Lautaro Martínez in the Top 5 of the best players in the world in 2023: the strange case of Julián Álvarez

Without the presence of Lionel Messi in the elite of European football, the main Argentine references in the Old Continent are starting to belong to new names. Anyone who is a serious candidate to hold that position is Lautaro Martinez, which is already a permanent member of the most important football rankings. This time he was chosen by International Center for Sport Studies (CIES) as one of the ten best players of 2023. And although it may seem curious, he was the only Albiceleste footballer chosen to be part of the list.

At 26 years old, El Toro is having the best calendar season of his career. This was recognized when the topics considered for the preparation of the Top 10 allowed him to get as far as fifth position in the standings and carve out a place for himself that will lead him to compete with the rest of the stars of the major European leagues.

He was only behind other figures such as Erling Haaland, Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior. But his performance was such that it was enough for him to overcome none other than Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane and Robert Lewandoski.

During the first semester Lautaro was a fundamental piece in his team to maintain the level Italian Super Cup and the Italian Cup. Added to that too lost the Champions League final against Manchester City, contributing to the goals in the earlier stages.

This season his personal performances continued to grow. He has already arrived 17 goals and 4 assistswhich allows him to position himself at the maximum Serie A scorer. Furthermore, he became the first captain of his team and is the undisputed leader of Felipe Inzaghi’s team. His market value proves it: approximately 110 million eurosbeing the Argentinian with the most expensive chip in the world.

However, within the CIES ranking the absence of Giuliano Alvarez. The former river he scored 20 goals in 2023 he won the starting place due to the injury of the Belgian Kevin De Bruyne and he got tired of celebrating titles: Champions League, Premier League, European Super Cup, Community Shield and the recent Club World Cup, where he scored two goals in the final against Fluminense.

Furthermore, he is the only player in the world to have two world champion patches on the two shirts he wears: that of the Argentine national team and that of Manchester City.

That point that could have been taken into consideration and which, for both Lautaro and Julián, did not allow them to reach a better position in the standings was the failure to score against the Argentine national team.

Despite his undisputed hierarchy in Europe and his calls in the Scaloneta, Both forwards did not have the best 2023 with the Albiceleste shirt: neither managed to score a goal. Both in the six qualifying matches played and in the four friendlies they participated in at the beginning of the year.

But beyond this factor, the two attackers have scored a total of 57 goals and constitute, in their respective teams, the best attacking duo in Europe. For Julián’s part, together with Haaland at Manchester City, they managed to contribute 18 goals and 11 assists overall. As for Lautaro, with the Frenchman Marcus Thuram they scored 22 goals and 13 assists.

The 10 best players of the year according to CIES

1. Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
2. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
3. Rodrygo goes (Real Madrid)
4. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)
5. Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
6. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
7. Robert Lewandoski (Barcelona)
8. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
9. Álvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid)
10. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)