Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United squad could be bolstered by TWO of European football’s most clinical goalscorers next season. They’ve already secured one and the other could be set to follow.
Scoring goals is the aim of the game and it’s especially impressive when players can hit the back of the net, without being presented with an abundance of chances.
We’ve assessed the 10 most clinical players from across Europe’s top five leagues in 2024-25 based on their xG (expected goals) overperformance.
10. Kylian Mbappe: +5.1
Real Madrid might have missed out on the major trophies, but Mbappe enjoyed a prolific debut season in Spain.
He scored 31 league goals from an xG of 25.9 and broke the record for the most goals scored in a debut season for a Real Madrid player. That’s not too shabby.
9. Oihan Sancet: +5.3
The Athletic Club attacking midfielder enjoyed his most prolific season to date, scoring 15 league goals from an xG of 9.7.
With that sort of record, it’s no wonder that the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool have been sniffing around the Spaniard in recent months.
8. Harry Kane: +5.7
When it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net, few players across world football do it better than Kane.
The England skipper finally got his hands on some silverware this year as he fired Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title, scoring 26 league goals along the way.
With his track record in front of goal, it’s no wonder that he overperformed his xG.
7. Mateo Retegui: +6.1
Across Europe’s top five leagues, only four players scored more goals than Retegui.
The Atalanta marksman scored 25 league goals from an xG of 18.9, giving him an overperformance of 6.1. Statistically, that makes him the most clinical player in Serie A for 2024-25.
6. Ayoze Perez: +6.3
The former Newcastle and Leicester City forward has been thriving since joining Villarreal last summer.
In total, he scored 26% of Villarreal’s league goals during 2024-25 and fired the club back into the Champions League in the process.
5. Matheus Cunha: +6.4
After enjoying his most prolific season yet, the Brazilian forward has been picked up by Manchester United in a deal worth £62.5million.
Five of his fifteen goals came from outside the box and largely contributed to his sizeable xG overperformance.
“Am I excited? Yeah, I am excited by it,” Gary Nevile said on the It’s Called Soccer podcast.
“United need players who know the Premier League, have got a bit more robustness about them in terms of what they’ve been through before and being at Wolves… that’ll be tough because they lose quite a few matches.
“I’m hoping he comes to Old Trafford and sees this vast pitch, this amazing stadium, with 75,000 fans who love a player who can take someone on, someone who can travel with the ball.”
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4. Chris Wood: +6.6
His goals somewhat dried up towards the end of the campaign, but what a season it was for Wood.
The New Zealand international rolled back the years and had his best-ever scoring campaign in the Premier League with 20 goals.
=2. Omar Marmoush: +7.7
Combining his numbers from Eintracht Frankfurt and Manchester City, Marmoush has been the joint-second most clinical player in Europe this season.
In total, he scored 22 league goals for both clubs and overperformed his xG by 7.7. For context, his worldie against Bournemouth was worth just 0.01 xG.
=2. Bryan Mbeumo: +7.7
Joint with Marmoush in second place is Manchester United’s latest target.
Mbeumo has reportedly rejected interest from other clubs as he favours a move to Old Trafford, so a deal definitely appears in the offing.
Five of his 20 goals were penalties, but the other 15 tended to be top strikes. The 25-year-old seamlessly filled the boots left by Ivan Toney last summer and enjoyed his most productive season to date.
Whether or not he’ll be able to do the same at Old Trafford next season, we’ll have to wait and see.
1. Patrik Schick: +8.3
The Bayer Leverkusen star scored 21 league goals from an xG of just 12.7 and ended the 2024-25 campaign as statistically the most clinical player in Europe.
Despite only starting in 19 league matches, the 29-year-old still finished the campaign as Leverkusen’s top scorer and by quite some distance.
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