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Best Goal Return In 100 Appearances

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Teams have always looked for a new attacking signing to have an immediate and telling impact when it came to the opposition goal, so which 21 players managed just that in their first 100 Premier League appearances?

Many of the names featured in this list – legwork by Talksport – are extremely familiar and it’s no surprise to see names like Newcastle, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and both Manchester’s referenced given the strikers they have had on their books since the inception of the new Premier League back in 1992.

For the younger fan seeing Leeds United, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland feature might come as a shock though – but again we are back to extremely familiar names – Alan Shearer, Matt Le Tissier and so on.

The list is however dominated by players who have long since hung up their boots and whilst you have commentators like Shearer, Michael Owen and Thierry Henry, we have some coaches and managers in the list like Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Teddy Sheringham and Kevin Phillips and I believe Ruud van Nistelrooy is also now youth coaching.

We even have an actor – Eric Cantona or a Karate expert depending on who you support!

Players still plying their trade though are in short supply as unless I’ve missed anyone who has unhung their boots we only have four on the list – Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero, Fernando Torres and Harry Kane.

What that says about the quality of strikers in the past compared to the modern day game is entirely down to you but there’s always a sense of nostalgia in things like this for me and whether you believe it’s quality, or better defences or whatever – those four earned their wages in their first 100 Premier League appearances and two of them continue to do so for their respective clubs in the top flight today.

Including assists and goals created also gives a rounder perspective on their worth for their side in reality as whilst goalscorers are judged on goals scored, their importance is often is goals created as well and some more than others stand out on that front for their overall impact on a team.

The prevalence of one club men also stands out with only a handful representing two or more clubs in their first 100 Premier League appearances, but obviously plenty of others who make their way into this table as one club men didn’t remain one club men throughout their careers either.

In any event, make your own mind up.

Rank
Player
Club
Goals
Assists
Total
1
Alan Shearer
Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United
79
21
100
2
Eric Cantona
Leeds United, Manchester United
49
39
88
3
Andy Cole
Newcastle United, Liverpool
63
22
85
4
Luis Suarez
Liverpool
62
21
83
5
Sergio Aguero
Manchester City
64
18
82
6
Thierry Henry
Arsenal
59
22
81
7
Matt Le Tissier
Southampton
51
29
80
8
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Leeds United, Chelsea
52
27
79
9
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Manchester United
68
10
78
10
Fernando Torres
Liverpool
63
12
75
11
Teddy Sheringham
Tottenham Hotspur
52
22
74
Robbie Fowler
Liverpool
62
12
74
12
Michael Owen
Liverpool
54
18
72
Les Ferdinand
Newcastle United, Liverpool
53
19
72
13
Dennis Bergkamp
Arsenal
41
30
71
14
Didier Drogba
Chelsea
46
23
69
Stan Collymore
Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Aston Villa
48
21
69
15
Harry Kane
Tottenham Hotspur
59
7
66
Paolo Di Canio
West Ham
42
24
66
16
Ian Wright
Arsenal
56
9
65
Kevin Phillips
Sunderland
53
12
65



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