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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/MERTENS_GOAT on 2025-03-11 11:49:19+00:00.


fbref.com has possession data for the Big 5 European League since 2017/18. Of course they have goals too. So I looked at each of the last 7 seasons and checked for every player with at least 11 goals how many touches he had that season. Here are the ranks 11-20 for fewest touches per goal in a season:

Touches per Goal Player Club Season
26.9 Erling Haaland Dortmund 19/20
27.3 Jamie Vardy Leicester City 21/22
27.6 Harry Kane Bayern 23/24
28.1 Patrik Schick Leverkusen 21/22
29.1 Edinson Cavani PSG 18/19
30.3 Victor Osimhen Napoli 22/23
30.4 Robert Lewandowski Bayern 17/18
31.9 Erling Haaland Dortmund 21/22
32.2 Jamie Vardy Leicester City 21/22
33.1 Robert Lewandowski Bayern 21/22

And here is the Top-10:

Touches per Goal Player Club Season
21.2 Erling Haaland Man City 21/22
22.0 Paco Alcácer Dortmund 18/19
22.6 Mauro Icardi PSG 19/20
23.6 Erling Haaland Man City 23/24
24.1 Mauro Icardi Inter 17/18
24.2 Robert Lewandowski Bayern 20/21
25.3 Artem Dovbyk Girona 23/24
26.4 Erling Haaland Dortmund 20/21
26.7 Edinson Cavani PSG 17/18
26.8 Callum Wilson Newcastle 22/23

Haaland and Alcácer managed to beat the man himself, Mauro Icardi in a season.

In case you wonder who is on the other side of the spectrum, I also noted the players with most touches per goal, so those players who scored lots of goals (at least 14) despite being a lot involved in the game itself unlike the strikers in the 2 tables above:

Touches per Goal (Goals) Player Club Season
150.6 (18) Bruno Fernandes Man United 20/21
150.1 (16) Lionel Messi PSG 22/23
147.4 (16) Eden Hazard Chelsea 18/19
140.0 (15) Martin Ødegaard Arsenal
134.4 (14) Bukayo Saka Arsenal
131.4 (15) Antoine Griezmann Atlético
130.4 (17) Kai Havertz Leverkusen 18/19
130.4 (15) Philippe Coutinho Liverpool/Barcelona 17/18
122.0 (16) Bukayo Saka Arsenal 23/24
122.0 (15) Antoine Griezmann Atlético 18/19
121.4 (15) Kevin De Bruyne Man City 21/22
120.3 (15) Domenico Berardi Sassuolo 21/22
120.0 (19) Lorenzo Insigne Napoli 20/21

The threshold needs to be higher here because unlike in the first statistic here it’s really important to get players with a “low” goal count out of the statistics, otherwise you would get someone like Sergio Ramos or Hakan Calhanoglu at the top, who fluked their way into a ~11 goal season despite being a CB or CDM.