Leo Messi already sits on the throne that Telmo Zarra held for 67 years. The Argentine had few records left to beat in the Spanish championship. One of them was the one of the seven Pichichi trophies of the legendary Basque scorer, who seemed unattainable to anyone. A season ago, Messi tied six Pichichis with Zarra and This course has passed you. It is time to look for a new challenge.
Messi's seventh Pichichi equals him with seven to Gerd Müller, who until yesterday was the only historical goalscorer in the major leagues who has managed to be the top scorer in his league in seven seasons. Now, Messi has a new goal in his sights: if he wins a new Pichichi, he will be, with eight, the solo leader of this classification of the select club of super scorers.
Gerd Müller was crowned seven times as Germany's top gunner, always wearing the colors of Bayern Munich. He won it seasons 66-67, 68-69, 69-70, 71-72, 72-73, 73-74, and 77-78. On three of these occasions he won it by sharing the award with Emmerich in '67, Jupp Heynckes in '74 and Dieter Müller in '78..
The 'Torpedo' is the last objective of a Messi who had already surpassed the players of the major leagues who had stayed as top gunners the most times.
In England, the honor went to Jimmy Greaves, six times top scorer League (not yet Premier). He won it twice with Chelsea (58-59 and 60-61) and then four times with Tottenham (consecutive from 63 to 65 and then in 69). If we stick only to the Premier period, it is Thierry Henry who most times was the top scorer with four.
In Italy the cappocanonniere par excellence was the Swedish Gunnar Nordhal, who defending the colors of Milan in the 1950s was Italy's top scorer five times..
In France the maximum number of times that someone has won the top scorer trophy is also five, as in England and Italy, but here the honor is shared between two players from two different eras. Carlos Bianchi was three times the top scorer in the French League with Reims (74.76 and 77) and two more at Paris Saint Germain. His record equaled him in the late 1980s and early 1990s Jean Pierre Papin with Olympique de Marseille who was France's top scorer five times in a row.
The South American case is left aside, where in Argentina Maradona has five top scorer awards adding metropolitan and national championships. In the 1950s, with a full championship against everyone, José Sanfilippo, from San Lorenzo, was the top scorer four times.
In Brazil, Pelé has nine top goalscorer awards, but only in the São Paulo league since he did not play a Brazilian.