Top 5 strikers of the Premier League era

Since its inception in 1992/93, the Premier League has been home to some outstanding goalscorers. For almost 3 decades, strikers of various nationalities and from different parts of the globe have graced the league and entertained fans with their goalscoring abilities.

Preparing a list of the top 5 strikers of the Premier League era is no easy task, but that is exactly what we have attempted to achieve here. Read on to find out the top 5 strikers of the Premier League era.

#5 Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands, Manchester United)

The Dutchman joined Manchester United in the summer of 2001 and went on to become one of the most influential strikers to have played for the Red Devils. Ruud van Nistelrooy was supposed to join the Premier League giants from PSV Eindhoven a year earlier, but a move was scrapped at the eleventh hour amid injury concerns.

A couple of days after the failed move, the Dutchman suffered an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury that sidelined him for a year. Thankfully though, Sir Alex Ferguson had seen enough to back the player and go for him the following year.

Nistelrooy arrived at a new league with a point to prove after recovering from his injury. The injury perhaps gave him a mental strength that he had previously lacked. The Dutchman was a goal poacher, a fox in the box who could smell goals from a distance. His movement and positioning in the box were exceptional and Nistelrooy revelled in the services bestowed on him by his teammates, scoring goals for fun in the process.

While his finishing ability was always among the best in the world, he was also good with the ball at his feet. Nistelrooy was a complete centre forward who played for 5 seasons at Old Trafford but forever etched his name, in gold, in the hearts of United fans worldwide.

The Dutchman finished his career with 150 goals from 219 appearances in all competitions for United. In the Premier League, Nistelrooy scored 95 goals from 150 games, with an average of 0.63 goals per game. He was twice adjudged the Sir Matt Busby player of the year, in the 2001/02 and 2002/03 season.

He also won the PFA Player’s player of the year and PFA fan’s player of the year in the 2001/02 season. In the 2003/04 season, he won the Premier League Golden Boot and was also crowned the Premier League player of the year.

Nistelrooy won one Premier Leaguer, one FA Cup, one League Cup and one Community Shield with United and is one of the greatest strikers in the Premier League era.

#4 Sergio Aguero (Argentina, Manchester City)

Central to Manchester City's rise in the last decade has been a certain Argentine who joined the club from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011. At Atleti, Sergio Aguero managed to grab the attention of football fans around the world with his stellar performances.

And after arriving in the Premier League, Aguero managed to touch even greater heights.

He started his playing career with Independiente in his homeland Argentina, before catching the eye of scouts from Atletico. He moved to Spain ahead of the 2006/07 season and at the end of the 2010/11 season, had amassed a total of 101 goals from 234 games for the La Liga side.

It prompted Manchester City to pay the big money for his signature; it was a decision that turned the club's fortunes around. Since moving to the Premier League, Aguero has consistently been one of the most dangerous strikers in the England's top flight.

He is a great dribbler, using his short stature to wriggle past the opposition. However, it is his goalscoring prowess that has been the most alluring.

Aguero has scored 244 goals from 352 games for City to date. In the Premier League, he has 173 goals from 250 games and is also the 6th highest goal scorer in the history of the league.

#3 Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United and Everton)

When Sir Alex Ferguson signed a young Englishman from Everton in the summer of 2004, a lot of eyebrows were raised. Manchester United paid a colossal fee for an 18-year-old, but it can be safely said that Wayne Rooney lived up to the expectations and the transfer fee.

The Englishman developed into a world-class talent under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson and became a club legend.

Rooney had already scored 17 goals from 77 appearances in all competitions for Everton, so he came with a reputation of a budding goalscorer. However, there was so much more to the Englishman's gameplay.

Rooney was a monster on the pitch - technically sound, tactically versatile and an extremely hard worker who would run all day for his team. He became a mainstay at Old Trafford and found a place in the United folklore with his gritty never-say-die attitude.

Despite carrying out a variety of roles for United and playing in different positions, the Englishman was still constantly among goals for the Red Devils.

When Rooney left United at the end of the 2016/17 season, he had a cabinet full of trophies and had scored 253 goals from 559 games for United, becoming United's all-time leading goalscorer. 183 of those goals were scored from 393 games in the Premier League.

Rooney played for Everton for one more season in the league and ended his association with the Premier League with 208 goals from 491 games in total. Only Alan Shearer has scored more goals than him in the league.

#2 Alan Shearer (England, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, and Newcastle United)

One of the greatest strikers of his generation, Alan Shearer started his career at Southampton in the old first division. He was impressive for the youth side and was promoted into the first team in the 1987/88 season, where he scored 3 goals from 5 appearances. It was clear that the young boy was destined for greater things.

Shearer played for 5 seasons in the first division before he was picked up by Blackburn Rovers at the start of the Premier League era. By then, Shearer was an established name in the footballing circuit and had scored 43 goals from 158 games for the Saints.

The Englishman took the Premier League by storm and was brilliant for Blackburn, helping them to the Premier League title in the 1994/95 season. He scored 130 times in 171 games for the Riversiders and subsequently signed for Newcastle United in the 1996/97 season.

Shearer hung up his boots at the end of the 2005/06 season, registering 206 goals in 405 appearances in all competitions during his time at St. James Park. When he retired, he had accumulated 260 goals from 441 appearances, becoming the highest scorer in the league, a record that still stands tall today.

Shearer was blessed with all the qualities of a perfect centre forward; he was strong in the air, had a physical presence in the box and was a prolific finisher in front of the goal. These attributes helped him attain great success and he is one of the greatest goalscorers of the Premier League era.

He won 3 Premier League Golden Boots during his career and was also adjudged the Premier League player of the year in the 1994/95 season.

#1 Thierry Henry (France, Arsenal)

Thierry Henry was one of the pillars of Arsene Wenger's fantastic Arsenal side. The Frenchman lit up the Premier League during his time and conquered hearts with his fantastic performances on the pitch.

Henry broke through the ranks at Monaco as a teenager and impressed under Wenger for the first team, playing mostly as a winger. After a brief and unsuccessful stint with Juventus, the Frenchman joined Arsenal in the summer of 1999, reuniting with Wenger at Highbury. It was here that he transformed into a striker and attained legendary status.

The Frenchman was calm and composed in front of goal and his finishing was precise. Henry was as comfortable scoring tap in's as he was shooting from outside the box. He was regularly capable of the spectacular; blessed with speed and technical ability, the Frenchman would wreak havoc in the final third.

He loved running at the defence, beating them with his pace or dribbling past them with ease.

Henry graced the Premier League for 8 seasons, before heading off to Barcelona. He briefly returned on loan in the 2011/12 season during his time in the MLS and retired in 2010. By then, the Frenchman had scored 175 goals from 258 appearances in the Premier League.

Henry has 4 Premier League Golden Boot trophies and was adjudged the Premier League Player of the Year twice. He won 2 Premier Leagues, 2 FA Cups and 2 Community Shields with Arsenal.

As of now, he is the 5th highest goalscorer of the Premier League and is, without doubt, the greatest striker of the Premier League era.

Edited by Zaid Khan