Ranking the 5 youngest goalscorers in Premier League history

#3 Wayne Rooney - 16 years, 360 days

Wayne Rooney scored a thunderbolt against Arsenal in 2002.

Wayne Rooney is a bonafide Premier League legend. The legendary attacker announced himself when he scored a stunning winner in Everton's 2-1 win over Arsenal in 2002. That made the then 16-year-old Rooney the youngest player to score in the Premier League. And there would be no looking back from there for the Englishman.

The five-time Premier League winner would go on to score 183 Premier League goals during a fabulous decade-long stint at Manchester United. That was a record tally by any player for a single club before Sergio Aguero (184) scored a brace for Manchester City on the last day of last season.

The 35-year-old was a prolific scorer in the Premier League. He tallied at least ten league goals in 11 consecutive seasons, yet the Golden Boot title eluded him. Nevertheless, Rooney (208) is only the second player to score over 200 goals in the Premier League.

---

#2 James Milner - 16 years, 355 days (2002)

James Milner scored a Premier League goal when he was just 16.

James Milner is one of a handful of players to have made over 550 appearances in the Premier League.

The 35-year-old midfielder doesn't score a lot of goals; he has scored just 55 times in 568 games. But when he scored his first one in the Premier League almost two decades ago, Milner created history.

Then playing for Leeds United, Milner scored the equalizer against Sunderland in his team's 2-1 Premier League win in 2002. The strike, coming barely two months after Rooney's wonderful effort against Arsenal, made Milner the youngest player to score in the Premier League.

The 2019-20 Premier League winner has played everywhere on the field except centre-back and goalkeeper. In his most prolific season in the competition in 2009-10, the then Aston Villa player scored seven times and provided 12 assists.

---

#1 James Vaughan - 16 years, 267 days (2005)

James Vaughan is the youngest Premier League scorer in history.

James Vaughan etched his name into the history books when he broke Milner's record in 2005 to become the youngest Premier League scorer. He achieved the feat in Everton's 4-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Unfortunately, unlike the other names on this list, the centre-forward failed to build on his blistering start and faded away. He would score only six more times in eight more editions of the competition.

Now at Tranmere Rovers in League Two, it has been almost a decade (2012-13) since Vaughan last appeared in the Premier League (for Norwich City).