While for some, adjusting to life in the Premier League can take its time, for others it’s a relatively smooth transition into the top tier, as they hit the ground running almost immediately.
Although there is now a whole host of metrics to determine just how good a player is, there is still no greater barometer of a player’s greatness than goals, with putting the ball in the back of the net seemingly still the truest marker of talent.
For the men included below, they certainly knew where the goal was and took next to no time to find it regularly.
Here’s a look then at the five players who have netted the most goals after 150 Premier League appearances:
Mohamed Salah – 93 goals
The Egyptian international edged his way into this list at the expense of legendary Arsenal figure Thierry Henry who had scored 92 goals in his first 150 games, Salah netting his 93rd Premier League goal on just his 150th appearance in the recent 3-0 win over Arsenal.
That remarkable tally marks an incredible rise for a player who had previously failed to make his mark in England’s top tier the first time around, the wideman having made just 13 league appearances for Chelsea, after joining the Blues from Basel in 2013.
Much like Kevin De Bruyne, Salah was hardly given a sniff at Stamford Bridge, netting just two league goals, before being shipped out on loan to Serie A side’s Fiorentina and Roma, before joining the latter on a permanent deal in 2016.
After netting an impressive 29 goals in just 65 league games for the Giallorossi, the left-footed winger was a somewhat surprise acquisition by the Reds in 2017, the club forking out a fee of around £36.5m to bring him to Anfield.
Despite initial doubts over his suitability, the forward took no time to settle in his second stint in England, netting 32 league goals in his first season at the club – the most ever by a player in a 38-game campaign – to finish the term with the Golden Boot.
Since then, the goals and the silverware has continued to flow, with Salah playing a crucial role in guiding the club to a Champions League triumph and helping the club claim a first league title in 30 years.
Now 28, the lethal marksman has been at the centre of some criticism from fans and pundits alike amid Liverpool’s struggle of a season, yet remains at the top of the scoring charts with 19 goals to his name thus far. Not too bad for a player said to be out of form.
Ruud van Nistelrooy – 95 goals
The Dutchman is fondly remembered as one of the most prolific and ruthless forwards to have graced the Premier League, with his single-minded approach in stark contrast to a modern era in which the out-and-out, goalscoring centre-forward has become something of a dying breed.
Having been originally denied a move to Old Trafford in 2000 due to injury concerns, the striker eventually signed on the dotted line a year later as a replacement for treble-winning heroes Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham.
After netting 62 goals in just 67 Eredivisie games for PSV Eindhoven prior to his move to United, Van Nistelrooy was equally as prolific in Manchester, bagging 68 league goals across his first three seasons, helping the club to the Premier League title in the 2002/03 campaign, while also netting twice in the 2004 FA Cup final victory over Millwall.
An injury-hit season the following restricted him to just six league goals, before he ended his Man United career with another 21 league goals in the 2005/06 campaign, bringing his tally to a nice and neat 95 goals in exactly 150 league games.
Never a bad time to remind yourself just how good Ruud van Nistelrooy was at football pic.twitter.com/7kUBV0mku7
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 16, 2020
Van Nistelrooy’s time in England also saw him hit exactly 150 goals in 219 games across all competitions, with only one of those strikes having come from outside the box for the poacher extraordinaire before he ended his playing career with spells at Real Madrid, Hamburg and Malaga.
Although he may not have been part of the most dominant portion of the Red Devils’ Premier League era and while he may have left on a somewhat sour note, he remains a much-loved figure among the United faithful nonetheless.
Sergio Aguero – 102 goals
The Argentine opted for a move to the Etihad in 2011 following interest from across Europe, and within a year he had already cemented as a real Manchester City icon, netting that goal on the final day of the 2011/12 to clinch the club’s first title success since 1968.
The former Atletico Madrid man had set the tone for what was to come in his City career on his Premier League debut, scoring twice and registering an assist against Swansea City in a brilliant 30-minute cameo appearance, his second goal particularly special as he rifled in from 30-yards.
Since then, and despite a number of injuries, Aguero has been a pretty regular goalscorer, having only failed to net 20 league goals in the three of last nine seasons to propel himself up to fourth on the all-time Premier League scorers list, with 181 goals in just 272 appearances.
With his ten-year spell in England set to come to an end this summer, the last few weeks have been used to remember just how good a player he’s been, not simply for that moment against Queens Park Rangers alone.
Alongside the likes of Vincent Kompany and David Silva, Aguero is undoubtedly one of the club’s iconic figures of their modern resurgence, a fact that is set to be recognised with a statue of the diminutive striker set to be erected at the Etihad alongside his two former teammates.
Harry Kane – 105 goals
Another star of the last decade, England captain Harry Kane had to bide his time in the Tottenham youth ranks, enduring difficult loan spells at the likes of Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City, before finally being handed a real chance by ‘Tactics Tim’ Sherwood in 2014.
After starting the following season as a squad player under Mauricio Pochettino, Kane burst into life around November, netting his first league goal of the campaign with a 90th minute winner against Aston Villa.
While he continued to score in the months that followed, his real defining moment came in the thrilling 5-3 win over Chelsea in January 2015, the youngster netting a brilliant brace and winning a penalty to solidify his status as one of the league’s hottest prospects.
Since then, the Englishman has continued to deliver consistently, ending his first full term with 21 league goals, before dispelling any notion of being a ‘one-season wonder’ by hitting 84 goals across the next three league campaigns, developing into an England regular and eventually being handed the captain’s armband.
Although the last few seasons have been impacted by injury, the forward is currently in the form of his life, having netted 19 times so far this season in the league and registered 13 assists, adding further strings to his bow as a playmaking centre-forward.
Such displays have inevitably led to rumours of an exit from his beloved Spurs, the club currently looking like missing out on Champions League football for a second successive season while Kane is yet to win a piece of silverware.
Alan Shearer – 121 goals
In truth, it’s no real surprise to see the Premier League’s greatest ever marksmen at the top of this list, with Shearer having been electric following the competition’s inception in 1992.
After having made the move from Southampton to Blackburn Rovers in 1992, the young Geordie fired 16 goals in just 21 league games in his first season at Ewood Park, before going on to net 30+ goals in each of the next three seasons, the only player to have achieved that feat.
Alan Shearer scores a beauty for Blackburn, 1996. pic.twitter.com/Q2taCq2knC
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) June 10, 2020
His tally of 34 goals in the 1994/95 campaign is still the joint-record haul in the Premier League era -albeit in a 42-game season – alongside Andy Cole, with Kenny Dalglish’s side clinching the title that season, the only major honour of Shearer’s illustrious career.
While he would go on to become a cult figure at boyhood club Newcastle United, it was at Blackburn where he was undoubtedly at his prolific best, having hit 112 goals in just 138 league games for the club, before making the move to St James’ Park, despite interest from Manchester United, in 1996.
After netting 121 goals in just his first 150 Premier League games, the forward would then net ‘just’ another 139 goals in the next 291 top-flight games – still an impressive tally – as injury somewhat curtailed that breathtaking first few seasons in the Premier League era.
The former England captain ended his playing career in 2006, aptly netting his 260th and final league goal against the Magpies’ bitter rivals Sunderland in a 4-1 win.
Where next for the soul-sapping sociopath Mourinho when Spurs finally see sense?
See also – Picking each ‘big six’ club’s Player of the Season
