From Kanu to Salah: How 10 African Strikers Rewrote the Premier League Scoring Charts

By Fayokun Goodness

African strikers have created some unforgettable moments in the Premier League.

The Premier League’s core archive is full of unforgettable African moments. Kanu single-handedly sinks Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with a late hat-trick. Yaya Touré runs coast to coast, tearing through Villa’s entire lineup. Sadio Mané is putting on an absolute clinic at Southampton, breaking records with three goals in just three minutes.

And then there is Mohamed Salah, who spent nine years at Liverpool turning records that once looked unreachable into routine milestones.

Heading into the 2026/27 Premier League season, those moments demonstrate that African stardom has never been a side story in England. With the campaign kicking off on Friday, August 21, it’s time to count the receipts and look at the highest-scoring African players in Premier League history.

10. Nwankwo Kanu, Nigeria: 54 goals

In October 1999, Arsenal were 2-0 down at Stamford Bridge with 15 minutes left. Kanu then decided to take over the game.

The Nigerian scored three times in the final 15 minutes to complete one of the most memorable comebacks in Premier League history. The third was the goal people still talk about: Kanu rounded goalkeeper Ed de Goey, found himself almost on the byline, and somehow squeezed the ball into the net from an angle that looked impossible. Even Kanu later described it as the greatest goal he had scored.

“If you ask me for the greatest goal I have ever scored, that is what I would say,” Kanu reflected. “None of my teammates believed I could score from that angle. Even Arsène Wenger said, ‘How did you do that?’” 

That night captures why Kanu remains such a beloved figure in Nigerian football.

#OTD in 1999, Kanu scored an incredible hat-trick against Chelsea. See his best goals: https://t.co/V7HscoGOkh pic.twitter.com/bfb038Bdri

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 23, 2015

Kanu finished his Premier League career with 54 goals in 273 appearances and 29 assists. He has played for Arsenal, West Bromwich Albion, and Portsmouth, winning two Premier League titles with Arsenal.

The football was special, but the human story that surrounded it was legendary. Kanu was diagnosed with a potentially fatal heart condition shortly after joining Inter Milan. Most players would have called it quits, but he overcame open-heart surgery, worked his way back to full fitness, and arrived in the Premier League to become an absolute legend at Highbury.

Papilo was much more than just a top forward to a generation of Nigerians back home. He became a symbol of resiliency after his recovery, demonstrating that a life or a career can be put on hold without being broken.

9. Yaya Touré, Côte d’Ivoire: 62 goals

The 2013–14 season of Yaya Touré merits a unique highlight reel.

Manchester City won the Premier League thanks to his 20 goals from central midfield. He picked up the ball inside his own half against Aston Villa on the last day of his league campaign, drove past multiple players, and completed the move on his own. Touré appeared more like a warrior and less like a midfielder after that particular run.

Those 20 goals rank among the best-scoring seasons in Premier League history for a midfielder. Along with Frank Lampard, who accomplished the feat for Chelsea in 2009–10, Touré is one of just two central midfielders to score 20 goals in a season. 

Across his Premier League career, Touré made 230 appearances, scored 62 goals, provided 32 assists, and won three titles with Manchester City.

His numbers are impressive. The way he played made them feel even bigger.

His passing numbers tell another side of the story. Between 2010/11 and 2017/18, Touré attempted 15,745 Premier League passes and completed 13,995, both league highs over that period.

Touré could dictate a game with his passing, drive through midfield, and then suddenly appear around the penalty area to shoot at goal. For several seasons, he was one of the league’s most dangerous attackers, and he did it from a position where 20-goal seasons are almost unheard of.

8. Wilfried Zaha, Côte d’Ivoire: 68 goals

Many gifted players had come and gone from Selhurst Park. Palace supporters began to look to Zaha to bring about change.

He scored his 50th league goal in September 2020 against Southampton with a volley. And it was a true Zaha goal, reaching the far post, meeting Andros Townsend’s cross, and scoring for the first time to give Palace a 1-0 victory.

That goal was just one instance in a career that ended with 305 appearances, 68 Premier League goals, and 29 assists.

