Every year, the top goalscorer in the Premier League has the honour of taking home the Golden Boot.
Despite goals being the ultimate currency in football, the winner of this particular accolade does not point towards top-flight success. Indeed, in 2023, Erling Haaland became the first player in 10 years to put a Premier League winners’ medal alongside his Golden Boot.
The top 10 all-time Premier League goalscorers
FFC takes a look at the PL’s most prolific goalscorers.
ByMark Marston
2024/25 saw Mohamed Salah take home a fourth Golden Boot, something only Thierry Henry has done in the Premier League era. Pre-1992, Jimmy Greaves (6) and Derby County forward Steve Bloomer (5) are the only other players to be the English top tier’s top scorer four times or more.
So, who have been the previous winners, who has won the award the most times, and who has done it with the most goals? All that information and more can be found here.
Here is a list of every Premier League Golden Boot winner, alongside a detailed look at the most recent recipients of the award, including the best goal from their winning seasons.
Season
Player
Club(s)
Goals
1992/93
Teddy Sheringham
Nottingham Forest, Tottenham
22
1993/94
Andy Cole
Newcastle
34
1994/95
Alan Shearer
Blackburn
34
1995/96
Alan Shearer
Blackburn
31
1996/97
Alan Shearer
Newcastle
25
1997/98
Chris Sutton, Dion Dublin, Michael Owen
Blackburn, Coventry, Liverpool
18
1998/99
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Michael Owen, Dwight Yorke
Leeds, Liverpool, Man Utd
18
1999/00
Kevin Phillips
Sunderland
30
2000/01
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Chelsea
23
2001/02
Thierry Henry
Arsenal
24
2002/03
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Man Utd
25
2003/04
Thierry Henry
Arsenal
30
2004/05
Thierry Henry
Arsenal
25
2005/06
Thierry Henry
Arsenal
27
2006/07
Didier Drogba
Chelsea
20
2007/08
Cristiano Ronaldo
Man Utd
31
2008/09
Nicolas Anelka
Chelsea
19
2009/10
Didier Drogba
Chelsea
29
2010/11
Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov
Man City, Man Utd
20
2011/12
Robin van Persie
Arsenal
30
2012/13
Robin van Persie
Man Utd
26
2013/14
Luis Suarez
Liverpool
31
2014/15
Sergio Aguero
Man City
26
2015/16
Harry Kane
Tottenham
25
2016/17
Harry Kane
Tottenham
29
2017/18
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool
32
2018/19
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah
Arsenal, Liverpool
22
2019/20
Jamie Vardy
Leicester
23
2020/21
Harry Kane
Tottenham
23
2021/22
Mohamed Salah, Son Heung-min
Liverpool, Tottenham
23
2022/23
Erling Haaland
Man City
36
2023/24
Erling Haaland
Man City
27
2024/25
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool
29
Robin van Persie (Arsenal & Man Utd) 2011/12 (30 goals), 2012/13 (26 goals)
Dutchman Robin van Persie picked up each of his two Golden Boots in consecutive years, distinctively doing so for two different clubs: Arsenal and Manchester United.
He hit 30 in the 2011/12 season for the Gunners, emulating Thierry Henry in the process. But after his strikes were only enough to steer Arsenal to third that year, he arrived at rivals Manchester United the following summer keen to add team honours to his collection.
His move was vindicated when his 26 goals secured United what is still their most recent league title to date.
Best goal: It has to be the one that helped seal the title for United, as Van Persie sumptuously smashed home Wayne Rooney’s cross-field ball against Aston Villa.
Luis Suarez (Liverpool) 2013/14 (31 goals)
While the 2013/14 campaign ended in heartbreak for Liverpool, it was a record-breaking year for Luis Suarez.
Despite entering the season under the cloud of a recent (but not his last) biting incident, not to mention a heavily publicised and failed move to Arsenal, he equalled the Premier League record set by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007/08 with 31 goals.
The Reds may have ended as runners-up that year, but Suarez would move on to better things off the back of this campaign, winning the Champions League with Barcelona 12 months later.
Best goal: Smashing the ball over a hapless John Ruddy from 40 yards (before scoring three more against Norwich City).
Sergio Aguero (Man City) 2014/15 (26 goals)
It may be something of a surprise to note that Sergio Aguero only took home one Golden Boot – particularly in a year when Manchester City did not win the title.
But he saw off the challenges of Harry Kane and Diego Costa to comfortably claim the top scorer award amid a disappointing defence of City’s Premier League crown.
Best goal: While his best strikes came in other seasons, his superbly curled effort against Spurs capped a marvellous afternoon as he scored all four goals.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) 2018/19 (22 goals)
One of three different winners in this particular year, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang managed to take home a Golden Boot in his first full season at Arsenal.
