Forwards come in all shapes and sizes. The speed demons, the big men, the silky dribblers, the penalty-box poachers.
They’re all beautiful in their own way, terrorising defences and writing headlines with their sharpshooting and playmaking. Fortunately, the Premier League has witnessed some of the all-time greats.
The division has boasted some truly exceptional strikers and wingers since its inception in 1992, whether homegrown or imported from around the world. They’re the ones they write songs about, their goals living on in folklore for generations.
Here are the best Premier League forwards there has ever been – ranked, of course.
Having endeared himself to the entire nation through his excellent punditry post-retirement, the general public now see why Arsenal fans were so enamoured with their sharpshooting centre-forward during the 1990s.
Ian Wright, or ‘Wrighty’ if you’re one of this TV studio pals, was more than just a charismatic and fiery forward, he was a genuinely exceptional footballer – both physically and technically.
He walked away from north London with a Premier League title under his belt following a stellar 1997/98. It was his lowest-scoring league season with the Gunners, but nobody was more worthy of Arsenal success than Wright.
Erling Haaland could well top this list come the end of his Premier League career. In fact, there is a fair argument to suggest he should be higher already, but we have to consider longevity as well as ability. The Norwegian has plenty of the latter.
Haaland smashed the Premier League scoring record on his arrival at Manchester City in 2022/23, netting 36 times in just 35 matches as the Cityzens won a famous treble.
Speed, strength, composure, a left boot capable of shattering concrete – he has everything.
Goals shadowed Les Ferdinand wherever he went. Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United were just a few of the sides that embraced ‘Sir Les’ and they didn’t need much persuading to hail him as a hero.
Ferdinand may have slowed down in the latter stage of his career, especially by the time he reached West Ham United, but he was about as well-rounded as centre-forwards come.
His trophy cabinet only contains a League Cup and Turkish Cup but there were some almighty close calls.
The first ever winner of the Premier League Golden Boot, Teddy Sheringham was another forward that spread his goals across the country. Man Utd, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest all fell in love with him, as did plenty of other clubs across his 25-year career (yes, really).
Age kept trying and failing to shackle Sheringham, who was a consistent goalscorer for club and country. By the end of his playing days, he had claimed three Premier League titles, the Champions League and the FA Cup.
Suave Frenchman are all too common but not many could manipulate a football like Robert Pires. The former Arsenal (and briefly Aston Villa) wide man is a World Cup winner, European Championship victor and two-time Premier League champion.
Known for his dashing good looks, powerful frame and dancing feet, Pires made a fool of Premier League full-backs for six years in north London, claiming a spot in the PFA Team of the Year on three separate occasions.
It turns out you really can have it all.
If you want a finisher, a pure finisher, you ring up Robbie Fowler. Well, certainly Fowler pre-2006.
Emerging from Liverpool’s academy in the early 1990s, Fowler burst on to the scene as a teenager and never looked back. He netted 83 goals across his first four Premier League campaigns and held the record for the fastest Premier League hat-trick for quite some time. Four minutes and 33 seconds if you were wondering.
While injuries plagued his career as it advanced, Fowler never lost his eye for goal.
Trading Arsenal for Man Utd was a risky move and certainly not a popular one in north London. Robin van Persie had spent eight successful years with the Gunners before switching allegiances in 2012. From a personal perspective, it was the right decision.
Van Persie thrived in his debut season at Old Trafford, scoring 28 goals in 36 appearances and guiding Man Utd to the Premier League title. Two slightly more subdued campaigns followed before his departure from the Premier League.
In terms of pure technique, there may not have been a Premier League footballer better than Luis Suarez. His spell in England was short and sweet, with Liverpool fortunate enough to witness his genius for three years before a move to Barcelona to conquer the world.
If you need anyone to tell you just how special the Uruguayan was then just ask Norwich City supporters. He scored 12 goals and managed two assists in six appearances against the Canaries, bagging a ridiculous three hat-tricks.
If you glanced down at the opposition six-yard box at Old Trafford during the early 2000s, there was a decent chance you would catch a glimpse of Ruud van Nistelrooy. The ultimate poacher, he was a relentless provider of goals in a formidable Manchester United team.
Bar an injury-hit season in 2004/05, the Dutch forward never scored fewer than 20 goals in a single Premier League campaign. An instinctive penalty area finisher, few striker were able to match his output, and few defences able to keep him quiet.
