Romelu Lukaku’s performance on his second Chelsea debut against was nothing short of sensational.

The Belgian striker scored within 15 minutes and was a general nightmare for the Arsenal defence for 90 minutes.

He earned the Man of the Match award as he immediately showed he’s worth every penny of the £97.5 million Chelsea paid for him this summer.

In fact, Lukaku was so good that some football fans were claiming that he’s now the best striker in the world.

Well, is he?

We got thinking and decided to use Tiermaker to rank the current best strikers in world football.

And by strikers, we mean out-and-out strikers. That’s why there’s no Lionel Messi, Neymar or Mohamed Salah included.

So, from ‘Overrated’ to ‘The Best’, let’s take a look:

Quiz: Can you name the footballer based on their Wikipedia page?

Overrated

Gabriel Jesus
Alexandre Lacazette
Timo Werner
Callum Wilson
Patrick Bamford
Aleksandar Mitrović
Kelechi Iheanacho

Now, we’re not saying these strikers aren’t very good but they don’t deserve to be in the conversation when it comes to discussing the best striker in the world.

All of them have scored at the very highest level in the toughest league in the world, the Premier League. Meanwhile, Timo Werner is currently a champion of Europe.

But best in the world? No chance.

Average

Tammy Abraham
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Antoine Griezmann
Duvan Zapata
Ollie Watkins
Olivier Giroud
Alassane Plea

Again, all of these are decent players but they’re not among the best in the world.

Tammy Abraham has made a great start to life in Italy with Roma, while Antoine Griezmann is still a quality player on his day.

We feel Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is now past his best at Arsenal, while the same could be said about AC Milan’s Olivier Giroud.

Decent

Edinson Cavani
Roberto Firmino
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Danny Ings
Jamie Vardy
Dusan Vlahovic
Lautaro Martinez
Edin Dzeko
Gerard Moreno
Luis Muriel
Iñaki Williams

The medium ground. These guys certainly know where the back of the net is.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was probably in the ‘Very Good’ or ‘World-class’ category at the peak of his career but, at the age of 39, has slipped down to simply ‘Decent.’

Another former Paris Saint-Germain striker in Edinson Cavani is still very much ‘Decent’. So too is Liverpool, Roberto Firmino despite his lack of goals.

On the European scene, Fiorentina starlet Dusan Vlahovic looks to have a very big future.

Very Good

Karim Benzema
Luis Suarez
Ciro Immobile
Memphis Depay

It’s interesting that the four players in the ‘Very Good’ category are all pretty experienced. Karim Benzema, Luis Suarez and Ciro Immobile are all in their 30s but show absolutely no sign of slowing down.

Meanwhile, Memphis Depay, 27, has started life in Barcelona strongly and could take his career to the next level at Camp Nou.

World-class

Harry Kane
Kylian Mbappe
Romelu Lukaku
Erling Haaland
Cristiano Ronaldo

Lukaku is fully deserving of his place in the ‘World-Class’ tier, alongside Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo fans may argue that the Portuguese legend should be ‘The Best’ but, at the age of 36, we feel he may have been overtaken.

The best

Robert Lewandowski

Who else? It’s boring but Robert Lewandowski is STILL the best striker in world football. His goalscoring record in recent years is nothing short of ridiculous and, despite turning 33 this weekend, the Pole is simply the best.

Final rankings

So, Lukaku may have produced an incredible performance vs Arsenal but he’s still got some way to go before we can compare him to Lewandowski.

However, with the Bayern man now 33, there are plenty of strikers looking to take his place as ‘The Best’. Haaland and Mbappe will be at the very highest level for years to come while Kane could go up a level if he starts winning trophies with Manchester City - if the move goes through.