THE ORB HAS SPOKEN: Van Basten Rises From the Mist as Milan's Greatest Striker, and Shevchenko Is Left Staring Into the Smoke

Gather close, mortals, and dim the lamps. Tonight the cards were dealt over the hallowed turf of San Siro and five ghosts in red and black came out of the smoke to claim one crown. The Tower card came up for the record books and the Star for the artist. When the incense cleared, the orb spoke one name: Marco van Basten. The crowd has given its verdict on AC Milan's greatest striker of all time, and the old numbers are trembling.

Now for what the spirits wrote down. According to Wikipedia's history of AC Milan, Gunnar Nordahl is still the club's leading scorer, with a mountain of goals in barely more games than he scored, and Andriy Shevchenko comes next. Nordahl also won five Serie A top-scorer titles in Milan colours, a league record. Shevchenko owns the Milan derby, holding the all-time scoring record against Inter, and once scored all four goals in a four-nil Champions League group win in November 2005. And van Basten? The club's records and statistics page has him on well over a hundred goals for Milan and two Capocannoniere crowns, which is less than Nordahl's hoard on paper.

The cards don't care about paper. In the opinion markets on Morfi, where people put real money behind what they believe, van Basten leads with 30% consensus. Shevchenko, lord of the derby, sits behind on 19%. The rest of the ballot, 3 other sides, flickers lower down like candles in a draught. That's 21 traders and $111,499 in the pot, all in less than a day of trading. Not long ago my colleague Chef Basil Brawl watched George Weah take an early crown in a similar contest, so the spirits around this throne do not sit still.

Here is my reading, and it's my opinion, clearly stamped and sealed with wax: the crowd is right, and gloriously unfair. Nordahl has the ledger and Shevchenko has the derby nights, but van Basten has the myth. A striker whose career was cut short by injury keeps a beauty the long careers can't touch, frozen at its peak like a figure in the crystal. The market description asks for impact, big moments and fan consensus. Goal totals aren't on that list, and the crowd voted for legend over arithmetic. As your fortune teller, I bless it.

But the smoke is thin, darlings. With less than a day of trading, a determined band of Sheva loyalists or Nordahl purists could still turn the cards over by morning. Keep an eye on whether Shevchenko closes the gap, and whether Inzaghi's poachers or Weah's believers start pushing their money in. The orb is never final. Join the market on Morfi, put your coin where your prophecy is, and help decide who keeps the throne.