The Five French Stars Who Have Scored The Most Goals In The Premier League

David Tully

3 years ago

Categories: Galleries, Manchester United News

Tags: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, West Ham, Wolves.Leeds United

Having looked at the top scorers from Brazil last week, today we focus on the most prolific players in Premier League history from France.

Over the past three decades, there have been a large number of strikers who have travelled across the English channel to play in this country, with many demonstrating a great deal of flair and skill.

Interestingly enough, though, only two players from France have reached 100 Premier League goals, but all five stars named on this list will be well known to followers of the game in England.

Press the next page as we go through the five highest French goalscorers of the Premier League era.

5) Eric Cantona (Manchester United) – 70 goals

Many felt that the Frenchman ended his time with United prematurely when he retired in 1997 so it is not surprising that the club icon didn’t score more league goals.

Even so, Cantona’s influence on the Red Devils was unrivalled, having helped them win their first four Premier League titles.

4) Louis Saha (Newcastle, Fulham, Manchester United, Everton, Spurs And Sunderland) – 85 Goals

For someone who spent 14 seasons playing in the English top-flight, Saha didn’t actually score that many goals. Injuries certainly played a part in that but the most goals he managed in a Premier League season was 13; once at Fulham and a second time at Everton.

The Frenchman’s fitness meant he was limited to just 124 appearances during his five years at Manchester United but he still helped the team win two Premier League trophies.

3) Olivier Giroud (Arsenal and Chelsea) – 90 Goals

Despite winning the World Cup and being second on France’s all-time list of top scorers, Giroud does tend to get overlooked by fans for his achievements as a player in English football.

With a strike rate of a goal every 2.4 matches, the Frenchman hardly has a poor record in front of goal, but his lack of Premier League honours does play against him.

2) Nicolas Anelka (Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Bolton, Chelsea and West Brom) – 125 goals

Considering the forward played for so many teams in the Premier League over a 15 year period, it’s not a shock to see Anelka so high up on this list.

The Frenchman’s most successful spell probably came at Chelsea where he bagged 19 league goals in the 2008/09 season, bagging himself the Golden Boot in the process. He won one league title with Arsenal and another with Chelsea over a decade later.

1) Thierry Henry (Arsenal) – 175 goals

Henry’s presence at the top of this list won’t come as a surprise to anybody. He dedicated eight seasons to the Gunners, racking up the goals and two PFA Player of the Year awards.

The striker also lifted the Premier League twice whilst also winning the most Golden Boots (four) in the history of English football.