In the Premier League, a world-class goalscorer is one of the most valuable assets any club can have.
A player capable of finding the net week after week, season after season, can be the difference between chasing trophies and falling short, securing European soccer and settling for mid-table or even surviving the drop and suffering relegation.
Since England’s top flight entered its modern era in 1992–93, countless elite forwards have graced the division—but none have been better at doing the one thing that matters most: scoring goals.
From record-breaking strikers and legendary No. 9s to unexpected goal machines who defied expectations, these are the players who have found the back of the net more than anyone else in Premier League history.
30. Paul Scholes
Goals: 107
Club(s): Manchester United
Paul Scholes was some player—blessed with magical feet, a superb eye for a pass and a thunderous shot.
His highlight reel of goals for Manchester United is truly something to behold.
29. Ryan Giggs
Goals: 108
Club(s): Manchester United
No player has won more Premier League titles than Ryan Giggs, who collected a remarkable 13 league trophies during his time with Manchester United.
28. Emile Heskey
Goals: 110
Club(s): Leicester City, Liverpool, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa
Once described by The Guardian’s Paul Wilson as “a blunt instrument with which to bludgeon defenders,” Emile Heskey was certainly a one-man wrecking ball, although his intelligence and movement inside the penalty area often went overlooked.
27. Dion Dublin
Goals: 111
Club(s): Coventry City, Aston Villa, Manchester United
Before becoming a well-known television presenter, Dion Dublin was a fearsome scorer, netting over a century of Premier League goals during his playing career.
26. Sadio Mané
Goals: 111
Club(s): Southampton, Liverpool
Sadio Mané made his name at Southampton, where he scored the fastest Premier League hat-trick of all time, before becoming a world-class superstar at Liverpool.
25. Erling Haaland
Goals: 112
Club(s): Manchester City
It took Erling Haaland just four seasons—and three Premier League Golden Boots—to reach crack triple digits for Manchester City in the competition.
No striker in Premier League history has reached that milestone faster, and he shows no signs of slowing down.
24. Ian Wright
Goals: 113
Club(s): Arsenal, West Ham United
Ian Wright, Wright, Wright!
The Arsenal legend certainly knew where the net was, although he never managed to get his hands on a Premier League Golden Boot.
23. Steven Gerrard
Goals: 121
Club(s): Liverpool
There was little anyone could do when Steven Gerrard decided to shoot from range, with his rocket of a right foot finding the net 33 times from outside the box during his Premier League career with Liverpool.
22. Romelu Lukaku
Goals: 121
Club(s): West Bromwich Albion, Everton, Manchester United, Chelsea
He may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but Romelu Lukaku generally made a habit of scoring goals wherever he played.
The less said about his second spell at Chelsea, though, the better …
21. Raheem Sterling
Goals: 123
Club(s): Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea
A four-time Premier League champion with Manchester City, Raheem Sterling also turned out for Arsenal in England’s top flight, although he failed to score a single league goal for the Gunners.
20. Dwight Yorke
Goals: 123
Club(s): Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland, Birmingham City
Dwight Yorke scored the majority of his Premier League goals (73) for Aston Villa, but he is perhaps best remembered for his four years at Manchester United, where he formed a formidable partnership with Andrew Cole and won three Premier League titles.
19. Nicolas Anelka
Goals: 125
Club(s): Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion
Nicolas Anelka has one of the most impressive résumés in Premier League history, at least in terms of the clubs he represented, with the French striker scoring goals for four of the traditional “Big Six”: Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
18. Robbie Keane
Goals: 126
Club(s): Coventry City, Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, West Ham United, Aston Villa
Robbie Keane, famous for his trademark cartwheel celebration, scored Premier League goals for no fewer than six different clubs, with the majority of them—80—coming for Tottenham Hotspur.
17. Son Heung-min
Goals: 127
Club(s): Tottenham Hotspur
Son Heung-min scored all 127 of his Premier League goals for Tottenham, but unlike Harry Kane, he was able to fire the club to any major silverware, even if it came outside domestic competition.
16. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Goals: 127
Club(s): Leeds United, Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Charlton Athletic
If there was one thing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink could do well, it was strike the ball really, really hard.
The man had a right foot like a traction engine.
15. Robin van Persie
Goals: 144
Club(s): Arsenal, Manchester United
Robin van Persie scored 96 Premier League goals for Arsenal but never managed to get his hands on the title during his time in north London.
After making the controversial switch to rivals Manchester United in 2012, he finally lifted the Premier League trophy in his first season at Old Trafford.
14. Jamie Vardy
Goals: 145
Club(s): Leicester City
Jamie Vardy made the remarkable rise from non-league soccer to Premier League hero, with his goals for Leicester City proving vital during the club’s surprise title-winning campaign in 2015–16.
13. Teddy Sheringham
Goals: 146
Club(s): Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Portsmouth, West Ham United
Teddy Sheringham aged like a fine wine.
On top of being one of the Premier League’s all-time top scorers, he is also the division’s oldest-ever goalscorer, finding the net for West Ham United at the ripe old age of 40 years and 268 days.
12. Les Ferdinand
Goals: 149
Club(s): Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers
Nicknamed “Sir Les” because of his noble demeanor and elegant style of play, Les Ferdinand was awarded an MBE in 2005, although he is still yet to receive an official knighthood.
11. Michael Owen
Goals: 150
Club(s): Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Stoke City
Had injuries not taken their toll on his career, Michael Owen could have easily added even more Premier League goals to his tally.
10. Jermain Defoe
Goals: 163
Club(s): West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Bournemouth
A pocket rocket of a striker, Jermain Defoe not only scored plenty of goals throughout his Premier League career, but is also remembered as one half of one of the division’s best striker partnerships alongside Peter Crouch.
9. Robbie Fowler
Goals: 163
Club(s): Liverpool, Leeds United, Manchester City
So prolific was Robbie Fowler in front of goal during his early years that he earned the nickname “God” among Liverpool fans.
8. Thierry Henry
Goals: 175
Club(s): Arsenal
He may not be the competition’s all-time top scorer, but Thierry Henry gets our vote for the greatest Premier League player of all time.
7. Frank Lampard
Goals: 177
Club(s): West Ham United, Chelsea, Manchester City
The highest-scoring midfielder in Premier League history, Frank Lampard’s goals were a defining part of Chelsea’s golden era, helping fire the Blues to three Premier League titles.
6. Sergio Agüero
Goals: 184
Club(s): Manchester City
Sergio Agüero’s incredible record of scoring a Premier League goal every 108 minutes remains one of the most remarkable feats in the competition’s history, bettered only by the man who eventually inherited his role as Manchester City’s main striker: Erling Haaland.
5. Andrew Cole
Goals: 187
Club(s): Newcastle United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth
One of the most underrated and well-travelled strikers in Premier League history, Andy Cole had a knack for finding the net wherever he played, building a reputation as one of the division’s most reliable goalscorers.
4. Mohamed Salah
Goals: 193
Club(s): Chelsea, Liverpool
Of Mohamed Salah’s Premier League goals, 191 came in a Liverpool shirt. The only two exceptions arrived during a brief and underwhelming spell at Chelsea, several years before his transformation into an Anfield superstar.
3. Wayne Rooney
Goals: 208
Club(s): Everton, Manchester United
One of only three players to ever surpass the 200-goal mark in Premier League history, Wayne Rooney was far more than just a prolific scorer—he was a complete player capable of influencing every aspect of the game.
2. Harry Kane
Goals: 213
Club(s): Tottenham Hotspur
Despite scoring a remarkable 213 Premier League goals for Tottenham Hotspur, Harry Kane was never able to get his hands on major silverware in north London.
A lack of consistent quality around him ultimately left one of the league’s greatest-ever strikers without a trophy before his move to Bayern Munich.
1. Alan Shearer
Goals: 260
Club(s): Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United
A Premier League champion with Blackburn Rovers and a Newcastle United icon, Alan Shearer’s record-breaking tally of 260 Premier League goals remains a benchmark that still looks almost impossible to surpass.
READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS & GOSSIP
Add us as a preferred source on Google
