Legends from Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United feature in our best Premier League strikers of all time.
We can all praise goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and wingers, but they just don’t match up to the excitement of a lethal striker.
Putting the ball in the back of the net is paramount and that’s why the top strikers go for huge money and, similarly, earn huge money.
Premier League fans have been blessed over the years with some of the top strikers in history turning out in England’s top flight.
Narrowing the list down to seven was a truly thankless task but here, we pay tribute to the seven best strikers in Premier League history…
Thierry Henry
Arguably the greatest player we have seen in the Premier League, Thierry Henry was a nightmare for defenders for many years.
You almost knew what was coming; the darting runs from an inside-left position and the trademark curled finish into the corner of the net.
Knowing it was coming was one thing, but stopping it was another as Henry wreaked havoc on his way to 175 goals in 258 Premier League appearances.
Henry won the Premier League Golden Boot four times, the Premier League Player of the Season twice and has already been entered into the Premier League Hall of Fame.
The Frenchman now has a statue outside the Emirates Stadium and it will be difficult for any Arsenal player to match Henry’s legacy in the famous red and white shirt.
Alan Shearer
We couldn’t possibly do this without naming Alan Shearer.
The top goalscorer in Premier League history with 260 goals to his name, Shearer carved out a great reputation for himself with Southampton and Blackburn Rovers.
Shearer then returned home, joining boyhood club Newcastle United in 1996 whilst becoming an absolute club hero.
Shearer may have never won a trophy at Newcastle but 148 goals in 303 – the final of which came against Sunderland – means his legacy can’t be spoiled, not even by a dismal spell as Magpies boss.
The first inductee into the Premier League Hall of Fame, Shearer’s record makes him the man to chase for all strikers in the Premier League – and the next man up may have passed up the chance to beat his record…
Harry Kane
Even Tottenham Hotspur fans were probably stunned by the rise of Harry Kane.
There wasn’t huge hype surrounding Kane in the Spurs ranks and loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City didn’t seem to put him on a path to super-stardom.
Kane couldn’t stop scoring in the 2014-15 season and just never looked back, smashing a ridiculous 213 goals in 317 games.
Kane’s finishing is simply on another level and his creative abilities made him a truly exceptional centre forward.
The England captain decided to quit Tottenham for Bayern Munich over the summer, 47 goals short of Shearer’s record.
Maybe Kane will come back to Tottenham one day to push for that record, maybe we look back at his ankle injuries as being the major problem.
Either way, Kane will go down as one of the very best goalscorers we have ever witnessed in Premier League action.
Wayne Rooney
Just behind Kane on the list of top Premier League goalscorers is Wayne Rooney, who was headline news from the very moment he scored his famous goal for Everton against Arsenal at the age of just 16.
Rooney managed 15 goals in 67 Premier League games for Everton before leaving for Manchester United in 2004.
That’s where Rooney went on to cement himself as a Premier League great, smashing 183 goals in 393 appearances whilst winning five Premier League titles.
Another Premier League Hall of Fame inductee, Rooney even went back to Everton and enjoyed one last season with his boyhood club.
Rooney’s influence at Manchester United was felt for nearly 15 years and he more than deserves his name on this list.
Sergio Aguero
As far as Premier League debuts go, Sergio Aguero had one of the greatest in memory having come off the bench to bag two goals and an assist in Manchester City’s win against Swansea City in 2011.
By the end of the 2011-12 season, Aguero had written himself in Manchester City and Premier League history, scoring a dramatic injury-time winner to secure the Premier League title.
Aguero’s debut was a warning to the rest of the Premier League and went on to score at least 20 goals in six of his 10 seasons at City.
The Argentinian won five Premier League titles and was in the PFA Team of the Year on on two occasions having dazzled in a City shirt.
Longevity is a key factor in these lists and Aguero certainly offered that in a decade-long spell with City, scoring big goals and plenty of them.
Didier Drogba
When it comes to strikers, there is a tendency to only look at the goals.
Didier Drogba is one of those strikers who was worth so much more than just putting the ball in the net.
The numbers don’t blow you away; Drogba only broke the 12-goal barrier in the Premier League in two seasons as a Chelsea player.
The Ivorian was an iconic figure though, scoring big goals whilst emerging as a vital leader during a lengthy spell at Stamford Bridge.
Four Premier League titles and 104 goals in 254 Premier League appearances put Drogba in the upper echelon of Premier League strikers and one of Chelsea’s true legends.
Andrew Cole
Andrew Cole may now be as flashy of a name as Luis Suarez or Robin van Persie but his goalscoring record is impossible to ignore.
Cole smashed a ridiculous 34 goals in his first official Premier League campaign and barely stopped scoring.
55 goals in 70 games for Newcastle was followed by 93 goals in 195 outings for Manchester United, cementing him as a Premier League great.
Cole continued to score even into his 30’s, finding the net for Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City and Portsmouth.
Cole’s England career was a disappointment but five Premier League titles and fourth place on the Premier League scoring list is immensely impressive.
Honourable mentions
This was an incredibly difficult list to narrow down and some truly unbelievable players missed the cut.
Erling Haaland will of course be in this list in the future, but it felt a little too early for him even after breaking the Premier League goal record last season.
Luis Suarez could have made the cut on talent alone but the longevity of some other players just pushed the Uruguayan down a little despite his excellence at Liverpool.
Dennis Bergkamp and Eric Cantona spring to mind too, two players who maybe don’t fit the mould of a classic number nine but were able to produce moments of magic from a little deeper.
Ruud van Nistelrooy hit 20 or more goals in four of his seasons at Manchester United and certainly deserves to be in the conversation.
Robin van Persie, Ian Wright and Fernando Torres were under consideration too, with the Premier League boasting an embarrassment of riches in attack over the years.
That there are this many elite strikers to miss out just goes to show the level of quality we have seen in the Premier League and picking just seven is almost impossible – but we will leave it to you to decide yours!
The post 7 best Premier League strikers of all-time including Arsenal and Chelsea icons appeared first on HITC.
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