Well, whether it is the Premier League or any other league for that matter, the basic formula for winning games is scoring goals. And when it comes to scoring goals there are no players better suited to it than the strikers and center-forwards, who are well-nigh the focal points of all the passes sent into the box.

In its 26 years history Premier League has been graced by several prolific strikers. Many of them set records that are yet to be broken. But the sad part is only that the Golden Boot award is handed out only once every season and thus some of the very best strikers could never make that gold plated trophy theirs.

Till date only 21 players have claimed the Golden Boot award. And the list surprisingly doesn’t contain names of some of the biggest players of their time and you’ll be shocked to find out who they are. So, here’s the list of the 5 best strikers who could not win the topscorer’s award in their Premier League career.

#5 Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku, although only 25 years old now has established himself as one of the best strikers in Europe. He was phenomenal in the World Cup 2018, where the Belgium National team finished third.

He has been playing regularly in the Premier League since he was 19 years old and has managed to score 15 or more goals in five of the six seasons since 2012-13. Which is quite impressive.

The Belgian has all the qualities one expects in a center-forward. He is strong, can time his runs perfectly, has a good pace for a striker and is equally comfortable in scoring with his head and feet.

And you would expect a player like him to win the Golden Boot quite easily, right? But the closest he came to winning it was in the 2016-17 season, when he came in second behind Harry Kane, scoring 26 goals for Everton.

On the bright side, he has plenty of time on his hand. But with players like World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane, last season’s topscorer Mo Salah and Aguero in competition, he must up his game and Manchester United’s game if he ever wants to see his name on that golden trophy.

#4 Dennis Bergkamp

Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Dennis Bergkamp played for Arsenal for 11 seasons.

The player who scored the best goal of the Premier League era, according to a 2017 BBC poll, was a player with elegant touch and splendid technique.

The Arsenal legend, who won 3 league titles, 4 FA Cups with the Gunners in what was a very successful stint in the Premier League.

The only thing missing in his illustrious career was the biggest achievement that a striker dreams of, claiming the Golden Boot award. He scored his personal best 16 goals in the 1997-98 season, which saw the Gunners win the league.

Nonetheless, he remains one of the best players to have played for Arsenal.

#3 Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres, was one of the most hyped player in Europe once upon a time. And that hype was justified given his prolific goal-scoring for Liverpool in the 2007-08 season.

At his prime, he was one of the best players of the world, having grabbed the third place in the FIFA World Player of the Year Awards 2008.

After signing for Liverpool, Torres quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with, smashing 24 league goals in his first season with the Reds. He also became the first Liverpool player to score more than 20 league goals after Robbie Fowler since 1996. He holds the record for the fastest player to reach the 50 goals mark in Liverpool’s history.

Although, very successful on club and country level, he never touched the individualistic heights of the 2007-08 season again, when he reached upto second, only behind Ronaldo in goalscoring charts, who would also go on to win the European Golden shoe that season.

#2 Robbie Fowler

Popularly referred to as ‘God’ by Anfield faithfuls, Robbie Fowler was one of the most iconic players to have ever donned the Reds jersey.

He was a natural goalscorer, and considered to be the one of the best finishers in English football during the 90s. He’s goalscoring abilities were evident by the fact that he finished in the top 3 goalscorers of the league in three consecutive seasons. Not only that, he scored 30 or more goals for the Liverpool across all competitions for 3 consecutive seasons, the only player in the history to do so.

Although he was awarded PFA Young Player of the Year award twice in two consecutive seasons for his exploits in front of the goal, the performances were never enough to win him the Golden Boot award as he came twice within touching distance only to finish second best to the legendary Alan Shearer on both the occasions.

He is still one of the most prolific strikers of the Premier League and sits at number 6 in the all-time top scoring players’ rankings.

#1 Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney, one of the most decorated English player in history, had been one of the most consistent performers in the Premier League in the last decade.

He has won every major title at domestic and European level with Manchester United and even bagged the prestigious PFA Players’ Player of the Year award for the 2008-09 season. He is the all time top goalscorer for the Old Trafford based club and also for the Three Lions.

He became only the second player in Premier League history to score more than 200 league goals in his final PL season with Everton. That made him the second highest goalscorer in competition’s history, with only Shearer ahead of him.

It is really unfortunate that he couldn’t be crowned the top goalscorer even when he scored more than 25 league goals on two different occasions.

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