Who are the Top 10 Premier League Strikers of All Time?

Jermaine Defoe scored 162 goals for five English Premier League clubs during his 24-year career. He never won a league title in the English top flight. He did, however, win a Scottish Premiership with Rangers in 2020/21. 

The only major trophy Defoe won in England was the English Football League Cup with Tottenham Hotspur in 2007/08. The striker was voted Tottenham’s Player of the Year in 2004. Defoe played 57 times for England, scoring 20 goals. 

Robbie Fowler, affectionately known as ‘God’ at Anfield, was one of the pre-emanate Premier League strikers and a Liverpool fans’ favourite in the 1990s and early 2000s. Fowler is sixth on the all-time Liverpool goal scoring charts.

Fowler played for four EPL teams in his 17-year top-flight English football career. He scored nine hat-tricks, the third-most in EPL history. Despite never winning a league title, Fowler won two Football League Cups (1995, 2001), the 2001 FA Cup. 

The former Liverpool number nine also won two European trophies (2001 UEFA Cup and 2001 UEFA Super Cup) and was part of Liverpool’s unique treble-winning cup team in 2001. Fowler never won the EPL Golden Boot, but he claimed the 1999 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Golden Boot, scoring seven goals in eight games. 

Mohamed Salah has been the best Premier League striker since he returned in 2017. He has terrorised defenders, scoring more goals than any other player in that time. He has won a string of individual and team awards. The ‘Egyptian King’ was named Premier League Player of the Season after winning the Golden Boot in 2017/18. 

Salah set a new EPL goalscoring record, netting 32 times in 36 matches during a 38-game campaign. He edged former Liverpool striker Luis Suárez, who scored 31 goals in 33 matches in 2013/14. Both times, however, the Reds did not win the league title. He has won the EPL golden Boot three times (2017/18, 2018/19, 2021/22).

Salah has won every English domestic trophy, including the 2019/20 Premier League. He scored in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League final versus Tottenham Hotspur to lead  Liverpool to a sixth European Cup. Salah added the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA World Club Cup to the cabinet. 

Salah won back-to-back AFCON African Footballer of the Year awards in 2017 and 2018. He top-scored for Egypt during the 2016/17 FIFA World Cup qualifying, five goals in five games. The Reds flyer won the FIFA Puskás Award for his dazzling goal against Everton in the Merseyside derby in 2017/18. Salah has 58 goals in 101 matches for Egypt and is his country’s second-highest scorer in history. 

Mohamed Salah//Getty Images

Thierry Henry is widely regarded by players, pundits, and fans as one of the greatest players in Premier League history. The Frenchman achieved everything in football. He won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2000 with France. Henry won titles in England, Spain, France and the United States. 

He was a Ballon d’Or runner up in 2003, and he also finished third in 2006 Golden Ball, while in North London. He won two Premier League Player of the Season awards in 2003/04 and 2005/06. Henry scored what was once voted the best Premier League goal ever against Manchester United in October 2000 - the goal still makes the top 10 list. 

He won two Premier League titles, including top-scoring in Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ season in 2003/04. The Gunners striker won four Premier League Golden Boots in five seasons, including three in a row (2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06). He also won back-to-back European Golden Shoes in 2003/04 and 2004/05. 

Frank Lampard is a Chelsea legend, and the club’s all-time top-scorer. The former Blues midfielder won three Premier League titles in his 14-year career at Stamford Bridge, including four League Cups and three FA Cups. He was part of Chelsea’s historic first UEFA Champions League (2011/12) and Europa League (2012/13) triumphs. 

He is one of four players to play more than 600 EPL matches (609) and is sixth all-time in the goalscoring charts with 177 goals. Lampard was voted Premier League Player of the Season in 2004/05. He scored 29 times for England in 106 matches. 

Frank Lampard celebrates his goal with Didier Drogba//Getty Images

Sergio Agüero is forever immortalised in Premier League folklore for his last-gasp title-winning goal for Manchester City in 2011/12. Martin Tyler’s iconic commentary will live long in the memory of every EPL supporter (except Manchester United fans) as City clinched their first league title in 43 years, with the final kick of a pulsating match against Queens Park Rangers. 

Also known as Kun Agüero, the South American striker holds the record for the most Premier League hat-tricks (12), one more than Alan Shearer. Agüero won five league titles, including one Golden Boot in 2014/15, scoring 26 goals in 33 games. He added six EFL Cups and the 2018/19 FA Cup to his English domestic medal haul. The South American is City’s record goal scorer, netting 260 goals in 390 matches. 

The former Argentina striker is a 2008 Olympic Gold Medal winner and 2021 Copa América champion. He began his career with two FIFA U-20 World Cup titles in 2005 and 2007, and never looked back. Agüero netted 41 goals in 101 international matches for La Albiceleste to cement himself as one of the best strikers in Argentina’s history. 

Andy Cole won five Premier League titles at Manchester United. He is a one-time EPL Golden Boot winner, scoring 34 goals in 40 games for Newcastle United in 1993/94. He added 13 assists to his tally, something Alan Shearer matched the following season for Blackburn Rovers. Shearer, however, played all 42 games, two more than Cole. 

Cole was part of United’s treble-winning season in 1998/99. United clinched the EPL title on the last day of the season when they came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Old Trafford. David Beckham levelled the scores before halftime. Cole sealed the title, two minutes after the break. 

The following week, United went on to beat Newcastle United 2-0 in the 1999 FA Cup final. The Red Devils then claimed their second Champions League title when they came from behind to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in the dying minutes of a sensational ending to the final at the Camp Nou. Cole did not have a prosperous England career. He played 15 internationals, scoring once in seven years. 

Wayne Rooney is not only one of the best Premier League strikers, but he is also an all-time England great. He burst on the scene for Everton, scoring a sensational goal against Arsenal, aged 16, in October 2002. A move to Manchester United saw Rooney win five EPL titles, including every domestic, European, and world trophy on offer. He won the 2008/09 Champions League, the 2016/17 Europa League, and the World Club Cup in 2008.

Rooney won the Golden Boy award in 2004 after a sensational domestic and international season. He starred at EURO 2004. He was voted the 2009/10 EPL Player of the Season, stepping up to be the main man after Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid. Rooney is United’s all-time top scorer, racking up 253 goals in 559 matches, with 183 coming in the league.

Rooney also has a string of great goals. He scored from the near halfway line against West Ham United in March 2014. Rooney’s most memorable goal, however, was his audacious overhead bicycle kick in the Manchester Derby in February 2012 (another Martin Tyler classic commentary moment).

Despite never winning a Premier League title, Harry Kane is arguably the best (out-and-out) striker in EPL history. Had Kane not moved to Bayern Munich, he would have passed Alan Shearer’s scoring record. Kane won the Golden Boot three times at Tottenham Hotspur, but he never won a trophy. 

Kane is Tottenham and England’s all-time record goalscorer. He scored 280 goals in 435 games for Spurs, and 69 goals in 103 international appearances. Kane won the 2018 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot, scoring six goals in Russia. 

He was awarded the inaugural Gerd Müller Trophy as the best striker in the world in 2024. He top-scored in Germany, the Champions League, and the 2024 UEFA European Championship. Kane also claimed the 2023/24 European Golden Shoe.