Goal.com 50: Luis Fabiano (48)

 49. Marco Motta (Roma & Italy Under-21)

48. LUIS FABIANO (Sevilla & Brazil)

47. Michel Bastos (Lille)

Luis Fabiano has become one of the hottest strikers in the world this summer, but this time last year he was barely making any headlines outside of Spain during the transfer window (he was only briefly tracked by then-Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster), despite scoring 34 goals in 44 games in all competitions - his best tally in since joining Sevilla in 2005.

But he didn’t quite care about the lack of attention, and if anything, he was happy to see his amazing goal scoring form rewarded by his Andalucian employers with a contract extension until 2011. He promptly repaid his club by earning his Spanish citizenship that same summer.

It was the perfect way to prepare for the launch of the 2008-09 season, but when the league campaign eventually got underway, he had one of his worst starts, scoring just three times in the first ten games.

Things didn’t improve much for him as the season wore on, and fans had to wait until the new year before they could see the real Luis Fabiano. His most impressive spell for the Rojiblancos was in January, when he scored four goals in three games (two in the Copa del Rey and one in the league) against Deportivo La Coruna. He emerged as the cup competition’s top scorer with seven goals from seven outings, but he couldn’t quite sustain that form and he finished the league term with only eight goals from 26 appearances - his second lowest tally at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

In the national team, however, 'O Fabuloso' was almost a completely different player, and by the end of the recently concluded FIFA Confederations Cup, he had become, alongside Spain’s David Villa, one of the most in-form marksmen at international level for the 2008-09 calendar, scoring 13 goals in 11 matches for the Selecao.

By taking home the Golden Boot as the top scorer for the Confederations Cup, he quickly became one of the most sought after strikers in the world, finally joining an elite group of footballers such as Villa, Samuel Eto’o, Sergio Aguero, Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Fab On Fire | Luis Fabiano guns down the USA

The difference in form between club and country comes as little surprise, though, considering the wealth of attacking firepower available with the national side, with whom he is constantly provided with ammunition from Robinho, Kaka, Elano and even Maicon and Dani Alves. One of his highlight performances for Brazil this campaign was the superb 6-2 win over Portugal in an international friendly back in mid-November, when he grabbed a hat-trick.

But at Sevilla, the team’s conservative approach deprived him of a chance to increase his scoring rate - Manolo Jimenez and his troops only managed to score 54 goals in the league, the fourth lowest amongst the top ten sides in the final standings.

He may not be the most flamboyant of forwards, and he certainly can’t match the likes of Adriano, Ronaldo or even Pato in terms of star power, but as a target man, he does exactly what he has to do.

And despite his minimal haul in the league last term, Luis Fabiano is still a remarkably reliable striker, who rarely goes on long stretches of poor form. That explains why two of the biggest clubs in the world, Manchester United and Milan - two sides who depend heavily on a consistent goal machine - are after his signature.

The former Sao Paulo hot-shot, who has a €30 million buy-out clause in his contract, has already hinted to his bosses at Sevilla that he is desperate for a move to a big club, and you can understand his desires. At 28-years-old, he is at the peak of his career and in the form of his life, especially after such a glittering Confederations Cup tournament. And he knows that time has come for him to take that step up to a bigger stage.  

KS Leong, Goal.com

 49. Marco Motta (Roma & Italy Under-21)

48. LUIS FABIANO (Sevilla & Brazil)

47. Michel Bastos (Lille)