The man who stole Fowler’s record for the quickest Premier League hat-trick – just the two minutes and 56 seconds needed this time – Sadio Mane followed in his footsteps by earning cult hero status at Anfield after years of incredible service.
Forging a famous front three alongside Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, Mane was the explosive and dynamic member of the legendary triumvirate, burning a hole in the turf with his pace and acceleration.
Key in finally ending Liverpool’s wait for the Premier League title, Mane will never be forgotten on Merseyside.
Eden Hazard’s prime didn’t last as long as it should have but that doesn’t harm his Premier League legacy. Arriving from Lille in 2012, the Belgian proceeded to torture full-backs for the next seven years before a lucrative and ultimately unsuccessful move to Real Madrid.
Scorer of some of the Premier League’s great goals, dancing through bodies with his low centre of gravity and powerful stride before finding a finish, Hazard bagged ten or more times in five of his seven league seasons with Chelsea.
He won two titles before moving to the Spanish capital, yet somehow only featured once in the Premier League Team of the Season.
The ultimate clutch performer, Didier Drogba lived for the big occasion. He scored 28 goals against the rest of the traditional ‘big four’ sides – Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd – across his Chelsea career, and many of his most memorable moments came outside the confines of the Premier League.
Scoring the equalising goal and winning penalty in the Champions League final. Tick. Netting nine times in ten cup finals for the Blues. No problem. Winning four Premier League titles and becoming the first African player to score 100 goals in the competition. Easy.
Chelsea have struggled to replace the imperious centre-forward since the mid 2010s such was the gaping void he left behind.
Collar up Eric Cantona was a different breed of footballer. Arrogant, prolific and ridiculously talented, a brief spell with Leeds United inspired Man Utd to take a punt on the maverick forward for the inaugural Premier League season. They were swiftly rewarded.
The Frenchman spent five years at Man Utd before hanging up his boots, winning four Premier League titles and netting 64 league goals in the process. But, to be honest, only those that have witnessed Cantona’s brilliance truly understand what a special footballer English football was blessed with.
Attacking left-backs don’t come much better than Gareth Bale, whose talents were quickly put to the test in a more advanced role at Tottenham. The Welshman didn’t disappoint and was the talisman for the club’s success in the late noughties and early 2010s.
With blistering speed and a supernatural left foot, Bale’s rise to stardom was swift and his final Premier League campaign before a move to Real Madrid was by far his most successful. 21 goals in 33 games from the wing is a mighty fine tally.
Obviously, he is remembered more regularly for his exploits in Spain – good and bad – as well as being the scorer of the greatest goal in Champions League final history in 2017/18.
Andy Cole played for 13 English clubs across his career, including Manchester City and Arsenal, but it was his spell with two specific sides that made him one of England’s most devastating strikers.
It started with a move to Newcastle United in 1993, which saw him net 34 Premier League goals in his first full season with the Magpies, followed by the switch to Man Utd.
Old Trafford was his home for six years and his relentless goalscoring and impressive partnership with Dwight Yorke wrote his name into club legend. He bagged 93 Premier League goals for the Red Devils en route to an extraordinary five league titles.
One of football’s great superstars on and off the pitch, David Beckham was a staple of the Man Utd side that dominated the Premier League throughout the 1990s. A member of ‘The Class of ’92’, he is one of the few British players to have placed on the podium in the Ballon d’Or vote, coming second in 1999 after Champions League glory.
The 1995/96 season was his breakout campaign as he claimed the first of six Premier League crowns, and despite only once scoring more than ten league goals in a single term, Beckham left for Real Madrid as one of the division’s most influential performers.
While often a right-sided midfielder as opposed to a traditional winger, Beckham’s goal threat, deadly delivery and excellent set pieces made him a constant presence in the final third.
For quite some time, Alan Shearer’s Premier League scoring record looked in jeopardy. Harry Kane was hunting it down at a frightening pace, reaching 213 before eventually calling time on his Tottenham career in favour of a move to Bayern Munich.
While still some way off Shearer, he has overtaken Wayne Rooney as the second-highest scorer in the competition, doing so in a Tottenham side that failed to deliver silverware and endured some difficult seasons.
Kane is a real all-rounder, sometimes to his own detriment, and the Premier League has seldom seen such a natural goalscorer.
Ryan Giggs’ Premier League career spanned over two decades. He turned out 41 times in the division’s debut campaign and was still a regular performer in his final term in 2013/14.
