The best Premier League strikers ever, as we count down the hitmen who've dazzled in English football
(Image credit: Future)
The best Premier League strikers ever, eh? Some of your favourite players ever will be on this list.
Over the past 32 Premier League seasons football fans have been treated to all kinds of goalscorers, from foxes in the box to long-range specialists and everything in between.
But as the 2024/25 season gets going, we've been debating who the greatest of them all really is.
It's not an easy decision, either. A shortlist of 20 was hard enough…
So we've cast our eyes back to the start of the competition in 1992 to devise a top 20 strikers for you to disagree with. So, starting with number 20, we'll get going...
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The 20 best Premier League strikers ever: 20. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
While Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is officially the Premier League’s most effective substitute and his goal in the 1999 Champions League final will forever define his career, there was more to the Norwegian than just goals off the bench. Rarely has there been a better player in and around the penalty area when it comes to sniffing out chances.
19. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Leeds United, Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Charlton Athletic)
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Image credit: Getty)
A Golden Boot winner with both Leeds United and Chelsea, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had an intensity to him that was unmatched by any of his era’s strikers. His highlight reel is a delight to watch - shots lashed in from all angles, with both feet by a player who looked to be fuelled by pure rage.
18. Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea)
Gianfranco Zola
While he wasn’t a 30-goal-a-season player, Gianfranco Zola brought much more to Chelsea than putting the ball in the back of the net. The pint-sized Italian’s close control, speed of thought and improvisational ability were unmatched in the late 1990s, as Diego Maradona’s former understudy picked up more than a few pointers from his former Napoli teammate.
17. Michael Owen (Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Stoke City)
Michael Owen (Image credit: Alamy)
After seeing him struggle with hamstring injuries and fail to meet expectations at Real Madrid and Newcastle United, it’s easy to forget just how devastating a player the teenage Michael Owen was.
Winner of two Premier League Golden Boots and scorer of one of England’s greatest-ever World Cup goals before he turned 20, Owen would win the Ballon d’Or in 2001 - which no-one else on this list can boast of doing.
16. Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Image credit: Alamy)
A fair few players on this list have been the victims of injuries that have prevented them from reaching stratospheric levels, but Ruud van Nistelrooy is an outlier.
An ACL injury sidelined him for a year after he had been on the brink of joining Manchester United, but he showed no signs of lasting damage when he did arrive in 2001, as he quickly became the best poacher in the Premier League during five lethal seasons at Old Trafford. Now back with the club for a second act as a part of Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff.
15. Robbie Fowler (Liverpool, Leeds United, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers)
Robbie Fowler (Image credit: Getty Images)
Anyone who’s watched The Wire will know the phrase ‘natural police’ and why that is a perfect description for the show’s flawed focal point Jimmy McNulty. Well, Robbie Fowler was a natural goalscorer, more clinical than his contemporaries Shearer, Wright, Cole or Klinsmann, but like the aforementioned Baltimorian had some rough edges, not least his infamous white line celebration in 1999.
Had he had better injury luck, Fowler could have shattered all the Premier League goalscoring records.
14. Robin van Persie (Arsenal, Manchester United)
Robin van Persie
The silky Dutchman was in a class of his own in the Premier League when he hit his peak in the post-Shearer/Henry era, when his left foot was perhaps the most lethal weapon in the division.
Van Persie was unfortunate to miss out on Arsenal’s golden era, but did finally win a Premier League title after he jumped ship to Manchester United.
13. Fernando Torres (Liverpool, Chelsea)
Fernando Torres (Image credit: PA)
It’s rare to see a career oscillate so quickly as Fernando Torres’ did after his transfer deadline day move from Liverpool to Chelsea, but what he did in three-and-a-half seasons with Liverpool is up there with any other striker of the Premier League era.
Torres’ pace, ability to glide into the box and his clinical finishing were a joy to watch, as he clicked with Steven Gerrard. The less said about his time at Chelsea the better, although he will always have that moment in the 2012 Champions League semi-final.
12. Ian Wright (Arsenal, West Ham United)
Ian Wright (Image credit: Alamy)
The late-blooming Ian Wright was one of the Premier League’s first superstars, playing the game with a smile on his face and an infectious enthusiasm that gripped everyone who wasn’t a Spurs fan.
Deservedly held the all-time Arsenal goalscoring record until his Thierry Henry va-va-voomed past him and has now graduated into national treasure status thanks to his work in the media.
11. Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
Luis Suarez
Things were never dull when Luis Suarez was around at Liverpool, whether it was his prolific nature in front of goal, or his darker side, which included a ban for racist abuse of Patrice Evra or his bizarre penchant for biting opponents.
His 31-goal 2013/14 campaign was the high point of a three-and-a-half year stint in English football that saw him plunder 69 goals in 110 appearances.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.
