If a striker scores 30 goals in a season across all competition, that is usually considered an impressive mark.
Some of the game's great goalscorers have hit 30 or more in a single season, but fewer have managed to reach 40 in a club campaign.
In recent years, two players have taken goalscoring stats to new levels, regularly registering 50, 60 or more in a season.
Here, a look at some of the players in the men's game who scored 40 or more goals in a season of club football...
Gary Lineker (Everton)
Gary Lineker often says that the best team he ever played in was the Everton side of 1985/86.
The former England striker spent a sole season at Goodison Park and just missed out on major honours as the Toffees finished as runners-up to city rivals Liverpool in the First Division and the FA Cup. But it was a successful campaign in front of goal for Lineker, who hit a career-best 40 goals in 57 appearances. After finishing as top scorer in the World Cup later that summer, he signed for Barcelona.
Neymar (Santos)
Neymar was wanted by virtually all of Europe's top clubs after emerging as a huge talent at Santos in 2009.
The Brazilian forward went on to make 225 appearances for the Vila Belmiro club, scoring 136 goals, before signing for Barcelona in 2013. Neymar twice reached 40 in a single season, hitting 42 in 60 games in 2010 and 43 in 47 in 2012. He also led Santos to the Copa Libertadores title in 2011.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Mohamed Salah scored just twice in 19 appearances during his time at Chelsea in 2013 and 2014, but the Egyptian forward was prolific from the outset after signing for Liverpool in 2017.
Salah struck 44 goals in 52 appearances in his debut campaign for the Reds in 2017/18, making him Liverpool's second-highest scorer in a season and the highest in the Premier League era.
Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)
Kylian Mbappé joined Paris Saint-Germain as a teenager from Monaco and left his hometown club as their all-time top scorer after seven seasons at the Parc des Princes.
Mbappé reached 40 goals in three of those campaigns: 42 in 47 games in 2020/21; 41 in 43 in 2022/23; and 44 in 48 in 2023/24. He also finished with 39 goals in another two seasons and finished his career in Paris with an impressive 256 goals in 308 games overall.
Ronaldo (Barcelona)
Younger fans might remember Ronaldo's time at Real Madrid more clearly, but it was at Barcelona that the brilliant Brazilian enjoyed his best season.
In a single year at Barça in 1996/97, O Fenômeno hit 47 goals in 49 appearances as Bobby Robson's side won three trophies and finished second in La Liga. Ronaldo signed for Inter in the summer of 1997 and was never quite the same player after suffering a series of knee injuries during his time in Milan.
Clive Allen (Tottenham)
Playing as the lone striker in an attacking Tottenham team featuring the creative talents of Glenn Hoddle, Chris Waddle and Ossie Ardiles, Clive Allen helped himself to 49 goals in 54 games in the 1986/87 season.
The last of those goals came in the FA Cup final against Coventry City at Wembley, but Spurs were beaten 3-2 by the Sky Blues and Allen – who went on to play for the likes of Bordeaux, Chelsea, Manchester City and West Ham – would end his career without a major honour.
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain)
One of the world's finest forwards for more than a decade, Zlatan Ibrahimović played for some of Europe's biggest clubs and scored over 500 career goals.
In four prolific campaigns at Paris Saint-Germain, the former Sweden striker hit 156 goals in just 180 appearances, including 50 in 51 games in 2015/16. He left to join Manchester United in the summer.
Henrik Larsson (Celtic)
Henrik Larsson was a huge favourite with Celtic fans in a goal-laden seven seasons at the Glasgow giants between 1997 and 2004.
The former Sweden striker hit 242 goals in 313 appearances, helping the Bhoys to an array of silverware during his time in Scotland. He peaked in 2000/01, scoring 53 goals in just 50 games. Larsson also netted 44 in 51 and 41 in 58, respectively, in his last two seasons at Celtic Park.
Mário Jardel (Grêmio, Porto & Sporting CP)
Although largely overlooked by Brazil due to the presence of Ronaldo and Romário, Mário Jardel was a phenomenal striker in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Jardel helped Brazilian club Grêmio win the Copa Libertadores in a successful loan spell in the mid-1990s, bagging 42 goals in 64 games across all competitions in 1995. Best remembered for his time at Porto, the striker hit an amazing 169 goals in 175 games, including 55 in 50 appearances in 1999/2000. After a season with Galatasaray in Turkey, Jardel returned to Portugal with Sporting CP and struck 55 goals again, this time from just 42 games. He faded after that due to injuries, weight concerns and drug addiction, turning out for a number of smaller sides later in his career.
