The Englishman leading Messi in Golden Boot race

Englishman Sam Surridge is leading the way in the MLS goalscoring charts

Lionel Messi has had various memorable Golden Boot battles in the past - usually with Cristiano Ronaldo - but he has a new rival now in Englishman Sam Surridge.

Surridge's goal for Nashville in their 2-1 defeat against Cincinnati has taken him on to 21 goals, two clear of Inter Miami's Messi in the battle to be MLS top scorer.

Nashille only have four games left of the 34-game regular season (on which the Golden Boot is judged) - while Inter Miami, who took part in the Club World Cup, have eight remaining.

Several other players are close on their tails too, including 18-goal LAFC man Denis Bouanga.

Messi, 38, has scored 61 goals in 74 games for Inter Miami but has yet to win the league's Golden Boot.

He did win the Pichichi Trophy, La Liga's top scorer award, eight times - and the European Shoe five times though.

Most famously he hit 50 La Liga goals in 2011–12.

Meanwhile Surridge's best league goalscoring season was eight in League Two.

Who is Surridge?

Former England Under-21 striker Surridge, now 27, started his professional career with Bournemouth.

Loans followed at local non-league sides Weymouth and Poole, League Two clubs Yeovil and Oldham and then Championship side Swansea.

He then moved on to Stoke and Nottingham Forest on permanent deals - and helped the latter into the Premier League in 2022-23.

"You got to ask this guy how many different clubs he's played for," his MLS team-mate Alex Muyl said.

"We do a thing in preseason where we talk about our journey, and he spent the first five minutes just listing clubs that he's been at."

However he was never the most prolific with his eight League Two goals in both 2017-18 (for Yeovil) and 2018-19 (for Oldham) his best league hauls in England.

He netted once in the Premier League in 20 matches for Forest before making the move to the US for about £5m in 2023.

Surridge scored 12 goals last season in MLS and has netted 21 this season.

His 43 goals in total for Nashville make him the club's second top scorer ever. They were founded in 2016 and joined MLS in 2020.

He has zero European Golden Shoes.

"When you play against men in, say, League Two, and it's not easiest when you're going away and you're 19, 20 and you've got to try and grind out a win, and it's wet and it's rainy," Surridge told the MLS website this summer.

"I think that was important for me, where I learned that from a young age, and it hopefully shows now where I've got that experience of trying to grind out wins, and it just comes more natural.

"It's definitely a different pathway, I'd say, to what a lot of other players do. But it's one that I think has put me in good stead now. I've experienced loads of different types of football."

Who else has won the MLS Golden Boot?

Surridge would become the second Englishman to be the top scorer in MLS after Bradley Wright-Phillips, who top scored in 2014 and 2016 for New York Red Bulls.

Other previous winners include Landon Donovan, Sebastian Giovinco, Carlos Vela and Christian Benteke.

Ex-Aston Villa striker Benteke netted 23 goals for DC United last season, with three players including Messi and Luis Suarez on 20.