The Welsh international has sometimes been labelled as overrated following his retirement, mainly by those who look only at his goals tally, but there is simply no way that Sir Alex Ferguson would have accepted anything less than brilliance from his left winger for over 20 years.
A traditional wide man with electric speed and a willingness to fling himself beyond the full-back, Giggs was a dynamic and hugely creative force for the Red Devils throughout his trophy-laden career.
The fact that the great Johan Cruyff was such an inspiration to Dennis Bergkamp comes as no surprise. The former Arsenal forward had a similarly deft touch, exhibiting the same flair, dribbling ability and technical precision that had made Cruyff one of the greatest to grace a football pitch.
After success with Ajax and Inter, Bergkamp made his way to north London in the mid-90s and it didn’t take him long to establish himself as one of the most dangerous forwards in the Premier League.
The scorer of that goal against Newcastle in 2002, the Dutch attacker was particularly prolific in his early days at Highbury before accepting a role as provider in his later years.
Famously, Jurgen Klopp was keen on signing Julian Brandt instead of Mohamed Salah in the summer of 2017. Bowing to the superior knowledge of his recruitment team, the German coach was rewarded with a player who would transform his reign.
Salah set the Premier League record for goals in a single season upon his return to the division – which has since been smashed by Haaland – and his strikes have refused to dry up in more recent seasons. In fact, his lowest Premier League tally for a full season since his move to Liverpool is 18.
The relentless Egyptian continues to find new ways to dumbfound Premier League defenders and he has proven one of the division’s most consistent performers.
The man who scored the most famous goal in Premier League history, netting a stoppage-time winner on the final day of the season to secure the 2011/12 Premier League title for Man City, Sergio Aguero produced many exceptional moments on British soil.
184 goals after his arrival in Manchester, Aguero left the Cityzens with five Premier League titles having taken Man City to the next level with his deadly eye for goal. Diminutive yet powerful, he only once failed to score more than ten goals across his ten seasons in the English top flight.
The 2007 Golden Boy certainly made good on his potential, laying the foundations for City’s current dominance.
It’s easy to forget just how sensational Wayne Rooney was given how his Man Utd career ended. Often plonked in midfield in a misfiring side, the Liverpool-born striker deserved a better finale at Old Trafford, where he was the club’s talisman for so many years.
A proper street footballer, Rooney was known for his bite. Beyond his immense technical ability and ruthless finishing, he was a tireless worker and a true fighter. He offered something unique to a Man Utd forward line blessed with more traditional talents.
Five Premier League titles, a Champions League crown and 253 Man Utd goals say it all really.
As mentioned, it’s Shearer who leads the Premier League’s goalscoring charts. 260 strikes is a ludicrous total and one that looks unlikely to be usurped any time soon, much to the former England striker’s relief.
A conventional English number nine, Shearer was physically dominant with a powerful strike and accurate finish, attributes that even helped him win the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers in 1994/95 alongside his forward partner Chris Sutton.
He won three consecutive Golden Boot awards in the mid-90s and placed third in the Ballon d’Or in 1996. When you hear him analysing centre-forwards on TV, take it as gospel.
For many, the greatest of all time. Cristiano Ronaldo rose to prominence in the Premier League after swapping Sporting CP for Man Utd, where he would swiftly turn into a world-beater en route to Premier League and continental glory.
Starting life as a tricky, powerful and athletic left winger, Ronaldo’s greatest Premier League campaign came in 2007/08 where he scored 31 goals and Man Utd lifted the title. He also scored in the Champions League final at the end of the season, which helped him win the first of five Ballon d’Or awards
Given his best years came with Real Madrid outside of the Premier League, he can’t claim top spot on this list, but his incredible legacy was born in England’s top tier.
Arsene Wenger liked signing players from his native France but Thierry Henry was comfortably his best buy. Arriving just before the turn of the century, few could have envisaged just how incredible the 1998 World Cup winner would be at Arsenal.
Henry had absolutely everything required of a Premier League centre-forward, while also comfortable playing off the left. He glided across the turf as he sliced open defences and bamboozled goalkeepers, something which was key in Arsenal’s 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’ title victory.
Henry won the Premier League Golden Boot on four separate occasions in just five seasons and moved to Barcelona at his peak. A mighty relief for defenders up and down the country at the time.