da blaze casino： A striker who's been outscoring Erling Haaland and Manchester City's next star are among the players going under the radar in Europe this season
da esoccer bet： If you were asked to select the European player of the season so far, few very obvious names would immediately come to mind. Jude Bellingham, certainly. Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Lautaro Martinez perhaps too.
It's only natural to gravitate towards these types of names. As much as the internet has drastically reduced the mystery of football across the continent, if you are not religiously following the action away from the Premier League, it's easy for certain players' performances to slip through the cracks.
For instance, did you realise that Europe's top scorer is not Haaland, Kane or Kylian Mbappe – but a journeyman striker currently at Stuttgart? And have you been keeping track of Manchester City's next prospect, who's currently tearing it up in La Liga?
Below, GOAL has collated a list of players like this, who's flying starts might have passed you by so far this season…
GettySerhou Guirassy (Stuttgart)
The 2023-24 season is already guaranteed to be the most prolific of Guirassy's career – and he's only played seven games! The Stuttgart frontman is well on track to beat the likes of Mbappe and Haaland to the European Golden Shoe, despite experiencing a fairly meandering career at the top level prior to his move back to Germany last summer.
Guirassy has registered a ridiculous 13 Bundesliga goals so far, firing his side – who had to navigate a relegation play-off last season – into genuine European contention. Ironically, he once turned down a move to Chelsea. How the Blues could do with him right now…
AdvertisementGetty ImagesVictor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen)
Guirassy is not the only African striker ripping up the Bundesliga this season. Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen have earned a lot of plaudits for their attractive playing style, and spearheading everything going forward has been Boniface.
The striker has had no issue adjusting to the step up in quality since arriving from Union Saint-Gilloise in the summer, netting a trio of braces in his first five games. His form has been enough to earn him a place in Nigeria's recent squads, though getting minutes could prove challenging due to the Super Eagles' quite ridiculous depth up front.
Getty ImagesAkor Adams (Montpellier)
Speaking of Nigerian centre-forwards making a splash, Adams has burst onto the scene with Montpellier in recent months. Fresh off a fruitful spell with Norwegian side Lillestrom, the 23-year-old has already netted five Ligue 1 goals since joining in the summer.
Championship clubs Middlesbrough, Leicester and Leeds were all credited with an interest in Adams before he opted to join the French side, but it appears he made the correct choice.
He is yet to be capped at international level, but continuing his electric goalscoring form might see him sneak into Jose Peseiro's squad for the African Cup of Nations in 2024.
Getty ImagesSantiago Gimenez (Feyenoord)
After drawing a blank against Fortuna Sittard on the opening day, Gimenez has netted in each of Feyenoord's following seven Eredivisie games, totalling 12 goals already.
The Mexican showed promise last season, top scoring for the Dutch giants as they secured their first league title in six years, but he's exploded into another stratosphere in recent months.
The crowning moment of his season so far was netting a hat-trick against rivals Ajax. The three goals took 47 hours in total to record, with the initial fixture being abandoned just before the hour mark due to crowd trouble.