Zaha was raised in Croydon after leaving Côte d’Ivoire for England as a young child. After playing for England, having come through Crystal Palace, he decided to represent Côte d’Ivoire.

Knowing that the journey is important because modern African football is frequently a diaspora story. Players can grow up in European cities, learn football, and still wear an African shirt.

He was the player opponents had to plan for. He was the one supporters looked for when Palace needed a spark.

7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabon: 69 goals

Aubameyang did not need much time to introduce himself to English football.

He arrived at Arsenal in January 2018 and quickly became one of the Premier League’s best finishers. In his first full season, he scored 22 league goals and shared the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané. He scored another 22 in 2019/20.

He ended his Premier League career with 69 goals in 143 games. That is an impressive return for a player who has only been in the league for a short time compared to many of his peers. 

His finishing was only part of the appeal. Aubameyang’s greatest weapon was the space behind a defence. Give him a yard, and he could turn an Arsenal attack into a one-on-one before a centre-back had time to turn.

His journey to represent Gabon should also be included in the narrative. Aubameyang, who was born in France, had the option to play for France, but he decided to follow in his father Pierre-François’s footsteps and represent Gabon instead.

That decision, combined with his goals in England, put him in two different football worlds at the same time.

6. Riyad Mahrez, Algeria: 82 goals

Leicester City unexpectedly won the Premier League in 2015/16, and Mahrez was one of the players who helped make the impossible appear normal.

The Algerian scored 17 goals and assisted 11 times as Leicester stunned English football and won the title. One of his most memorable moments came in December 2015, when he curled a superb effort past Chelsea to help Leicester win 2-1 and move to the top of the table.

That season elevated Mahrez from an exciting winger to a global superstar. He was named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year as the Foxes won the title.

He later joined Manchester City and won four more Premier League titles. By the time he left England in 2023, he had five league titles, 284 games, 82 goals, and 61 assists. He became the first African player to win five Premier League titles.

He arrived in England as a player that many casual fans barely knew. He left as a champion who had won at Leicester and then helped sustain Manchester City’s dominance.

That is quite a journey for a player who once looked like one of football’s best-kept secrets.

5. Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Nigeria: 95 goals

There’s a reason why fans still call him The Yak.

Yakubu previously played in the Premier League with Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton, and Blackburn Rovers. He scored 95 goals in 252 appearances and remains the highest-scoring Nigerian in Premier League history.

Yakubu scored four goals in a Premier League match twice. He did it for Portsmouth against Middlesbrough and later repeated the feat for Blackburn against Swansea in a 4-2 win. The Premier League notes that he remains one of only a small group of players to achieve the feat more than once.

With 16 goals in his first Premier League season with Portsmouth, he established himself as one of the most dependable strikers in the league. He scored 28 league goals in his first two seasons with the team.

There was nothing particularly complicated about Yakubu at his best. He found space. He held the ball up. He finished chances. Then he went home with another goal.

That quality made him a favourite among Nigerian football fans. When the question is simply which Nigerian has scored the most Premier League goals, there is no debate.

The Yak is still sitting at the top.

4. Emmanuel Adebayor, Togo: 97 goals

Adebayor was just three goals away from becoming the second player from Africa to score 100 goals in the Premier League. He played for some of the biggest teams in England during his career, scoring 97 goals for Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Crystal Palace. He made 241 Premier League appearances in the end.

He scored a hat-trick as Arsenal defeated Derby County 5-0 in September 2007. Later in the season, he would score another hat-trick against the same opponent. He is now the only player in Premier League history to score three goals against the same team in a single season, both at home and away. 

He finished the 2007/08 Premier League season with 24 goals.

But Adebayor’s career was never about staying in one place for too long.

He played for Arsenal, moved to City, and found another run of goals at Spurs. He eventually added a final Premier League goal for Palace.

This makes his 97 even more impressive. He continued to find ways to score in different teams and under various managers.

And he became one of Togo’s most well-known football figures at a time when the national team was making its own name on the international stage.

3. Didier Drogba, Côte d’Ivoire: 104 goals

Some strikers have goals that stick in your memory. Then there are strikers whose mere presence alters the behaviour of a defence. The latter was Drogba.