The Gunners fell short in their pursuit of a Champions League place, but the Gabon ace was often on hand to help their cause, with two strikes against Burnley on the final day sealing his place in the top-flight history books.
Best goal: His equaliser in the north London derby proved what a clinical finisher he could be, even from range.
Sadio Mane (Liverpool) 2018/19 (22 goals)
The second of the three winners in 2018/19 was Sadio Mane, who picked up his only Golden Boot during his time at Liverpool.
Often seen working prolifically alongside Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, Mane was at his best while that Liverpool trio tore almost every Premier League defence to shreds.
Best goal: His backheel against Watford was unlike anything we have seen before or since (at 2:12 in the video below).
Jamie Vardy (Leicester) 2019/20 (23 goals)
Although his best season will undoubtedly have been amid Leicester City’s title win in 2015/16, Jamie Vardy was far from the peak of his powers.
He continued to terrorise defences up and down the country, and got the Golden Boot that his goalscoring exploits deserved by scoring 23 times in the 2019/20 campaign.
We’ll never know how the curtailed season due to the pandemic affected things, with Leicester’s form tailing off as they missed out on a top-four place. Vardy scored four times post-restart to edge ahead of Aubameyang and Danny Ings, his closest competitors.
Best goal: A simply superb strike lofted over Bournemouth’s Aaron Ramsdale early in the campaign.
Harry Kane (Tottenham) 2015/16 (25 goals), 2016/17 (29 goals), 2020/21 (23 goals)
Had he played in another era, Harry Kane may well have had twice the amount of Golden Boots he ended up with, but three while playing for a Tottenham Hotspur side who seldom challenged for the title itself is not bad going.
That said, they came closest to the title in two of Kane’s Golden Boot seasons, with back-to-back gongs coming his way after the Lilywhites secured finishes of 3rd and 2nd in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 campaigns respectively.
With only Alan Shearer ahead of him in terms of all-time goals, it is difficult to understate Kane’s success in the Premier League, but there’s no doubt he’d have swapped a Golden Boot or two for a trophy with his beloved Spurs.
Best goal: A classic strike to put Spurs 2-1 up against Arsenal all but killed off the Gunners’ title hopes as both teams chased Leicester down.
Son Heung-min (Tottenham) 2021/22 (23 goals)
While Harry Kane got most of the plaudits during their time together at Spurs, Son Heung-min finally got one over on his teammate by not only beating his personal tally for the season, but everyone else’s, too (well, bar Salah).
Tottenham flourished that season, particularly after Antonio Conte arrived in north London, as they secured Champions League football on the final day – with Son grabbing two goals to draw level with Liverpool’s Egyptian.
No doubt an accolade worthy of the South Korean’s efforts in Tottenham colours, he has continued to lead by example as Spurs captain following Kane’s exit.
Best goal: Son has made the outside-the-box curler something of a trademark, and his effort against Leicester in May 2022 is certainly one of his finest.
Erling Haaland (Man City) 2022/23 (36 goals), 2023/24 (27 goals)
There are few superlatives left to describe Erling Haaland, not least after he arrived in the Premier League by smashing record after record and winning everything in sight with Manchester City.
With such an impressive goalscoring record at Borussia Dortmund (86 goals in 89) preceding him, he would’ve been expected to be right amongst the goals after his switch to City.
The Norwegian not only ended up with the Golden Boot and the PFA Player of the Year award in his first season, but he did so by reaching a record 36 goals – averaging over a goal a game in the Premier League, proving he is truly one of a kind.
Understandably, he wasn’t quite able to reach those standards again, but with some time out injured during the most recent campaign, he still put in another solid return of 27, with a late-season four-goal blitz steering him clear of Chelsea’s Cole Palmer.
With another Premier League title and Golden Boot in the bag, Haaland seems far from finished…
Best goal: While he makes finishing look easy, Haaland’s acrobatic effort against Southampton in 2022/23 (at 4:04 below) was arguably the pick of the bunch during his first season at City.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) 2017/18 (32 goals), 2018/19 (22 goals), 2021/22 (23 goals), 2024/25 (29 goals)
One of the greatest Premier League goalscorers in recent times, Mohamed Salah had no problems re-adapting to the English top flight after returning as a Liverpool player in 2017.
His first season back saw him notch a Premier League record of 32 goals for the Anfield club, becoming the second African player (after Didier Drogba) to sit top of the goalscoring charts.
In 2019, he shared the award with two fellow Africans in Aubameyang and teammate Mane, before tying for the award once more in 2022.
He won it outright again in the 2024/25 season as he steered Liverpool to a second league title since joining, picking up awards for the most goals and assists, as well as the Player of the Season award, to go along with the Premier League trophy.
Best goal: There are plenty to choose from, but we’ve gone for his rocket against Chelsea in the 2018/19 season, which made even Martin Tyler sound rather excited (at 1:59 for those in a hurry).