Those of you who have been subscribed to the channel for a year or more will remember that I used to do a series looking at a clubs last 7 top scorers and where those players are now. I did it for Liverpool, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and many more. Now, after more than twelve months in the wilderness, I am bringing it back to life for no apparent reason.
The club in question are Monaco, one of the most successful clubs in French football despite the fact the team isn’t technically from France at all. Monaco are eight-time Ligue 1 champions, most recently in 2017, and they can boast the likes of George Weah, Jurgen Klinsmann and David Trezeguet among their esteemed list of former top scorers. None of those three will feature in this seven, which just covers the last seven, and without further ado I’ll get started:
7. Radamel Falcao – Galatasaray
Monaco’s top scorer in each of the last three seasons, Radamel Falcao scored 83 goals in 139 games for the club, putting him fourth in their all time scoring charts. Signed in a shock big-money move from Atletico Madrid in 2013, when he was widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, Falcao suffered an awful ACL injury in his first season at Monaco. Failed loan moves to Manchester United and Chelsea followed, but Falcao returned to form for Monaco, and he joined Turkish giants Galatasaray for just €5 million in the summer.
6. Lacina Traore – Cluj
Lacina Traore of CSKA Moscow (L) and Danny Rose of Tottenham Hotspur (R) battle for possession during the UEFA Champions League Group E match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and PFC CSKA…
Current Liverpool defensive midfielder Fabinho was actually Monaco’s second top scorer in the 2015-16 season with eight goals, but the only player who outscored him was Ivorian giant Lacina Traore. Signed from Anzhi in Russia, the 6’8” frontman spent four years contracted to Monaco, but only actually played for one full season in the city-state. Ten goals in 27 games during that single season made him Monaco’s top scorer, but only three of those strikes actually came in the league. Traore has since returned to Romanian outfit Cluj, eight years on from when he last played for the club.
5. Anthony Martial – Manchester United
Another player who was Monaco’s top scorer in his only season of regular football in the tax haven, Anthony Martial outscored the likes of Bernardo Silva and Dimitar Berbatov during the 2014-15 campaign. The teenager struck 12 times in 48 appearances, before sealing a potential £58 million move to Manchester United where he was also top scorer with 17 goals in his debut campaign. Sadly, Martial, who is still at Old Trafford, hasn’t been able to improve on that tally of 17 goals, although he has bagged 5 in 10 so far this term.
4. Emmanuel Rivière – Cosenza
Emmanuel Riviere of FC Metz during the French Ligue 1 match between FC Metz and Paris Saint Germain (PSG) at Stade Saint-Symphorien on September 9, 2017 in Metz, France.
Mike Ashley has a bit of a penchant for bringing French players to St James’ Park, and he’s had his fair share of hits and misses. Emmanuel Rivière was most assuredly a miss, joining the Magpies off the back of having been Monaco’s top scorer for £6 million only to score just once in 26 Premier League outings. The 2013-14 campaign was Monaco’s first back in Ligue 1 following promotion, and they finished as runners-up to PSG with Rivière outscoring the likes of Falcao, James Rodriguez and Dimitar Berbatov. Aged 29, the Frenchman ought to now be in his prime, but he’s currently contracted to Serie B outfit Cosenza.
3. Ibrahima Toure – Free Agent
A centre-forward who has spent most of his career scoring goals for fun in the Middle East, Ibrahima Toure spent just 18 months at Monaco, but he scored goals for fun there too. He arrived from the United Arab Emirates to bag 10 goals in 17 games in his debut half-season, and 21 goals in 40 games as top scorer in his first, and last, full season. Despite having been pivotal in Monaco’s promotion, Toure immediately departed for Al Nasr. He returned to France in 2017, but since a season with Ajaccio, he appears to have been a free agent for the last 18 months.
2. Valère Germain – Marseille
Valere Germain during the Ligue 1 match between Olympique de Marseille and RC Strasbourg at Stade Velodrome on October 20, 2019 in Marseille, France.
Tied with Ibrahima Toure at the top of the Monaco scoring charts in the 2011-12 season with 10 goals was France under-21 international Valère Germain. Born in Marseille but a graduate of the Monaco academy, Germain went on to spend six seasons in the Monaco first team, netting 53 times in 202 games. He left to return to his birthplace of Marseille for somewhere in the region of €7 million in 2017, where he has since scored 26 goals in 92 games.
1. Park Chu-young – FC Seoul
Our final inclusion takes us back to the 2010-11 season, which was the last season in which Monaco got relegated. Park Chu-young was comfortably Monaco’s top scorer in the 2010-11 season, with his 12 goals being more than double any other player. The former South Korean international joined Monaco from FC Seoul, and he scored 26 goals in 103 games before making a mysterious move to Arsenal when he had been expected to sign for Lille. Chu-young essentially never played for Arsenal, and after a brief stint in Saudi Arabia he returned to FC Seoul in 2015, where he’s since scored 46 goals in 168 games.
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