100 best Premier League foreigners

Premier League On we go hailing the globe's best, brilliant (and at times bonkers) imports to grace the Premier League

Premier League Sure, football didn't begin in 1992, but there's little doubting what a major yardstick it is for English football. Since then the Premier League has welcomed players from 105 countries outside of the British Isles, so many of whom have influenced more than just results on the pitch. Here, we begin our celebration of them

Didier Drogba After a slow start the Ivorian powerhouse thrived in England, where his bullish style married technical ability that twice helped him win the Golden Boot. But the striker was about more than just goals – he grew into a hugely respected dressing room leader who came to embody a ruthless Blues side. Former winger Damien Duff recalls his early days

Dennis Bergkamp Swiftly labelled “a waste of money” after failing to score in his first six games for Arsenal, the Dutchman soon made gutter-worthy red tops change their tunes. For 11 years he glided around north London as if from another planet, consistently dropping jaws – including those of his team-mates. Nigel Winterburn offers the insider's perspective

Premier League Newcastle were on the outside peering in where the Premier League title was concerned in the summer of 1995, but the arrival of a twinkle-toed Frenchman from PSG helped the Toon Army come closer to realising their ambitions than ever before. Former room-mate Warren Barton remembers the silky charmer

Premier League The Frenchman was eventually treated to quite a few better superlatives than the “thinking man’s Carlton Palmer” accolade he was greeted with after his Arsenal debut in 1996. On hand with more is former Gunner Stephen Hughes, who watched with awe as his new team-mate arrived from Milan to help kick-start a new era in north London

Premier League Few players illustrate Chelsea’s transformation from mid-table grafters to stylish Euro-chasers quite like the tiny Italian with a giant smile. Few others can tell it quite like Craig Burley either 

Sergio Aguero Who knows how much Manchester City could have won had he not succumbed to injury so frequently? Simply, there has been no better Premier League striker than the Argentine since he arrived from Atletico Madrid in 2011, and duly began his rampage. Micah Richards recalls the excellence – and ecstasy

Thierry Henry He arrived an unpolished young wideman and left eight years later as one of the most deadly strikers in Premier League history. No player has been moulded by Arsene Wenger quite like the one who became Arsenal’s all-time record goalscorer – achieved by an insatiable appetite to ensure everyone else sustained his own high standards, says Gilberto Silva