Speed kills in the Premier League, and we’re not just talking about pace on the pitch. The real measure of a striker’s elite status comes down to how quickly they can reach 100 goals in what many consider the toughest league in world football.
Only 34 players have ever hit that century mark since the competition began in 1992. Some took their time, grinding out goals over lengthy careers. Others attacked the milestone with ruthless efficiency, making it look almost easy.
The difference between the fastest and the slowest tells its own story about the various levels of talent that have graced English football over the past three decades.
The names on the fastest list read like a who’s who of Premier League royalty, each one bringing their own brand of destruction to defenses across England.
1. Alan Shearer – 124 Appearances
The king still wears his crown, even if it feels like the guillotine blade is hovering above. Alan Shearer reached 100 Premier League goals in just 124 games, a record that has somehow survived since August 1995. Nearly three decades later, no one has managed to break it.
Shearer was the complete center forward. Physical without being a brute, clinical without being boring, and possessed of a right foot that could crack open any defense. His combination of power and precision made him virtually unstoppable during his peak years at Blackburn Rovers, where he fired the club to an unlikely Premier League title in 1995.
What made Shearer special was his consistency. He scored against everyone. Big teams, small teams, on muddy pitches in February or sun-baked grounds in August.
The man did not stop scoring. After his record-breaking move to Newcastle United, he continued to punish defenders week after week, eventually retiring as the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer with 260 goals.
His record has stood the test of time partly because the modern game has changed. Strikers now play in more complex systems, pressing higher and tracking back more than Shearer ever had to. But records exist to be broken, and one Norwegian goal machine is knocking on the door.
2. Harry Kane – 141 Appearances
Harry Kane needed 141 games to join the century club, making him the second-fastest player to reach the milestone. For someone who was told he would never make it at the highest level, that feels like the ultimate vindication.
Kane became the complete striker at Tottenham, someone who could score from anywhere and in any manner. Headers, long-range strikes, tap-ins, penalties.
He collected them all with the same calm efficiency. His movement in the box was intelligent, his finishing was ruthless, and his ability to drop deep and create for others added another dimension to his game.
The England captain spent years carrying Tottenham’s attacking hopes on his shoulders. Season after season, he delivered 20-plus goal campaigns with the kind of reliability that made him one of the most feared strikers in Europe.
While Spurs never quite delivered the silverware his talent deserved during his time in north London, Kane’s individual brilliance was never in question.
He eventually moved to Bayern Munich in search of trophies, but his Premier League legacy was already cemented. His 213 goals in the competition put him second on the all-time list behind only Shearer.
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3. Sergio Agüero – 147 Appearances
Quick feet, quicker thinking, and an almost supernatural ability to find space in crowded penalty areas.
Agüero arrived from Atlético Madrid in 2011 and immediately changed the trajectory of Manchester City’s history. His stoppage-time winner against QPR on the final day of his debut season remains the most iconic moment in Premier League history.
That goal won City their first league title in 44 years and announced Agüero as a superstar.
What followed was a decade of consistent excellence. Agüero scored against the big teams when it mattered most. He showed up in title run-ins, in crucial derbies, in games where City desperately needed someone to break the deadlock.
His record of 184 Premier League goals makes him the highest-scoring overseas player in the competition’s history.
Injuries disrupted his final years at City, but his legacy was secure long before that. He left Manchester as a legend, someone who helped transform the club from ambitious upstarts into serial winners.
4. Thierry Henry – 160 Appearances
Henry was more than just a goalscorer. He was an artist, someone who could do things with a football that made you question the laws of physics.
Arsène Wenger converted Henry from a winger into a central striker, and the results were magical. His pace was frightening, his control was sublime, and his finishing combined power with precision.
He could score from anywhere, but his signature move was cutting in from the left wing and curling the ball into the far corner with his right foot. Defenders knew it was coming but could rarely stop it.
Henry was the heartbeat of Arsenal’s Invincibles team that went unbeaten through the entire 2003-04 season. He won two Premier League titles, four Golden Boots, and twice finished runner-up for the Ballon d’Or.
His 175 Premier League goals make him one of the competition’s greatest ever players.
Beyond the statistics, Henry brought style and swagger to English football. He made difficult things look effortless, and his celebrations became iconic. The statue outside Emirates Stadium captures him mid-slide, arms outstretched, a permanent reminder of his brilliance.
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5. Mohamed Salah – 162 Appearances
Salah reached 100 Premier League goals in 162 games, and his journey to Liverpool felt like redemption on the grandest scale. After struggling at Chelsea earlier in his career, Salah returned to England in 2017 as a completely different player.
What followed was one of the most explosive starts to a Premier League career ever witnessed.
