Player Focus: Is Zlatan Ibrahimovic The Best Striker On The Continent?

It's been largely mooted that the role of the classic 'number 9' striker is slowly dying out. In the modern game, frontmen are expected to not only provide the goals to his respective team, but also hold play up and chip in with assists for their fellow teammates. 

This has seen the input of Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez and Edin Dzeko, of Manchester United and City respectively, for example, largely overlooked. Now, managers are expecting the players that lead the frontline to harry the opponent, hold the ball up and lay off to those sporting the same colours in order to progress. 

Napoli's Edinson Cavani and Galatasaray's Didier Drogba provide not only a physical threat in their role, but also the capability to pressurise the opposition defence in their quest to secure maximum points, all but ensuring the destruction of the 4-4-2 formation in the modern day as managers aim to add another body to midfield to stifle the impact of their creative counterparts.

No player, it can be argued, performs this to the standard of Paris-Saint Germain frontman Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The powerful Swede has regularly garnered the critics for his apparent inability to “cut the cloth” in England, regardless of his exploits across the continent, securing the domestic title with his respective team every season between 2004 and 2011.

A 40-yard overhead kick when Sweden secured a memorable 4-2 win over England back in November surprisingly didn't sway the doubters and there are those that still believe the 31-year-old to be overrated, no matter the threat he provides on the attacking line for the Ligue 1 side.

Bringing the likes of Javier Pastore, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Lucas Moura into action with his ability to shield the ball from opposition defenders and link up with the attacking trio in Paris has seen them skyrocket to the summit of Ligue 1. 

While he may not have had a hand in Javier Pastore's only goal during the hotly contested 1-0 win over Evian Thonon Gaillard on Sunday evening, the capabilities of the Sweden international have been evident throughout the current season.

This is highlighted in his contribution to the team, of which Ibrahimovic has either scored or assisted 55.7% of PSG's 61 league goals this campaign - the highest in Europe's top five leagues, ahead of Lionel Messi (55.4%) of Barcelona, Aston Villa's Christian Benteke (52.7%) and Atalanta's German Denis (52.7%).

It further showcases his influence to the PSG attack, while reinforcing his credentials as one of football's great all round strikers, as he leads the goalscoring charts in France with 27 goals and is the fourth highest ranked in the assist column in Ligue 1 with seven to his name. 

More pertinently is that of those 27 goals, 23 have come from within the 18 yard box, six more than his nearest competitor Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Saint-Etienne with 17, although the Gabon international only has 19 goals to his name and has made three more appearances than Ibrahimovic this season. 

His prolificacy inside the area is highlighted by his above return, with the striker seeing 26 of his 57 shots hitting the target. He is lethal when inside the area, converting an impressive 40.3% of his attempts when within 18 yards of the goal.

Furthermore, from all positions on the pitch, he has hit the target more times than any other player in Ligue 1 (64), giving him a shot accuracy of 45.4%. Ibrahimovic has also created the joint second most clear cut chances (17), along with Dimitri Payet of Lille and two behind Marseille's Mathieu Valbeuna, although Ibrahimovic has made fewer appearances than the pairing (34 and 33, respectively).

He may have failed to impress during the 1-0 win over Evian at the weekend, a game which saw Salvatore Sirigu, Marco Verratti and David Beckham red carded for Les Parisians, but despite making just one key pass in his 90 minutes, over the course of the season, Ibrahimovic has continuously and consistently impressed. 

It's no surprise to have seen the Sweden international linked with a big money move across the continent once again, with Juventus and Real Madrid both reportedly keen on securing his signature, especially with reports that current PSG head coach Carlo Ancelotti is set to succeed Jose Mourinho at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. 

When compared to the current striking pairing available to Los Blancos, it's evident that Ibrahimovic would be better suited to the role of lone frontman in the 4-2-3-1 that Mourinho tends to adopt - should he remain in the Spanish capital - with the 17 big chances he's created outweighing that of Karim Benzema (10) and Gonzalo Higuain (9). 

His 27 goals is also far more impressive than that of the Real duo, with Higuain netting 13 times in La Liga this season and Benzema nine, the former providing five assists and the latter eight. The France international may have one assist more than Ibrahimovic, but having directly contributed to only 20% of Real's goals this term, a figure only improved on marginally by Higuain (21.2%), the PSG frontman is again dominant when compared to Real's striking options.

While reports of a move to Juventus have been that bit stronger - a team with which he spent two successful years between 2004 and 2006, although both Serie A titles were revoked as a result of the Calciopoli scandal in 2006 - the summer arrival of Fernando Llorente would undoubtedly marginalise speculation of a return to Turin. 

It'll come as no shock, nevertheless, that PSG will be eager to hold onto their prized asset, with their win ratio dropping from 68.9% in the 29 games he's started to 40% in the five games he hasn't, further highlighting his importance to the Ligue 1 side that are one win away from their first domestic title since 1994, as Ibrahimovic continues to astound football connoisseurs with his impressive ability both on and off the ball.