Ian Rush (Liverpool)
Liverpool's all-time top scorer with 346 goals in 660 appearances across two long spells, either side of a year at Juventus in 1987/88.
Rush scored 47 goals in 65 games in 1983/84 as Liverpool won the First Division title, the League Cup and the European Cup. The former Welsh forward hit another 40 in 57 games in 1986/87 before leaving for Juventus, returning a year later and staying for another eight seasons at Anfield.
Harry Kane (Tottenham & Bayern Munich)
Harry Kane came through the youth ranks at Tottenham and went on to become the club's all-time top scorer, surpassing the great Jimmy Greaves.
Kane scored 280 goals for Spurs overall, including 41 in 48 games in 2017/18. That was his career-best mark until his debut campaign at Bayern Munich, which yielded 44 from just 45 appearances in all competitions.
Luis Suárez (Barcelona)
Luis Suárez struck 198 goals for Barcelona in six seasons at the Catalan club, netting over 20 in each of those campaigns.
More than a quarter of the Uruguayan's goals came in 2015/16, with the former Liverpool striker on target 59 times in 53 games as Barça won La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund & Manchester City)
Erling Haaland scored 86 goals in just 89 appearances for Borussia Dortmund in two-and-a-half seasons in Germany, including 41 in 41 appearances in 2020/21.
The Norwegian moved to Manchester City in the summer of 2022 and helped the Sky Blues win the treble in his debut season, hitting an incredible 52 goals in 53 games for Pep Guardiola's side.
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Robert Lewandowski joined Bayern Munich from fierce rivals Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2014 and left in 2022 as the Bavarian club's second-highest scorer of all time, behind only the legendary Gerd Müller.
After hitting 25 goals in a respectable debut campaign with Bayern in 2013/14, the Polish striker went on to score more 40 goals or more in each of the next seven seasons: 42 in 2015/16, 43 in 2016/17, 41 in 2017/18, 40 in 2018/19, 55 in 2019/20, 48 in 2020/21 and 50 in 2021/22.
Pelé (Santos)
In 18 years at Santos between 1956 and 1974, Pelé scored over 600 goals and for most of that time was considered the world's greatest player.
The three-time World Cup winner scored over 40 goals a season on eight separate occasions, netting a career-best 66 from 46 games in the 1958 campaign.
Gerd Müller (Bayern Munich)
Gerd Müller joined Bayern Munich from local club TSV 1861 Nördlingen in 1964 and starred alongside the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier in a glorious era for the Bavarians.
Müller racked up an incredible 565 goals in 607 appearances for Bayern across 15 years, finishing with over 40 to his name in seven separate seasons. Those included 50 in 48 games in 1971/72 and 66 in 49 the following year, which was a record until it was beaten by Barcelona's Lionel Messi in 2011/12.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid & Al-Nassr)
Not a prolific scorer early in his career, Cristiano Ronaldo took his game to new levels under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and scored 42 goals in 49 games as the Red Devils won the Premier League and the Champions League in 2007/08.
The Portuguese superstar netted 33 times in 35 games in his debut campaign at Real Madrid, but went on to average 50 a season over his nine years at the Santiago Bernabéu. Ronaldo scored 53 goals in 2010/11, 60 in 2011/12, 55 in 2012/13, 51 in 2013/14, 61 in 2014/15, 51 in 2015/16, 42 in 2016/17 and 44 in 2017/18. Cristiano went on to score 50 goals in his first full season with Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League in 2023/24, in just 51 games. His best return at Juventus was 37 across all competitions in 2019/20.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Lionel Messi scored an unbelievable 672 goals in 778 games for Barcelona between 2005 and 2021. It is a total which may never be beaten.
The Argentine attacker hit 40 or more goals for 10 seasons in a row at the Catalan club: 47 in 2009/10, 53 in 2010/11, 73 in 2011/12, 60 in 2012/13, 41 in 2013/14, 58 in 2014/15, 41 in 2015/16, 54 in 2016/17, 45 in 2017/18 and 51 in 2018/19. His 73 goals in 2011/12 is the highest by any player in a European season.
