Name: Diego Forlán

Club: Atlético Madrid

Country: Uruguay

Position: Forward

In 2005, the former Manchester United misfit claimed the European Golden Shoe award by racking up 25 league goals for Villarreal. Four years on, Forlán has repeated the feat, thanks largely to a magical May which has seen him shatter his previous career best. And with Atlético facing a dogfight for the fourth and final Champions League spot in Spain, the Uruguayan’s incredible scoring spree could not have come at a more crucial time. While Argentine wonderkid Sergio Agüero is considered Atlético’s most exciting prospect, he has largely been overshadowed this season by the work-rate, clever movement, and lethal finishing instincts of his blonde-haired strike partner.

The brilliance of Forlán (L) has put even the highly-regarded Agüero in the shade

Forlán kicked off the month with a coolly taken double to give his side a 2-0 win at Real Betis, and then added another brace – the first a scorching left-footed strike from 25 yards, the second a last-minute winner – as the Madrid club overturned a 2-0 half-time deficit to defeat Espanyol 3-2 at the Vicente Calderón. A first-half penalty was enough to dispatch Valencia, one of Atlético’s rivals for that last Champions League berth, while a second-half hat-trick at Athletic Bilbao resulted in a 4-1 win which kept the rojiblancos in fourth, two points clear of Forlán’s former club Villarreal. Finally, another long-range screamer sealed a 3-0 home win over Almería on the final day to secure another season of Champions League football. The upshot of Forlán’s flurry is that he surged ahead in the race for the Pichichi with 32 league goals – two more than nearest rival Samuel Eto’o – and also topped the Golden Shoe rankings with 64 points.

If they haven’t been following his exploits in Spain over the last few years, Manchester United fans will have a hard time reconciling the 30-year-old’s current vein of form with the forlorn, frustrated figure who managed only 17 goals in 95 appearances for the Red Devils. After almost single-handedly firing Atlético to a second successive fourth-place finish, he may well get another chance to make an impact in England (or at one of Spain's bigger clubs) before too long.

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