games, 358 goal involvements)
Another incredible one-club man is Muller, who broke the record for most Bayern Munich appearances this season.
His goals and assists have helped him win an astonishing 12 Bundesliga titles.
And he continues to feature for Bayern now, with the club legend aiming for another league trophy to add to his collection.
Muller’s 150 goals in the Bundesliga have him 17th in the all-time records and he is the only active player inside the top 30.
5 – Karim Benzema (551 games, 423 goal involvements)
Benzema was part of a truly great Real Madrid team and his goals were key to that too.
Recognition of his talent came when he won the Ballon d’Or in 2022 ahead of the legendary Ronaldo and Messi.
That achievement came after scoring 44 goals in 46 games as he won LaLiga and the Champions League.
In total throughout his league career at Real, he scored and assisted a combined 357 goals in 439 games which is a stunning number.
4 – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (467 games, 426 goal involvements)
Zlatan may be the opposite of a one-club man, but he’s been no less prolific.
He has been a superstar in the Eredivisie, Serie A, LaLiga, Ligue 1, and Premier League – only the Bundesliga is missing from his record.
Ibrahimovic scored his most goals in Italy, scoring 156 goals in 283 appearances in total across multiple clubs.
But he was his most prolific with PSG in France, netting 113 goals in 122 games in Ligue 1 while also providing 44 assists.
3 – Robert Lewandowski (468 games, 461 goal involvements)
For Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, Lewandowski has been an unstoppable force in front of goal.
His near goal-per-game ratio has consistently proved him to be one of the all-time elite.
At 36 years old, he is showing no signs of slowing down his scoring and he’s still making a huge impact at Barca.
On top of his domestic scoring, the Pole is also now one of the highest scorers in Champions League history.
2 – Cristiano Ronaldo (626 games, 646 goal involvements)
There is a huge gap between the top two and the rest, showing just how far ahead Ronaldo and Messi have been.
Ronaldo has been at the top for Man United, Real Madrid, and Juventus in Europe – winning trophies and individual accolades everywhere he goes.
He’s the Champions League’s record goalscorer and has been one of the most dangerous players in the world for decades.
The icon averaged over a goal a game in Madrid, and then when at Juventus, he scored another 100 goals in Italy.
Now at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, he continues to increase his incredible goal record and it doesn’t seem like he’ll be stopping soon.
1 – Lionel Messi (578 games, 743 goal involvements)
What sets Messi apart is the assists, racking up 216 in LaLiga alone compared to Ronaldo’s 44.
Messi is an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and serial winner of just about everything going.
There’s a reason why he is the most decorated player in history.
To have almost 200 more goal involvements that games played is an incredible tally and one no player will ever reach.
474 of his involvements are just his goals in La Liga while another 22 were added to his record in Ligue 1 with PSG.
All stats from transfermarkt.com
