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Five Liverpool academy graduates with the most Premier League goals for the club

Liverpool’s reputation as one of the finest football academies in English football is well established, with a host of leading names having progressed from within the Reds’ ranks.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is the latest homegrown hero to star having emerged from the club’s youth system, though the rampaging right-back will have to improve his goals record if he is to trouble some of the famous faces featuring on this list.

Here are the five academy graduates with the most Premier League goals for Liverpool:

Raheem Sterling – 18 goals

Raheem Sterling may have been plucked from the academy system at Queens Park Rangers as a 15-year-old, but his time spent developing in Liverpool’s youth system and lack of first-team appearance for the London side earns his inclusion in this particular feature.

Sterling was handed his debut for the Merseyside club as a substitute against Wigan Athletic in 2012, becoming the third-youngest player in the club’s history before making two further appearances before the end of the season.

Brendan Rodgers arrival as manager that summer paved the way for more regular inclusion, however, Sterling quickly establishing himself as a first-team player and scoring his first senior goal against Reading.

The winger formed part of the Reds’ side which narrowly finished as runners-up during the 2013/14 campaign, providing a regular source of goals and being named as the winner of the Golden Boy award.

Following a contract dispute, however, Sterling opted to join Manchester City after 95 league appearances and 18 goals for Liverpool. The England international has since flourished into one of the Premier League’s finest players, scoring prolifically for the Etihad side and winning six major honours.

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Steve McManaman – 41 goals

The fleet-footed McManaman was arguably the star of a mediocre Liverpool side throughout the nineties, the winger’s creativity and goal threat vital during a transitional era for the Merseyside club.

Having established himself as a teenage star shortly before the formation of the Premier League, McManaman was central during the club’s first seasons in the newly-branded top flight, his direct running and ability to beat players marking him out as one of the division’s most influential wide men.

McManaman scored 41 Premier League goals throughout a seven-year Premier League career in Liverpool red, but a lack of silverware ultimately saw the winger seek a new challenge and he headed to Real Madrid on a Bosman transfer in 2000.

The Bootle-born star became the first English player to twice win the Champions League at the Spanish giants, later returning to English football with a brief spell at Manchester City.

Michael Owen – 118 goals

Owen burst onto the scene as a teenager, scoring on his Liverpool debut as a  17-year-old before establishing himself as one of the most feared forwards in the Premier League. It didn’t take long before those looking to back the winner in goalscoring markets realised the young Chester born attacker was a sure-fire bet to find the back of the net at a rapid rate.

The forward won back-to-back Golden Boots before his 20th birthday, being named as the PFA Young Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season in 1998 before helping Liverpool to a cup treble of successes under Gerard Houllier in 2001.

Owen’s performances during that memorable season saw him crowned as the second-ever youngest winner of the Ballon d’Or, becoming just the the fourth English recipient of the accolade and the first Liverpool player to win the award.

Injuries – particularly hamstring problems – plagued his later years and he lost the electric pace which had made him so deadly, leaving for Real Madrid in 2004 before later returning to English football with Newcastle, Manchester United and Stoke.

He is Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer of the Premier League era – having scored 118 goals in 216 appearances.

Steven Gerrard – 120 goals

The all-action midfielder established himself as arguably the greatest player in Liverpool’s history during a 17-year career at his boyhood side, driving the Reds forward and playing an influential role in their successes of modern times.

Gerrard made his debut as a teenager in 1998 before scoring his first Premier League goal against Sheffield Wednesday the following year, one of 120 goals he scored during a memorable Anfield career.

His finest goalscoring season in the Premier League came during the 2008/09 season, scoring 16 times to be named as the FWA Footballer of the Year after developing a brilliant understanding with lone forward Fernando Torres.

The second highest-scoring midfielder in the division’s history, he is also the second-highest scoring Liverpool player in Premier League history.

Robbie Fowler – 128 goals

Another teenage talent to make a brilliant breakthrough at Liverpool, Fowler became one of the most popular academy graduates in the club’s history following his prolific goalscoring exploits in the early nineties.

His peak years were the 1994/95 and 1995/96 seasons, scoring hauls of 25 and 28 in displays of ruthless finishing which earned him the nickname ‘God’ and back-to-back PFA Young Player of the Year awards.

Injuries sadly hampered his progress in his latter years and he left the club to join Leeds after 120 league goals, later returning in 2006 under Rafael Benitez following spells with the Yorkshire side and Manchester City.

The seventh-highest goalscorer in Premier League history, Fowler contributed another eight league goals in just under two seasons during his second spell at Anfield, finishing with 128 goals in 266 appearances for the club.

Read – Appreciating the four legends to score 10+ goals in eight consecutive Premier League seasons

Read Also – Rating the 9 players to win POTM in their first month in the Premier League

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