Salah scored 32 goals in his debut season at Liverpool, breaking the record for most goals in a 38-game Premier League campaign. His combination of pace, directness, and deadly finishing made him virtually unstoppable.
Salah operates on the right wing but scores goals like a classic center forward. His ability to cut inside onto his favoured left foot has become one of the most predictable yet unstoppable moves in modern football.
Defenders know what he wants to do, but stopping him is another matter entirely.
He has won every major trophy with Liverpool, including the Premier League, Champions League, and multiple individual awards. Salah continues to score at an elite level, and his place among the Premier League’s all-time greats is already guaranteed.
6. Ian Wright – 173 Appearances
Wright was working in factory jobs and playing non-league football until Crystal Palace took a chance on him at age 22. By the time he retired, he was Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer.
Wright joined Arsenal in 1991 and became an instant hero at Highbury. His energy was infectious, his finishing was clinical, and his celebrations were pure joy. Wright played football like someone who could not believe his luck, because for years, he genuinely could not.
He scored 113 Premier League goals for Arsenal, including some absolute stunners. Wright had pace, power, and a striker’s instinct for being in the right place at the right moment. His partnership with various teammates over the years terrorised defences across England.
Wright’s influence extended beyond goals. He was a leader in the dressing room and on the pitch, someone who dragged his team forward through sheer force of personality. His record at Arsenal stood until Thierry Henry eventually surpassed it years later.
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7. Robbie Fowler – 175 Appearances
He reached 100 Premier League goals in 175 games, earning himself the nickname “God” among Liverpool supporters. That tells you everything about how he was regarded at Anfield during the 1990s.
Fowler burst onto the scene as a teenager and immediately looked like he belonged among the elite.
His finishing was exceptional, particularly with his left foot, and his movement in the penalty area was years ahead of his age. Fowler had a natural understanding of where goals would come from, positioning himself perfectly time and time again.
He formed a devastating partnership with Stan Collymore and later Michael Owen at Liverpool, helping the club challenge for major honors throughout the decade.
He scored 128 Premier League goals for Liverpool across two spells at the club, making him one of their greatest ever strikers.
Injuries hampered the later years of his career, but during his peak, Fowler was as clinical as anyone in English football. His record of scoring in 11 consecutive home games still stands as a Premier League record.
8. Les Ferdinand – 178 Appearances
Ferdinand was the classic English center forward, strong in the air, powerful on the ground, and ruthless in front of goal.
He scored 80 goals for QPR before earning a big-money move to Newcastle in 1995, where he partnered with Alan Shearer to form one of the most feared strike partnerships in Premier League history.
That Newcastle team under Kevin Keegan played thrilling, attacking football, and Ferdinand was central to everything they did going forward.
Ferdinand scored 41 goals in his first season at Newcastle, helping the club mount a serious title challenge. Though they ultimately fell short, Ferdinand’s performances that year reminded everyone why he was considered one of the best strikers in England.
He finished his Premier League career with 149 goals, and his influence on the game extended beyond his playing days into coaching and administrative roles within English football.
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9. Michael Owen – 185 Appearances
Owen reached 100 Premier League goals in 185 appearances, all of them for Liverpool, the club where he became the most exciting young striker in world football.
He won the Ballon d’Or at age 22, making him one of the youngest players ever to claim that honor.
His pace was frightening. Owen could outrun anyone, and once he had a clear sight of goal, he rarely missed. His ability to score important goals in big moments made him a Liverpool legend before his 25th birthday. The treble-winning season of 2001 saw Owen at his absolute peak, scoring crucial goals in multiple cup finals.
Injuries eventually robbed Owen of the explosive pace that made him so special, but his early years at Liverpool established him as one of the Premier League’s most clinical finishers.
He scored 118 league goals for the club before controversial moves to Real Madrid and, eventually, Manchester United later in his career.
10. Andrew Cole – 185 Appearances.
Cole was one of the most prolific strikers of the early Premier League era, combining pace, strength, and intelligent movement.
His breakthrough season at Newcastle in 1993-94 saw him score 34 goals in all competitions, earning a record-breaking transfer to Manchester United.
At Old Trafford, he became a key part of the most successful period in the club’s history, winning five Premier League titles and the historic treble in 1999.
Cole scored 187 Premier League goals across his career, making him one of only a handful of players to surpass that mark. His partnership with Dwight Yorke at United remains one of the most effective in Premier League history, the two combining for 53 goals during the treble season alone.
Cole’s career proves that sometimes the second chapter can be even better than the first. His move to United transformed him from a prolific scorer into a serial winner, adding trophies to his impressive goal tally.
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