40. Ian Wright
Arsenal, West Ham United
Wright was 29 when the Premier League was founded. Arsenal came 10th in the first Premier League campaign but won both the FA Cup and League Cup, with their No.8 tallying 30 in all competitions; in fact, he bagged at least 15 league goals in the first six of his seven Highbury seasons, and at least 23 in half of those, thriving alongside Alan Smith or Kevin Campbell in attack for George Graham’s last few league campaigns.
Wright was a lesson that good things come to those who work hard, and remains a huge fan favourite more than two decades after exiting Arsenal. He was nearly 30 when the Premier League came calling – but wasted no time lighting it up.
HIGHLIGHT With Arsenal’s all-time scoring record on the line, Wright notched against Bolton in September 1997, then gleefully revealed his famous T-shirt bragging, “179. Just Done It.” He had only equalled Cliff Bastin’s 60-year record, so netted two more before full-time to make sure.
39. Sadio Mane
Liverpool
Mane has evolved from a talented, but erratic winger at Southampton into a world-class forward at Anfield, turning raw talent into consistent numbers. He was the rhythm section of the fab front three, a creative force that glued the Merseysiders into title-winning titans.
HIGHLIGHT A goal and two assists in a 2019 5-2 derby thrashing of Everton set a new Red record of 32 top-tier league games unbeaten – but nothing beats his ludicrous Saints treble against Aston Villa in May 2015: struck in just two minutes and 56 seconds.
38. Jaap Stam
Manchester United
Stam made just 79 Premier League appearances, yet those three title-winning seasons from 1998-99 have loomed large ever since. He set the gold standard of modern defending, making strikers look weak and slow in his considerable shadow. His 2001 sale to Lazio remains Alex Ferguson’s biggest regret.
HIGHLIGHT United went unbeaten for the last 20 games of their Treble season. Stam played in 14 of them, leaking only nine goals – with seven clean sheets – to pip Arsenal.
37. N’Golo Kante
Leicester City, Chelsea
How many players arrive in England as genuine unknowns? Kante did in 2015 – then enjoyed one of football’s most magnificent breakout seasons in the unlikeliest of Premier League titles. The 5ft 6in dynamo was in France’s third tier as recently as 2013, but captured hearts – and opposition players – to secure successive titles with the Foxes and Chelsea.
HIGHLIGHT Ten-man Leicester lost against rivals Arsenal in February 2016, but Kante’s one-man show of industry almost earned the champions-in-waiting an unlikely draw.
36. Cesc Fabregas
Arsenal, Chelsea
Fabregas trained with the Invincibles at 15 and grew to become a new revolution’s poster boy, persuading Arsene Wenger to bend his philosophy. The Spaniard was defter than past midfield generals, his gift an ability to kill teams with devastating simplicity. He made 18 assists in 2014/15, the first of two title wins at Chelsea.
HIGHLIGHT Four assists – to different players – plus a goal against Blackburn in October 2009. Only Ryan Giggs can beat his Premier League assist haul of 111.
35. Luis Suarez
Liverpool
There may never have been a greater individual performance over a Premier League season than Suarez’s in 2013/14; rarely has one player ever shaped a year to their will like Liverpool’s electric forward throughout that near-miss of a title campaign. He was – and still is – a one-man wrecking ball; a lethal hitman, yes, but also the ideal team-mate who facilitated the fine individual campaigns of Sturridge and a teenage Sterling.
HIGHLIGHT Four goals of outstanding class obliterated Norwich as Liverpool won 5-1 in December 2013 – having struck a hat-trick past the same opposition a year earlier.
34. Eden Hazard
Chelsea
Last year, Juan Mata described the Belgian as the Premier League’s greatest ever player. That may be a stretch, but there was little doubting the schemer’s talents or the ease with which he could destroy defences single-handedly. Hazard, who hit 85 goals in seven seasons, was the standout player of two Chelsea title triumphs in 2015 and 2017.
HIGHLIGHT A solo stunner against Arsenal in February 2017 was peak Hazard: glorious dribbling from inside his own half, opposition faintly embarrassed and a finish to match.
33. Robin van Persie
Arsenal, Manchester United
Van Persie vexed the Gunners by swapping north London for Manchester after eight years and 132 goals at Arsenal but, desperate to bag a Premier League medal after a sensational 30-goal season in 2011/12, he was proved right. Another 26 strikes helped Manchester United to their 13th Premier League crown under Alex Ferguson, in the Scot’s final year.
HIGHLIGHT His perfect volley from a raking Wayne Rooney pass – part of a title-sealing hat-trick against Aston Villa in April 2013.
32. Sol Campbell
Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Newcastle United
Campbell’s crossing of the north London divide is still the most contentious Bosman deal in English football history, but in his pomp, he was the country’s best centre-back: a towering, brave, fast and intelligent defender who could rule either penalty area. Spurs fans don’t like to hear it, but the move was smart – Campbell won two league titles at Highbury.
HIGHLIGHT A pillar of reliability as Arsenal leaked just 26 goals across their Invincibles campaign of 2003-04.
MARK WHITE Was Sol Campbell's move to Arsenal the greatest Premier League transfer ever?
31. Ruud van Nistelrooy
Manchester United
Death, taxes and Van Nistelrooy tap-ins. After the Dutchman (eventually) signed from PSV for £19m in 2001, the prime poacher plundered 95 goals in 150 Premier League appearances across five campaigns with the Red Devils – pocketing a Premier League title and Golden Boot combo in 2002-03.
HIGHLIGHT OK, so they weren’t all tap-ins. An uncharacteristically mazy run from inside his own half preceded a cool finish against Fulham in March 2003, part of a fine hat-trick.
