Five of the worst strikers in Premier League history
The Premier League is one of the most closely-contested and intense footballing leagues on the planet, with the winner notoriously difficult to predict these days, Leicester’s dream run last year a case in point.
A look at the statistics is all it takes to realise that almost all the title winning teams these past few years have one thing in common – a striker who regularly bangs in goals and turns those dreary losses into draws, and closely fought draws into wins for his team.
Jamie Vardy’s goals were invaluable for the Foxes last season, as were Diego Costa’s, Sergio Aguero’s and Robin van Persie’s strikes in each of Chelsea’s, Manchester City’s and Manchester United’s title-winning campaigns.
Also read: Top 5 underrated strikers in the EPL right now
Therefore, it’s hardly a surprise to see teams splash the cash on a frontman that could possibly lead them to glory; and while there are the obvious success stories, there have also been some true horror transfers for teams over the years.
Here is our take on who we believe are the worst strikers to have ever graced the Premier League.
#5 Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Shevchenko arrived at Chelsea – much to the chagrin of Jose Mourinho – as a Champions League and Ballon d'Or winner. He was one of the hottest imports into the Premier League, and for good reason. The Ukrainian had won a plethora of individual honours during his time at Milan and Dynamo Kyiv and was one of the deadliest marksmen in the world, having scored over 250 goals during his time with the aforementioned clubs.
Chelsea had splashed an English record sum of nearly €44 million for the striker, but Shevchenko seemed to have already lost all the sharpness and pace that had made him a deadly marksman. He managed to score just nine goals in 47 appearances for the Blues in the league – which amounts to almost €5 million per goal – before he was loaned back to Milan, where he would again fail to score for a further 18 games.
While he will go down as one of the best strikers to have played the game, his time in the Premier League was a more than forgettable one.