If you were told to name the highest scoring Argentines in all top five leagues this season, the obvious choices would be Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Mauro Icardi, but they're all incorrect.
The correct answer would be Emiliano Sala, a 28-year-old playing for FC Nantes in Ligue 1 who climbed into double figures this weekend with a brace against bottom of the league Guingamp and is just one goal behind Kylian Mbappe in the scoring charts.
It's a remarkable turnaround for the six foot two forward, who wasn't fancied by former manager Miguel Cardoso at the start of the season and nearly left for Turkish champions Galatasaray on deadline day.
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Since then, Cardoso has been replaced by Vahid Halilhodžić, a title winner as a player with Nantes and Les Canaris have moved up to 10th following a run of three wins in a row, with Sala scoring in all three fixtures.
When asked about his in-form attacker, the Bosnian manager hinted that Sala has improved his attitude off the field as well as on it.
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"He scores? So what, he's paid to do that. The goalkeeper doesn't score. When I arrived, the lad had a very low level of morale, but he went to work. He's not the type of striker we often see today, playing with his back to goal, but he gives our attack a focal point."
In comparison to his Argentine comrades, Sala has netted three more goals than Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero as well as four more than Mauro Icardi.
The statistics in contrast to his Nantes teammates are far more staggering, as their second highest top scorer is Gabriel Boschilia with three goals this campaign.
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Despite Argentina's stacked attacking options which see Paulo Dybala and Mauro Icardi regularly miss out, Sala's form will surely be giving Argentine caretaker manager Lionel Scaloni a selection headache leading into the next international break.
Words by Danny Marland
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Mauro Icardi, Ligue 1, Lionel Messi, French football, Champions League
