Sergio Aguero’s departure from Manchester City this summer will see the Premier League lose one of its greatest goalscorers.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the best 10.
Alan Shearer (260 goals, 441 appearances)
Shearer was the greatest English striker of his generation and the weight of goals at club level spoke for itself, scoring 30-plus league goals in three successive seasons for Blackburn as he fired the club to their only Premier League title in 1995, with a decade at hometown club Newcastle making him a local legend. Shearer won three Golden Boots for being the league’s top scorer.
Wayne Rooney (208/491)
Rooney never won the Premier League Golden Boot but consistently delivered in a trophy-laden spell with Manchester United. The former England striker only twice scored more than 16 in a season (26 in 2009-10 and 27 2011-12) but reached double figures in 11 of 13 seasons at Old Trafford.
Andrew Cole (187/414)
Cole’s Premier League debut season with Newcastle saw him score 34 in 40 games for his solitary Golden Boot and while he never hit those heights again with Manchester United, he retained the knack of consistently chipping in by reaching double figures in eight of his 17 seasons with seven clubs.
Sergio Aguero (181/271)
4️⃣ x Premier League Titles 🏆
⚽ 181 #PL Goals
🏆 7 x @EASPORTSFIFA Player of the Month awards
🔥 2014/15 @CocaCola_GB Golden Boot winner
Incredible, @aguerosergiokun 👏 pic.twitter.com/Mf67jm9Bux— Premier League (@premierleague) March 29, 2021
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Aguero is one of the greatest modern-day centre-forwards with his strike rate of 0.6 goals per game far superior to all but Thierry Henry and contemporary Harry Kane (but only fractionally) among the all-time leading goalscorers. Prior to this season his worst campaign was last year, when he was hampered by a knee injury which eventually required surgery, when he scored 16 in 24 games. In six of his previous nine seasons he scored 20-plus goals, winning one Golden Boot in 2014-15.
Frank Lampard (177/609)
The only midfielder to make it into the Premier League’s top 17 all-time goalscorers, Lampard is on the list due to his longevity and consistency. For 11 consecutive seasons with Chelsea from 2003-04 Lampard reached double figures, peaking at 22 in the club’s league-winning season of 2009-10.
Thierry Henry (175/258)
Simply 𝓼𝓾𝓫𝓵𝓲𝓶𝓮 😍
Record-breaking @ThierryHenry inspired @Arsenal to a stunning SEVEN-goal win #OnThisDay in 2006 pic.twitter.com/UyNdwrUK9V— Premier League (@premierleague) January 14, 2021
A four-time Golden Boot winner in eight full seasons with Arsenal is a phenomenal return, managing double figures in each with 24 or more – up to an impressive 30 in 37 appearances – registered in five successive campaigns from 2001-02. Not a penalty area predator like Shearer, Cole or Aguero but a prolific scorer of some brilliant goals.
Robbie Fowler (163/379)
Touted as the most natural finisher of his generation, Fowler incredibly never won the Golden Boot despite scoring 28 in 38 appearances in the 1995-96 season at his Liverpool peak. He achieved double figures in six of his first nine Premier League seasons (eight at Anfield, one at Leeds) and scored 11 in 32 for Manchester City in 2004-05 despite his career starting to tail off.
Jermain Defoe (162/496)
Defoe never scored more than 18 in any of his 19 Premier League seasons for five different clubs but did reach double figures nine times. He scored 15 in back-to-back seasons for Sunderland between 2015 and 2017.
Harry Kane (160/237)
𝟮𝟬+ goals for the 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙝 consecutive season 🔥
A look back at @HKane's 2020/21 strikes so far... 🍿 👀#THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/4rMrLMRlLK— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 8, 2021
Since establishing himself as Tottenham’s first-choice striker, Kane has not scored fewer than 17 goals in a season and that has earned him back-to-back Golden Boots in 2016 and 2017. He scored 30 in 37 in the 2017-18 campaign but was pipped by the unstoppable Mo Salah that season but is currently on track to break 20 for the first time in three years.
Michael Owen (150/326)
Having burst onto the scene as a precocious 17-year-old, Owen’s pace terrorised defences for seven full seasons with Liverpool, never scoring fewer than 11 goals each year with his best being 19 in back-to-back campaigns from 2001. Injuries meant on his return from Real Madrid he managed double figures only once (11 in 2007-08) in spells for Newcastle, Manchester United and Stoke.
