In the annihilation of West Brom on the first day of the season, Didier Drogba notched up his 134th goal for Chelsea, passing the scoring feats of Jimmy Greaves for the club in the process. It was also his 87th in the Premier League and at this very moment in time you would be hard picked to find a better striker in the league, if not the world (although David Villa may have something to say about that), he is unplayable. But where does he rank in terms of the Premier League and its history?

For the purists among you, who rely on cold fact, the top ten in terms of goals scored looks like this:

1. Alan Shearer 260

2. Andy (sorry, Andrew) Cole 187

3. Thierry Henry 174

4. Robbie Fowler 163

5. Les Ferdinand 149

6. Michael Owen 147

7. Teddy Sheringham 147

8. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 127

9. Dwight Yorke 123

10. Robbie Keane 121

It is however worth pointing out that between Sheringham and Hasselbaink should sit Frank Lampard with 130 goals. He has been omitted as he isn’t a striker, but it is a frightening statistic to have scored so many goals from midfield.

It’s a good list no? There are some incredible players within that ten, but for every obvious choice, there is a glaring miss. No Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp or Gianfranco Zola to name but a few, and thus, clearly it can’t all be about the sheer volume of goals scored. If that were the case then James Beattie (92) would be a better striker than Dennis Bergkamp (87), and Briane Deane and Chris Armstrong (both 71) would be superior to Eric Cantona (70) – goals alone it seems, are not enough.

You also have to factor in the amount of time players have spent in the Premier League. Does a player like Fernando Torres, who has scored relentlessly since arriving from Spain, but has only been here for just over two seasons, still have to prove he can carry on his feats for a few more years, in order to be considered? And you can apply the same question to Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba: does there have to be a dynasty of season upon season in the Premiership to warrant consideration among the best? Perhaps, it is more fitting to consider the speed in which they reached their goals i.e. Van Nistelrooy would be far more prolific than either Les Ferdinand or Teddy Sheringham.

Do more emotive reasons come into play: did a striker help transform a club in the way Zola did at Chelsea, helping them from mid-table obscurities to genuine trophy contenders. Is the quality of goals a factor? A Tony Yeboah compilation is more a far more enjoyable watch than Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s greatest hits. Are there any rewards for loyalty in the Thierry Henry sense of the word, or do the goal getting mercenaries like Nicolas Anelka and Robbie Keane deserve a mention for scoring goals regardless of the location, or kit they play in?

Assists should be taken into account: football is a team game and creating goals is an important as scoring them. The top five strikers in terms of Premiership assists reads like this (it shouldn’t surprise you that Giggs tops the total list with 90):

1. Thierry Henry 67

2. Wayne Rooney 57

3. Nicolas Anelka 49

4. Didier Drogba 46

5. Dennis Bergkamp 43

Very few, including this writer, would have guessed that both Drogba and Anelka would have more assists (and counting) than Dennis Bergkamp. And with Rooney boasting 57 assists as well as 106 goals, one can only imagine what those stats will look like by the time he reaches 30, let alone retires.

Taking everything into account; everything mentioned above, as well as their role in the team compared to others (were they a standout player or one of many greats in a single team – which is better?), they’re all round performances, their influence on their teammates, the problems they cause opposing players, here then, is my list of ten. Of course everyone’s opinion is different and it is impossible to orchestrate a definitive list. Jurgen Klinsmann was a ruthless and exciting striker during his time in England, he may have scored less Prem goals than Dean Holdsworth, but hopefully we all know who the better striker is…

So Enjoy. Or Hate. Or Share. Or Dispute

1. Thierry Henry

2. Alan Shearer

3. Wayne Rooney

4. Robbie Fowler

5. Eric Cantona

6. Didier Drogba

7. Dennis Bergkamp

8. Michael Owen

9. Andy Cole

10. Gianfranco Zola

Tell me I should have included Torres, and that Bergkamp is too far down the list, by following me on twitter.

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