Mohamed Salah chases down record – The top non-English Premier League goalscorers

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14 foreign players with 100+ goals 

©TM/IMAGO

When Liverpool needed someone to tuck away their penalty against Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday, once again Mohamed Salah was the man to step up. He smashed his spot-kick into the corner to help the Reds earn a point and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table. For so long, the Egyptian has proved any doubters wrong, and he can certainly now be considered a Liverpool legend. No player has scored more Premier League goals for Liverpool, and he helped the club win the Champions League in 2019 and their first ever Premier League title in 2020. If Liverpool were to go on to win repeat the feat of becoming league champions this season under new manager Arne Slot, Salah would really cement his place in Liverpool folklore. 

Salah has broken numerous records since returning to England and signing for Liverpool back in 2017. But there’s one particular record the 32 year old might have his eye on breaking before he considers leaving Anfield. His strike against United was his 175th in the Premier League, taking him to joint-seventh in the overall rankings – and drawing the Liverpool winger level with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. However, if we isolate the list to only foreign players, and compile the top non-English Premier League scorers in the division’s history, Salah is already joint second and will have his sights set on eclipsing the one former player ahead of him. Take a look at the full list below, with some nostalgic stars cropping up.

Coming in at number one, just nine goals goals ahead of Salah is Manchester City legend Sergio Agüero. The prolific Argentine striker scored 184 Premier League goals for the Sky Blues, making him the current all-time top foreign Premier League scorer. In fact, only four Englishmen even managed to score more than him: Alan Shearer (260), Harry Kane (213), Wayne Rooney (208), and Andy Cole (187). In second place on the list is Arsenal hero Thierry Henry, with the Frenchman managing 175 Premier League goals for the Gunners.

Next up is of course Salah; also now with 175 goals, but Henry did it in fewer games. There’s been lots of talk about Salah’s long-term future, with many Saudi Pro League sides reported to be willing to pay huge money to acquire Salah’s services, but if he is only a handful of goals behind Agüero’s record come next June, it could tempt the Egyptian to stay at Anfield one more season. Salah has 18 goals and 13 assists in 19 Premier League games this season, the most goal involvements ever by a player in their first 19 appearances of a campaign in the competition, overtaking Luis Suárez’s 30 in 2013-14 (23 goals, 7 assists). If he carries on at that same strike-rate of 0.95 goals-per-game, he will end the season with 36 goals, and will overtake Agüero before this season’s finished.

In fourth is former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie – the Dutchman scored 144 Premier League goals in 280 matches. He is followed in fifth by another striker from the Netherlands, in Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who scored 127 Premier League goals for four different clubs. South Korean Heung-Min Son is sixth with 125 goals in 320 games. Seventh goes to former Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane, who scored 125 goals in 349 games in the English top-flight. Former Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka is eighth with 125 Premier League goals in 364 matches, with former Trinidad and Tobago striker Dwight Yorke in ninth with 123 goals in 375 matches. Romelu Lukaku completes the top 10, with the Belgian having scored 121 Premier League goals.