Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrated his 100th Premier League appearance with a goal against Bournemouth this weekend, taking the Egyptian’s prolific total to 63 goals in his first century of appearances in English football’s top flight.
The reigning back-to-back Golden Boot winner has enjoyed some impact in the Premier League, but how does he compare to some of the competition’s best goal-getters after their milestone appearance?
Here are the six players with the most goals after 100 Premier League appearances…
Mohamed Salah – 63 goals
Sneaking into the top six is Liverpool’s Salah, his strike at Bournemouth making it 63 goals in his first 100 Premier League appearances.
Salah would initially arrive in English football with Chelsea, but would make little impact scoring just twice in the league before departing for Italy.
Having reignited his career in Serie A, Salah would return to the Premier League with Liverpool where he would enjoy a stunning debut season, breaking the record for most goals in a 38-game season to be crowned as the PFA Player’s Player and Football Writer’s Footballer of the Year.
He would follow that campaign by retaining the league’s Golden Boot last season, whilst seven goals for the season so far has seen him reach an impressive 63 goals in his first century of Premier League games.
Andy Cole – 63 goals
Matching Salah’s total is former Newcastle and Manchester United forward Cole, who would go on to enjoy a prolific career at several top-flight clubs and retire as the third-highest goalscorer in Premier League history.
Having fired Newcastle to promotion he would enjoy a remarkable debut season at the top level, hitting a record 34 goals to be crowned as the PFA Young Player of the Year.
A prolific start to the following season would attract the interest of Sir Alex Ferguson, who would sign the forward in a then British-record transfer and he would continue to fire and win several major honours.
He would score 63 goals in his first 100 Premier League appearances, eventually retiring in 2009 with 187 top flight goals to his name.
Fernando Torres – 63 goals
Level with both Cole and Salah is another former Liverpool favourite in Fernando Torres, who played perhaps the best football of his career during a memorable three-and-a-half year spell on Merseyside.
Following a club-record move from Atletico Madrid, his debut season would see him score 24 league goals for Rafael Benitez’s side, breaking the record for most goals by a foreign player in their first season in the Premier League.
Devastating when at his short-lived peak Torres would continue to fire at a regular rate, scoring 32 times in just 46 appearances over the next two seasons to earn his position on this list as one of the most prolific forwards in Premier League history.
Sergio Aguero – 64 goals
The highest scoring non-European in Premier League history, few players have found the back of the net with such regularity and consistency as Manchester City‘s Argentinean star.
Signed from Atletico Madrid in 2011, Aguero would begin with two goals off the substitutes bench on his debut against Swansea, before firing at a prolific rate for almost a decade at the Etihad.
Aguero would score 64 times in his first 100 Premier League appearances, whilst his total currently stands at 173 top-flight goals in English football, with Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard firmly in his sights to overtake before the end of the season.
Manchester City’s all-time record goalscorer, Aguero is one of just two players to have scored 20+ goals in five consecutive Premier League seasons.
Ruud van Nistelrooy – 68 goals
Slightly ahead of Aguero is former Manchester United forward Van Nistelrooy, the Dutchman recognised as one of the great penalty-box predators of the Premier League era.
United would have to be patient to sign the forward from PSV Eindhoven following a serious injury, though he would prove more than worth the wait after plundering 95 league goals in just 150 Premier League appearances.
68 of those would come in hist first 100 outings, making him the second-highest goalscorer in the division’s history after a ton of top-flight games. He would score 20+ goals in each of his first three seasons at Old Trafford, winning the PFA Player’s Player of the Year and Golden Boot in the process.
Alan Shearer – 79 goals
The greatest goalscorer in the history of the Premier League was sure to feature highly on this list, with no player having hit more goals in their first 100 appearances in the competition.
Shearer was signed by Blackburn as their big money signing to fuel an ambitious project at Ewood Park, the former England captain scoring a staggering 79 goals in his first 100 league appearances for the club, firing Rovers to the league title in 1995.
He would continue to score prolifically over the coming seasons following a switch to boyhood club Newcastle United, breaking the club’s goalscoring record and finishing his career with 260 Premier League goals, comfortably ahead of nearest challenger Wayne Rooney.
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