Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Bayern Munich's Harry Kane have all set the world alight this season, but one is on "another level" to the rest, a Champions League icon has exclusively told Sports Mole.
Regarded as three of the best goalscorers on the planet - if not the three best - Kane, Haaland and Mbappe have already registered an astounding 60 goals between them in the first few months of the 2025-26 season.
The trio are expected to lead the way in the voting for next year's Ballon d'Or should they continue in the same vein, having produced magnificent performances both domestically and continentally since the season began.
Haaland's 14 goals in 11 Premier League games is the second-most at this stage of an English top-flight season since 1992 - only behind the Norwegian himself (17 goals from 11 matches in the 2022-23 season).
Meanwhile, Mbappe is one of only two players to score as many as 13 goals in the first 11 matchweeks of a La Liga campaign, joining Cristiano Ronaldo in that exclusive category.
Over in Germany, Kane needed just 12 games to reach 20 goals for Bayern in all tournaments this season, quicker than Ronaldo or Lionel Messi ever hit 20 goals in a single campaign for Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Claude Makelele: 'Kylian Mbappe is on another level'
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe on November 1, 2025
Sports Mole recently asked Chelsea and Real Madrid legend Claude Makelele to rank Haaland, Mbappe and Kane, to which the Frenchman responded by hailing his compatriot as a striker on "another level".
“Mbappe is another level," Makelele responded. "He's a brilliant player, talent, teammate, scoring goals. A killer in front of goal. He will be amazing this season again. Madrid is happy with him because he scores every game!
“And I know this boy is very, very humble, a good person. And he's a French guy! We have a lot of talent in France. But Mbappe is another level.”
Comparing Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane's stats in 2025-26
Bayern Munich's Harry Kane on September 17, 2025
In terms of the European Golden Shoe, Mbappe is indeed on another level to Kane and Haaland, having claimed the individual prize for the 2024-25 season over the England international and Man City talisman.
However, the Paris Saint-Germain legend ranks as the lowest of the three for goals in all tournaments this season with 18, one inferior to Haaland's 19 and five below Kane's unrivalled 23.
The Englishman has also provided three assists for Bayern Munich compared to Mbappe's two helpers and Haaland's one, and his staggering 23 goals have been netted from just 10.9 Expected Goals - the lowest total of the trio.
All three have nevertheless out-performed their xG by some margin, and Mbappe is streets ahead when it comes to advancing play, registering 61 progressive carries in 2025-26 compared to Haaland's 29 and Kane's 16.
Mbappe has also played 83 progressive passes to Kane's 47 and Haaland's 11, so when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net and all-around attacking metrics, the 26-year-old has few - if any - genuine rivals.
Claude Makelele was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of bet365, the official global partner of the UEFA Champions League.
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