The Napoli forward who is better than Messi, Suarez and Ronaldo right now

If you were asked who is Europe’s top striker right now, who would you answer?

Cristiano Ronaldo? Lionel Messi? Diego Costa?

All are worthy of the moniker, but in truth, it’s none of those men.

We’ve compared all of Europe’s greatest strikers over their last eight league games, and none of the usual suspects quite cut in.

Barcelona ace Messi can claim seven strikes and three assists, while Real Madrid’s Ronaldo has eight goals and three assists.

Messi’s Camp Nou team-mate Luis Suarez’s eight goals and two assists would ordinarily look fantastic, but not here.

And though PSG’s Edinson Cavani has scored more goals than anyone else this season, the Uruguayan boasts just eight goals and no assists in recent weeks.

So, who is the mystery man?

The correct answer as to who is Europe’s top striker right now is Napoli’s Dries Mertens.

The 29-year-old is in scintillating form for Gli Azzurri, and has netted a sensational 13 goals in his last eight Serie A appearances.

You can add four assists in that spell too, to total more than two direct contributions per game.

Mertens is no stranger to these sorts of figures, hammering in 44 goals in just 87 games during a two-year-spell with PSV in Holland.

But to do it in the defensively astute Italian top tier is something else.

The Belgian’s unstoppable run of form has included two hat-tricks and a four-goal haul, as Napoli have risen from seventh to third.

And though his current form is pretty mind-blowing, it’s no fluke, for Mertens boasts four goals and four assists in six Champions League group games this season too.

So when Napoli host Genoa this Friday night, keep an eye on their number 14, for we think he’s the hottest thing in Europe right now.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing