Golden Boots are always dished out at the end of the season to the player who has scored the most goals that campaign.

Many strikers place a lot of importance to the accolade.

So much so that, if the standings are tight towards the end of the campaign, they become rather selfish in an attempt to score more goals.

But what if the award for top goalscorer was decided at the end of each calendar year?

Who would be leading the 2019 standings?

Well, thanks to transfermarkt.co.uk we can find out.

To be considered for the award, the player has to be playing in Europe’s top-five leagues (Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 or Serie A).

And all goals count (league, national cup and European competitions).

So, how does the top 25 look?

Of course, there are more than two months remaining in 2019 and you certainly wouldn’t rule out Lionel Messi overtaking Robert Lewandowski in the table.

But with third-place Sergio Aguero five goals behind Messi, it’s surely a two-horse race now.

As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he’s all the way down in 16th.

The Juventus star has played 26 times meaning he’s produced a goal every 141 minutes.

Meanwhile, Messi actually has the best goal-per-minute ratio in the top 25 goalscorers with one strike every 87 minutes.

Not bad for a 32-year-old.

However, Messi still wishes that his rival - Ronaldo - was still pushing him to his limits in Spain.

“I wanted him [Ronaldo] to continue with Real Madrid,” Messi said. “He gave a plus to the rivalry in the Clasico and La Liga."