Where Robert Lewandowski Ranks Alongside the Bundesliga's 20 Best Strikers

The balance of power in the German Bundesliga is something that often takes shape through the wheeling and dealing of the league's biggest clubs.

From Borussia Dortmund's reinvention through the savvy grooming of young talent from untested markets to the big-money deals that keep Bayern Munich on top most of the time, the old famous salad bowl often tends to find itself following the trail of numerous transfer receipts. 

Robert Lewandowski is an example of such a transaction. Although the Polish striker has yet to leave Dortmund for Munich, the power shift is already notable. Lewandowski is moving to Bayern this summer and with him any hope of Jurgen Klopp's side keeping up with Pep Guardiola's team of superstars. 

But just how much power and influence does the Polish international have over one side to the next and can he single-handedly turn a title race on its head? 

To do this, we'll have to take a look at his ability as a striker and compare it to the very best that have outscored the rest in the Bundesliga over the ages. 

Here's how Robert Lewandowski fits in amongst the 20 best strikers the Bundesliga has ever seen. 

All stats used in this article are from transfermarkt.co.uk

20—16

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20. Grafite 

A long time ago, Wolfsburg used to rub shoulders with the best in the Bundesliga and that was in part due to the fantastic striker partnership of Edin Dzeko and his Brazilian teammate Grafite. The latter of course standing as something of a one-season-wonder, yet with 25 goals in 28 matches under Felix Magath, he deserves a spot on this list. 

19. Edin Dzeko

The second player on our list is then the aforementioned striker partner of Wolfsurg's famous forward line, Edin Dzeko. Now plying his trade in Manchester for one of the biggest clubs in the world, Dzeko made his name in the Bundesliga scoring 85 goals in just four seasons in Germany. 

18. Miroslav Klose

With 68 goals for the German national team, Miroslav Klose will always be regarded as a legend within German football, but we musn't forget what he accomplished in the Bundesliga too. With three separate clubs—Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and then Bayern—the German international amassed an incredible 167 goals. 

17. Mario Gomez

It would be easy to criticise Mario Gomez as no more than a limited striker who had his chances fed to him on a silver spoon at Bayern. Yet let's instead remember his glorious Stuttgart days, in which he scored 87 goals in four seasons and won German Footballer of the Year along the way. Oh, and not mention the 113 goals he scored in 174 games at the Munich side. 

16. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Famously referred to as the best player in the world in the penalty box by none other than Louis Van Gaal, Klaas-Jan "the hunter" Huntelaar comes in to our list as a seasoned professional in the German top division. Although this current Schalke side may be anything but consistent, we can rely upon the Dutch striker to knock goals in for fun week after week. 

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15. Mario Mandzukic

Although Mario Mandzukic may not have scored as many Bundesliga goals as some in this list, the manner in which he has been able to walk into this current Bayern team—one of the best in the league's history—and score 43 goals in one-and-a-half seasons is simply spectacular. Add to that the contribution he has made in picking up six trophies in that time period and you have a truly wonderful striker. 

14. Tony Yeboah

Tony Yeboah will always be remembered for the outstanding work he did for racial equality in Germany during his first spell in the Bundesliga at Eintracht Frankfurt, but we must also note that he had an outstanding record at the club. Sixty-eight goals in just 128 games puts his ratio right up there with some of the best. 

13. Giovane Elber

With a great start to his career at Stuttgart and then later on at Bayern, Giovane Elber is undoubtedly one of the best strikers in Bundesliga history. A hundred and thirty-three league goals between the two clubs ensured him of four Bundesliga titles and the affection of German football fans the world over. 

12. Stefan Kiessling

Like Gomez, Kiessling has endured harsh criticism over the manner of his football for the duration of his entire career, yet you'll be hard done to find a Leverkusen fan who doesn't appreciate the towering striker for all he's worth. A Bundesliga leading goalscorer for the past eight seasons and counting. 

11. Ulf Kirsten

With 13 years under his belt at Bayer Leverkusen, Ulf Kirsten is undoubtedly one of the most loyal players on this list, with 182 goals in 350 games for the Factory Squad throughout his career. The East German striker was easily one of the best throughout the '90s, even if his side tended to falter against the bigger sides. 

10—6

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10. Stefan Kuntz

Although the former German international and Euro 1996 winner may be more popular on this side of the channel for a notable Frank Skinner joke, Kuntz stands as a rather esteemed striker in the German top division with more goals than most in this list. Predominant in his stints at Bochum and Kaiserslautern, the forward finished top of the Bundesliga goalscoring charts in 1986 and 1994. 

9. Dieter Muller

Perhaps best remembered for his goal in the 1976 European Championship final, Dieter Muller was a striker at FC Koln in the late '70s who simply couldn't stop scoring. In 248 games, the German international scored a staggering 159 goals, with one particular game against Werder Bremen in 1977 in which he broke the record for goals scored by one player in a single match with six to his name. 

