Diego Maradona vs Dejan Savićević: Stats Compared
Forward / Playmaker, Argentina (born 1960, retired 1997) · Attacking Midfielder, Yugoslavia (born 1966, retired 2001)
Few debates split football fans quite like Diego Maradona versus Dejan Savićević. Strikers are judged on goals, and on that raw currency both men delivered extraordinary returns. The raw numbers read 293 goals in 582 outings for Diego Maradona (0.50/game), versus 110 in 450 for Dejan Savićević (0.24/game). Modern assist data only covers part of their careers, so creativity is hard to compare cleanly — Diego Maradona is listed at 0 and Dejan Savićević at 70 where figures survive. The honours ledger favours Diego Maradona with 6 major trophies (1× FIFA World Cup (1986)) against Dejan Savićević's 5 (1× European Cup (1991)). Where Diego Maradona was a flair-driven presence in the box, Dejan Savićević offered a intelligent approach to goalscoring. Club journeys add another layer, with Diego Maradona reaching his representative peak around 1986 across Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, Newell's Old Boys and Dejan Savićević doing so around 1994 with Budućnost Podgorica, Red Star Belgrade, AC Milan, Rapid Wien. Picking between them says as much about the picker as the players.
174 words · comparison angle: goalscoring
Player profiles
Argentine legend who almost single-handedly led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup and transformed Napoli into Italian and European contenders.
“A low-centre-of-gravity left-footed genius whose dribbling and playmaking carried teams single-handedly.”
Nicknamed 'The Genius', Savićević was a mesmerising Montenegrin playmaker whose iconic lobbed goal in the 1994 Champions League final capped AC Milan's most dominant era.
“An audacious, unpredictable dribbler whose flair and outrageous invention made him one of the most watchable players of his generation.”
Head-to-head stats
Career goals by season
Representative career seasons — goals per season for each player across their documented clubs.
Attribute radar
Attribute ratings are peak-era, 0–100. Different positions naturally skew the profile.
Attribute comparison
Trophy breakdown
- 1× FIFA World Cup (1986)
- 1× UEFA Cup (1989)
- 2× Serie A (1987, 1990)
- 1× Copa Italia (1987)
- 1× Argentine Primera División (1981)
- 1× European Cup (1991)
- 3× Serie A (1993, 1994, 1996)
- 1× UEFA Champions League (1994)
Trophy distribution
Career milestones
- 1976 Argentinos Juniors debut ten days before his 16th birthday
- 1981 Joined Boca Juniors and won the Argentine league
- 1982 World-record transfer to Barcelona
- 1984 Signed for Napoli for another world-record fee
- 1987 Led Napoli to their first ever Serie A title
- 1990 Captained Argentina to a second consecutive World Cup final
- 1997 Played his final professional matches at Boca Juniors
- 1982 Professional debut for Budućnost Podgorica
- 1991 Won European Cup with Red Star Belgrade
- 1994 Won UEFA Champions League with AC Milan
- 1994 Reached the peak of his powers at AC Milan
- 2001 Retired after a final spell at Rapid Wien
- Finished his career with 110 goals in 450 appearances and 5 major honours. Finished his career with 110 goals in 450 appearances and 5 major honours.
The verdict
Taking goals, assists, silverware and overall profile together, Diego Maradona takes it by a decisive margin.
Diego Maradona edges it (a decisive margin)
