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Legends: Seven players to win the Golden Boot and finish with the most assists in a PL season

Mohamed Salah’s brilliant individual season has seen the Liverpool forward join an exclusive group of Premier League legends, becoming just the seventh player to have won a Golden Boot and finished as the league’s leading assist provider.

Salah’s achievement is all the more impressive given he has finished top of both metrics in the same season, becoming just the fourth player to achieve that feat after providing 36 goal involvements in just 35 appearances.

 

The 29-year-old has also become the fourth player to finish as the Premier League’s leading scorer on three or more occasions, joining Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and Harry Kane amongst the pantheon of goalscoring greats.

Following his superb season, we look at the seven players to have won the Golden Boot and finished with the most assists in a Premier League season.

Here are the six players to have won a Golden Boot and finished with the most assists in a Premier League season:

Andy Cole

Andy Cole believes his goalscoring record in the Premier League is under-appreciated and it is fair to say the former Golden Boot winner has a valid point, with only Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney having ever managed more than Cole’s 187 goals in the division.

That figure is all the more impressive given Cole scored just one penalty as part of that haul, whilst the former Newcastle and Manchester United forward possesses a unique piece of history in being one of just four players in Premier League history to top the league for goals and assists in the very same season.

Cole’s achievement came during a sensational spell at St James’ Park where he fired Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle to promotion before taking the Premier League by storm, enjoying a brilliant individual season to fire the Magpies to third in their first season back at the highest level.

The forward scored 34 league goals – a joint-record for a Premier League season – to win the division’s Golden Boot in 1993/94, whilst also providing a league-leading 13 assists for a free-scoring Newcastle side.

Cole’s exploits saw him named as the PFA Young Player of the Year and he joined Manchester United in a British transfer-record deal just six months later.

He won five league titles and a historic treble during a glittering career at Old Trafford before enjoying stints at the likes of Blackburn, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Sunderland.

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Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was amongst the most feared forwards in the Premier League either side of the turn of the millennium, becoming one of just three players – alongside Alan Shearer and Robin van Persie – to win a Golden Boot at two different clubs.

Hasselbaink first arrived in English football at Leeds United and enjoyed a prolific two-year spell at Elland Road, the latter of which saw him finish as the joint-leading scorer and joint-leading assist provider in the Premier League.

The Dutchman’s 18 goals saw him win a share of the Premier League’s Golden Boot alongside Liverpool’s Michael Owen and Manchester United’s Dwight Yorke in 1998/99, whilst his 13 assists left him tied with Arsenal’s Dennis Bergkamp.

After a contract dispute he left Leeds for Atletico Madrid, only to return to the Premier League a year later to sign for Chelsea in a club-record deal.

Hasselbaink enjoyed the best period of his career at Stamford Bridge and won a second Golden Boot in his debut season with the west London outfit, scoring 69 goals in 139 league appearances at Stamford Bridge.

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Thierry Henry

No player in Premier League history has won the Golden Boot on more occasions than Thierry Henry, who finished as the division’s leading scorer four times during a sensational eight-year spell at Arsenal.

Henry developed from underperforming winger into global star after arriving in north London from Juventus, his performances for Arsenal seeing the Frenchman acknowledged by many as the finest player in Premier League history.

He won his first Golden Boot after firing the Gunners to a domestic double during the 2001/02 season, before breaking the Premier League’s single season assist record the following year in a breathtaking individual campaign – his 20 goals provided since matched by only Kevin De Bruyne.

Henry narrowly missed out on the Golden Boot to Ruud van Nistelrooy during that aforementioned campaign, but responded in fine style to win the next three in succession, becoming the first Premier League player to score 20+ league goals in five consecutive campaigns.

There are few more iconic players in the league’s history than Arsenal’s all-time record goalscorer, Henry twice winning the PFA Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year on three occasions.

Remembering Thierry Henry’s incredible season in 2002/03

Didier Drogba

Jose Mourinho’s arrival as Chelsea manager prompted a lavish summer spend from the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’, amongst his expensive imports Ivorian powerhouse Didier Drogba.

Drogba had starred during a single season at Marseille and swiftly became a key figure in a new-look Chelsea side, leading the attack for the west Londoners as they secured back-to-back Premier League titles.

The second of those title-winning campaigns in 2005/06 saw Drogba provide the most assists in the division with 11, finishing ahead of Jose Antonio Reyes, Luis Boa Morte and Wayne Rooney as the Premier League’s most prolific creator.

Drogba won the Premier League’s Golden Boot the following season after a 20-goal haul, before enjoying the best individual season of his career to win a second accolade in 2009/10, scoring 37 times in all competitions as Carlo Ancelotti’s side completed a domestic double.

The former Ivory Coast international scored 104 league goals over two spells at Stamford Bridge and is one of three African players to have reached a century of Premier League goals.

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Robin van Persie

Another player who saw his game transformed in the colours of Arsenal, Robin van Persie arrived in the Premier League as a talented but tempestuous winger before evolving into one of the league’s deadliest forwards.

The Netherlands international was viewed as the heir to Dennis Bergkamp in north London and showcased his creative talents during an impressive 2008/09 season, scoring 20 goals in all competitions for the Gunners and finishing as the joint-leading assist provider in the Premier League, his 10 goals provided level with Chelsea’s Frank Lampard.

It was a switch to a centre-forward role that truly unlocked the potential in Van Persie however, his final season at the Emirates among the greatest individual seasons in Premier League history.

Van Persie scored 30 goals in 38 appearances to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot alongside a PFA Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year double, before signing for Manchester United in controversial deal in search of major honours.

It proved an inspired move for club and player as Van Persie fired the Red Devils to a record-extending 20th league title during his debut campaign, his 26 goals securing a second successive Golden Boot.

Harry Kane

Harry Kane joined this collection of Premier League icons following a brilliant 2020/21 season, the England captain the shining light of a mediocre Spurs team for much of the campaign.

Kane’s haul of 23 league goals saw him win the division’s Golden Boot ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, the third time the Tottenham forward has won the accolade.

Kane has been one of the Premier League’s most prolific goalscorers since coming through at the north London side, though has shown a variety to his game in recent seasons by dropping deeper in a more creative role.

The results have been spectacular with Kane providing a league-leading 14 assists in 2020/21, two more than both Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes.

Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah has become the seventh player to achieve the feat, with his performances this season seeing the Liverpool star lead the Premier League for goals and assists.

Salah has been the most productive player in English football since signing for Liverpool in 2017, providing 150 goal involvements in just 180 league appearances for the Reds.

The Egypt international’s 23 goals earned him a third career Golden Boot accolade this season, sharing the award alongside Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min.

His 13 assists was also a career-best campaign for Salah, who finished ahead of teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold to claim the Premier League’s Playmaker prize.

Read – Iconic Performances: The memorable night in the San Siro when Bale announced his genius

Read Also – True Greats: Five of the most influential Spanish footballers of the modern era

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