The beautiful game today is ridiculed with attacking players being compared by all different kinds of statistics. Some will say player X can't be considered world-class because of their low xG (expected goals), while others say player Y is the best in their league due to the amount of times they press the ball. Attackers should be compared by one statistic only. Goals! So here are the top players with the highest goals per game in the 21st century.

Recently a graphic emerged on Reddit that shows the top 10 players with the best goals per game ratio in the 21st century. There are some familiar names in the list - and you probably won't be surprised to see who's at No.1.

10 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (0.55)

The younger generation won't know much about the former Dutch talisman was definitely one to watch. In a career that saw him play for the likes of Real Madrid and Milan, Huntelaar was more known for his time at Bundesliga side Schalke 04. During his time at Schalke, Huntelaar won the DFB-Pokal and the DFL-Supercup just once. Nevertheless, the fans adored him as he scored 84 league goals for Die Knappen over his two stints there. By the time the Dutchman retired he had accumulated 409 goals in 737 games meaning he averaged 0.55 goals per game.

9 Zlatan Ibrahimović (0.58)

When you've won titles across Europe’s top divisions as a striker you have definitely got the knack for scoring goals. Zlatan may have one of the biggest egos in football but he certainly has the goalscoring record to back it up. The big Swede has scored 573 times in 988 games meaning he averages 0.58 goals per game.

8 Luis Suarez (0.59)

Now playing back in his native South America for Gremio, Suarez is known for guaranteeing his team goals. Suarez has scored 543 times in 913 games in his career which means he averages a goal per game record of 0.59.

7 Harry Kane (0.61)

Kane was just 47 goals away from being the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer. Luckily for Alan Shearer, Kane decided to switch North London for Bavaria as he now looks to tear up the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. Bayern will be hoping that Kane can emulate Lewandowski’s goal-scoring prowess for them and with his record it looks likely. England’s captain has scored 355 times in 586 games so far in his career meaning he has a goals per game ratio of 0.61, level with Neymar.

6 Neymar (0.61)

Now being the latest superstar to be snapped up by Saudi Arabia, Neymar was known for a very long time as ‘the best of the rest’ when Ronaldo and Messi were conquering 21st-century football. Despite having a notoriously bad reputation for being injured, Neymar has still managed to play in 707 games of football. Neymar is Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer with 77 goals, which is level with football royalty Pele. Neymar has averaged 0.61 goals per game so far in his career, scoring a total of 434 goals in 707 games.

5 Robert Lewandowski (0.71)

Lewandowski, or Robert LewanGOALski as his former teammate Thomas Muller prefers to call him, is known in recent years as one of the most deadliest strikers in the world. Lewandowski will undoubtedly go down as one of the best strikers the Bundesliga will ever see winning 10 titles during his time at Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Now spending his time in sunny Barcelona, Lewandowski hasn't forgotten where the back of the net is, as last season he was the top goalscorer in La Liga scoring 23 times in 34 games. The 34-year-old has scored 636 goals so far in his career in 900 games meaning he averages an impressive 0.71 goals per game.

4 Kylian Mbappe (0.72)

Mbappe draws level for goals per game as his idol Ronaldo with 0.72. Mbappe has been prolific in finding the back of the net ever since he burst on the scene with Monaco in the 2016/17 season, helping the Monegasque side to lift the Ligue 1 title. The 24-year-old has spent his entire career so far in Ligue 1. Mbappe has scored 280 goals in 391 matches. It looked like Mbappe wasn’t going to score any more goals for PSG any time soon, as he was reportedly going to be frozen out of the first-team squad for refusing to leave the club due to contract disputes. However, Mbappe played in PSG’s 1-1 draw with Toulouse, in a game where Mbappe scored from the penalty spot. Whether or not Mbappe’s future lies with PSG next season is a question yet to be answered. Nevertheless, Mbappe will score goals wherever he is at.

3 Cristiano Ronaldo (0.72)

The other man in the G.O.A.T debate comes in at third place. Ronaldo has probably scored every way imaginable in his career and has even won the first ever Puskas Award in 2009 when he scored from distance in the Champions League against Porto. The Portuguese superstar has scored more times than anyone on this list with 844 goals. Ronaldo has also played more times than anyone else on this list with 1175 games meaning he averages 0.72 goals per game.

2 Lionel Messi

Messi has only played seven times so far for Inter Miami and he already has 10 goals to his name. It’s safe to say Messi's goals per game will definitely be higher by the time he leaves The Herons. Messi has scored 817 times in 1035 matches in a career that has seen him win seven Ballon d’Or’s, four Champion League titles and a FIFA World Cup. This means Messi averages 0.79 goals per game, just 0.01 less than Haaland despite playing over 700 fewer games. You can understand why many call him the G.O.A.T.

1 Erling Haaland (0.80)

Feared by all Premier League defenders (and everyone who has not selected him in Fantasy Football), it should not be a surprise that the Norwegian robot that is Haaland has the best goals per game in the 21st century. In his debut season in the Premier League, Haaland has found the back of the net 36 times for Manchester City. Over his relatively short career, the 23-year-old has scored a staggering 212 goals in 264 games which means he averages 0.8 goals per game. The scary thing about Haaland is his young age, we don’t know where his career will take him, the Norwegian could retire averaging a goal every time he steps on the pitch!

The top 10 goalscorers in terms of goals per game in the 21st century