The world's most successful players are in European leagues but scoring is another matter. When it comes to honoring the time they play, likes of Ronaldo, Mo Salah and Robert Lewandowski couldn't make the cut on the list of prolific scorers. This honor goes to Borussia Dortmund's Spanish forward Paco Alcacer.
Alcacer is the best money can buy for the German side in terms of scoring as his current performance indicates. The 25-year-old player who launched his career in Valencia scored one goal every 39 minutes of playing time he had this season. Despite mere 12 goals, Alcacer proved he was worth every minute he played with his prolific streak, the highest in five top-tier leagues of Europe.
Dortmund can certainly be credited for this new chapter in his career as a top scorer as he was given more playing time than at Barcelona before switching to the German outfit. Alcacer arrived on a 2-million-euro loan deal this season but his contract was upgraded when he was bought by Dortmund for 23 million euros on a four-year contract. The Spanish international was in the starting 11 in only four matches and he was on the pitch for just 468 minutes, plying about 42.5 minutes per match.
Alcacer is followed by Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe and Eintracht Frankfurt's Serbian forward Luka Jovic with one goal in every 69.6 minutes and 76.3 minutes, respectively.
Mbappe, who celebrated his 20th birthday yesterday, enjoys an unexpected path to success like Alcacer. The Frenchman became a household name in just two years since he joined Paris Saint-Germain on loan from Monaco where he had little playing time.
One of the hottest young talents in European football, Mbappe, signed for the Paris side for 135 million euros, making him the second most expensive player in history. He has played a total of 836 minutes and scored 12 goals in total.
Diagne is the only player from a Turkish club to make it to the list of prolific scorers in Europe. He is dominating the Turkish Super League with 18 goals for Kasımpaşa. He follows Mbappe and Jovic with one goal every 80 minutes during his playing time of 1,440 minutes.
The Senegalese international was a relatively unknown name in Italy's fourth-tier AC Bra when Juventus discovered his talents. After a two-year stint with the Italian powerhouse, which occasionally loaned him to other teams, Diagne first switched to Hungarian side Ujpest and later to China's TJ Teda. It wasn't until he made his latest move to Istanbul's Kasımpaşa where he has really shined after he joined earlier this year.
Lionel Messi of Barcelona is fifth in the prolific scorers' list. He is followed by two others from Paris Saint-Germain, Edson Cavani and Neymar, who respectively scored one goal every 83.2 minutes and 94.4 minutes.