8. Claudio Pizarro

Famously known as the striker with more Bundesliga goals than any other foreigner in the league's history. Claudio Pizarro became renowned as the "Andres Bomber" for his incredible skill and ability to score goals, with 169 to his name after successful stints at Bremen and Bayern. 

7. Manfred Burgsmuller

Although well regarded as a free-scoring midfielder for Dortmund throughout the '70s and early '80s, Manfred Burgsmuller was predominantly a striker throughout a career which saw him collect an incredible 213 goals. Only three players in the league's 50-year history can claim to have scored more.

6. Klaus Fischer 

One of those players is none other than the famous Schalke striker Klaus Fischer, who comes in at No. 2 in the Bundesliga all-time goalscorer table. In 305 games for the Royal Blues, Fischer netted 182 goals and to this day still holds the record for most prolific player at the club. 

5. Robert Lewandowski

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Well at least he made it this far. From the humble beginnings of Legia Warsaw to the apple in Bayern's eye, Robert Lewandowski has gone from zero to hero in an incredibly short time. 

The bench-warming, out-of-form striker that Dortmund managed to pick up for a few million pounds from the Polish top division seems like a lifetime ago, yet in the early stages of the 2011-12 season, a fateful injury would overcome Lucas Barrios and in would step our beloved forward. 

Since then, Lewandowski has scored 96 goals in 169 games for Klopp's side as they did the unthinkable and won two Bundesliga titles on the bounce in 2011 and 2012, before making history forever and reaching the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley. 

This Dortmund side may not last forever and into the abyss that is the mid-table obscurity of the Bundesliga this club may return, but no one will ever forget what they achieved and how unstoppable they were for a brief moment in time.

That magic and those memories were down to this striker just as much as anyone else at the club and as he will undoubtedly prove once he moves to Bayern, Lewandowski is and shall ever remain one of the best forwards to have ever played in the Bundesliga. 

4. Jupp Heynckes

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It comes as quite an ironic twist on the wonderful world of football that Jupp Heynckes has unfortunately retired from the sport in the knowledge that he will undoubtedly be remembered for what he did as a coach at Bayern Munich rather than as a player at Borussia Moenchengladbach. 

Yet if we could step back in time for just one moment, we would be able to go back in a world in which Gladbach once went toe-to-toe with the might of Bayern through one man alone: their star striker Jupp Heynckes. 

Although the Foal's top goalscorer never truly got his chance to shine for the German national team, he did more than enough throughout his career in the Bundesliga to be defined as one of the greats. 

From the club's opening season in the division in 1965, in which a young 20-year-old striker scored 23 goals in 25 matches, to his fateful retirement as a player in 1978, Heynckes amassed an incredible 220 Bundesliga goals in 368 games. A record which only two players have managed to beat in the league's half-century existence. 

3. Karl Heinz Rummenigge

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Although Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was an outstanding goalscorer throughout his time at Bayern Munich and later at Internazionale, it was the German forward's ability to dribble with such power and skill that made him stand out as a truly amazing player. 

Over his 10-year period at the Munich club, Rummenigge helped win two European Cups in 1975 and 1976, but it was the individual awards that frequented his career following Bayern's golden era that really stood him out as a world-class striker. 

He won the award for Bundesliga top goalscorer on three occasions in 1980, 1981 and 1984, German footballer of the year in 1980 and of course European footballer of the year on two consecutive years in 1980 and 1981. The world may have been in love with Diego Maradona, but Germany couldn't look past this man. 

2. Uwe Seeler

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Before the German Bundesliga was founded in 1963 as the first national professional football league in the country, there were a number of smaller regional leagues to which we find the Hamburg legend of Uwe Seeler. 

Seeler was a striker who played for the northern club for just under 20 years as they went from a regional side to German champions. 

In that period of time, the West German international scored 404 goals in 476 games for Hamburg in all competitions, with 137 of them coming in the Bundesliga itself, making him the club's top goalscorer throughout its 126-year history. 

In fact no other player, aside from one special striker, has scored more goals in German competitions throughout their career and for that record alone Seeler deserves to be second in this list. 

1. Gerd Muller

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Come on, you can't be that surprised, can you?

With records such as 68 goals in 62 international appearances for the German national team, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games for Bayern Munich, and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European club games for his club, Gerd Muller not only comes in this list as the most accomplished Bundesliga striker of all time, but as one of the most successful goalscorers throughout the sport ever.

Unlike players such as Rummenigge, Heynckes or even Lewandowski, Muller was small, squat and far from quick or pacey, yet it was his intelligence and instinctual ability to find the goal that stood him out as one of the best to have ever graced the sport.  

Der Bomber was simply in a class of his own throughout his career, winning the Bundesliga top-goalscorer trophy on no fewer than seven occasions as well as European top goalscorer, World Cup top goalscorer and European player of the year in 1970 alone. 

He stands alone at the top of the Bundesliga all-time goalscoring charts with nearly 100 goals between him and Klaus Fischer in second place. A margin that seems all too fitting for such a player.