When Harry Kane grabbed a brace in Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-1 win over Watford on Sunday, he confirmed his place on an illustrious list alongside one of the greatest Premier League strikers of all time – Thierry Henry. The match was his 100th game in the league and he is well on course to be one of the top goalscorers in the English top flight.
Although the English striker made his debut back in the 2012/13 season, he did not make an impact until the 2013/14 season. While he did score the odd goal for the Spurs, he announced himself only in 2014 when the Spurs beat league leaders Chelsea 5-3 on New Year’s day thanks to his brace – a scoring run that helped him win the Premier League Player of the Month award.
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Since then, he hasn’t looked back and competed with the likes of Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa for the EPL Golden Boot, finally winning that honour last season with 25 goals. The 23-year-old has a long career ahead of him and has already scored more than 50 goals so far.
His 59 goals in 100 games is identical to Thierry Henry at Arsenal. The French striker won four Golden Boots with the Gunners and finished with 175 goals in the Premier League during his time at the north London club.
But both Kane and Henry had a relatively slow start compared to some other legends who make this list. Right at the top is Alan Shearer and it comes as no surprise. The former England international is still the highest goalscorer in Premier League history with 260 goals. Nobody else has scored even 200 with Wayne Rooney the closest on 194 goals.
Shearer scored 79 goals in his first 100 games in the ‘90s and his 100th game came in the season he helped Blackburn Rovers win their first ever Premier League title. Although Shearer has never won another title, he is still considered a legend with Blackburn and Newcastle, where he retired after nearly 20 seasons in the top flight.
However, Shearer believes Kane might just be the one to break his record if he stays in England for the rest of his career. “If he avoids injury and continues his career here rather than trying his luck abroad, he will have the opportunity,” the player-turned-pundit had said.
Also read: Alan Shearer feels Harry Kane can break his Premier League record for most goals
Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy is second with 68 goals in his first 100 games. The Dutchman was a menace in the box with the Red Devils but spent only five seasons at Old Trafford before moving to La Liga giants Real Madrid.
Sergio Aguero is the only other active Premier League player on the list. He’s up in third with 64 goals in his first 100 games. The Argentine striker, who won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2014/15, has already scored more than 100 goals for City.
Shearer had tipped Rooney or Aguero to break his record but he felt Rooney’s time was done while Aguero may not finish his career with City to get anywhere close to Shearer’s mark.
Three former Liverpool strikers find themselves next to each other on the list. Fernando Torres, Robbie Fowler and Luis Suarez scored between 62 to 63 goals in their first 100 games for the Anfield side. Sadly, none of them stayed a Red long enough to have a shot at the record (although Fowler does hold the club record with 128 goals).
The other big names from this season that could make this list soon are Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez (41 goals in 82 games so far) and Chelsea’s Diego Costa (46 goals in 72 games).
| # | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Shearer | Blackburn Rovers | 79 |
| 2 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Manchester United | 68 |
| 3 | Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | 64 |
| 4 | Andy Cole | Newcastle & Man Utd | 63 |
| 5 | Fernando Torres | Liverpool | 63 |
| 6 | Robbie Fowler | Liverpool | 62 |
| 7 | Luis Suarez | Liverpool | 62 |
| 8 | Thierry Henry | Arsenal | 59 |
| 9 | Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur | 59 |
| 10 | Ian Wright | Arsenal | 56 |
Stats updated as of 1 January 2017
