The Premier League has always been blessed with a considerable amount of world class strikers, but the league could be losing its firepower as the top ten scorers of the last five years reveals a damning trend.
The Premier League Golden Boot race was barely worth keeping track of last season, with Erling Haaland flying ahead of the competition with 36 goals in his debut season.
Haaland's tally was four more than the previous record set by Mo Salah in the 17/18 season.
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Whilst Harry Kane hit a personal record of 30 league goals, he was still way behind the pace set by Haaland, who has continued to lead the scoring standings this season (17) despite injury woes.
Despite the introduction of Haaland's goals, the Premier League has lost a lot of its most prolific marksmen in the last few seasons and the top 10 goalscorers over the last five years prove this point.
Top 10 Premier League goalscorers of the last 5 years
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Mo Salah- 120 goals
Harry Kane- 105 goals
Heung-min Son- 85 goals
Jamie Vardy- 74 goals
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Raheem Sterling- 72 goals
Sadio Mane- 67 goals
Callum Wilson- 67 goals
Marcus Rashford- 64 goals
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang- 59 goals
Diogo Jota- 52 goals
From this list, Mane, Vardy, Aubameyang, and Harry Kane are all no longer Premier League players, with the England captain probably the most significant loss.
Kane's move to Bayern Munich last summer came as a surprise to many, as the former Spurs man was well on track to potentially beat Alan Shearer's all-time goal record of 260.
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Given the reputation of the division, there is now added pressure on those hoping to carry the baton such as Ivan Toney, Rasmus Hojlund, and Ollie Watkins.
The role of the striker has changed significantly over the last few years due to a change in tactics.
Former Premier League striker Darren Bent believes this could be the reason behind there currently being fewer out-and-out goalscorers in recent times.
“It’s now about having a reliable system, rather than one reliable player," Bent explained.
“It used to be a cliché that if you had a decent finisher up-front, you’d be fine because they would always score goals, now with more sophisticated tactics across the board it’s not that simple.”
Topics: Premier League, Football, Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah
Tom Jenkins