The Ivorian scored 104 Premier League goals in 254 appearances for Chelsea and won four league titles and two Golden Boots. His 29-goal 2009/10 season remains the most prolific Premier League campaign by a Chelsea player. 

Drogba publicly called for peace in a nation split by civil war in 2005 after Ivory Coast qualified for its first World Cup. Drogba’s influence extended beyond football, and the national team’s qualification became a unique occasion that united Ivorians. That was one of the things that set Drogba apart.

Then there was the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in 2012. Drogba delivered one of his most iconic performances for Chelsea, scoring an 88th-minute equaliser and converting the winning penalty in the shootout to give Chelsea their first UEFA Champions League title.

Drogba was the first African player to break 100 Premier League goals. For a while, nobody looked close to taking that record from him.

Then Liverpool had two forwards who had other ideas.

2. Sadio Mané, Senegal: 111 goals

Two minutes and 56 seconds was how long Sadio Mané needed to score a Premier League hat-trick against Aston Villa for Southampton in May 2015. He scored in the 13th minute, struck again 84 seconds later, and completed the hat-trick in the 16th.

Sadio Mané still holds the record for the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history 🎩

Three goals in just 2 minutes and 56 seconds ⚡ pic.twitter.com/QFKNYR5uAE

— OneFootball (@OneFootball) April 10, 2026

Mané had written his name into Premier League history before some supporters had probably finished celebrating the first goal. It remains the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history.

He was a young player when he joined Southampton. He developed into a more complete forward at Liverpool, where he joined Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah in Jürgen Klopp’s front three.

In the end, he made 263 appearances for Southampton and Liverpool in the Premier League, scoring 111 goals and providing 38 assists. Mané helped Liverpool end its 30-year league title drought when they won the 2019–2020 Premier League. After scoring 22 goals, he shared the 2018–19 Golden Boot with Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

For Senegal, Mané’s story was always bigger than what happened on English pitches. He became one of the country’s leading football figures while using his success to give back at home, including helping fund a school in his hometown of Bambali and contributing £500,000 towards a hospital.

1. Mohamed Salah, Egypt: 193 goals

Salah finished his Premier League career with 193 goals. Only three players have scored more: Alan Shearer, Harry Kane, and Wayne Rooney. Salah is also the highest-scoring non-English player in Premier League history. 

His 2024/25 season provided one final reminder of how extraordinary his Premier League career had become. Salah scored 29 league goals, provided 18 assists, and became the first player to finish a Premier League season as top scorer, top assist provider, and Player of the Season. 

He had already won the Golden Boot three times. The fourth arrived in that same campaign.

But Salah’s Premier League story was never only about the numbers.

There was a 32-goal explosion in the first season. There were the curled finishes from the right. There were the goals against Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, and countless others. The celebration, the smile, the sujood, and, later, the bow-and-arrow celebration that Salah himself linked to images of ancient Egyptian pharaohs. 

When Salah announced in March 2026 that he would leave the club at the end of the season, Liverpool described the end of his nine-year spell as the closing of a remarkable chapter. The club later confirmed his departure from the senior squad. 

By the end of his Premier League career, Salah had scored 193 goals. The record belongs to an Egyptian. And it now sits fourth in the history of the entire competition.

More Than a Goals Chart

The numbers also tell a story about how African players have found their place in the Premier League.

Kanu and Yakubu emerged at different points during Nigerian football’s dominant Premier League presence. Adebayor went through Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham, and Crystal Palace. Mahrez went on to win four more league titles with City after joining them from Leicester.

Drogba and Touré were the dominant pillars of the Chelsea and Manchester City dynasties, transforming both clubs into ruthless trophy-winning machines.

Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah redefined modern attack play to help Liverpool reclaim the Premier League title. Salah did not stop there; he also broke the Premier League record to become the highest-scoring African player in history, as well as an all-time English football legend.

The routes are also different. Zaha was born in Abidjan, raised in England, and later switched to Côte d’Ivoire at the international level. Aubameyang was born in France but chose Gabon. Their careers are part of a larger African football narrative shaped by migration, family, identity, and the decisions players make about where they belong.

That is the true narrative of this top ten. No two legacies are alike, and there is no one model for African success in England. The Premier League’s African scoring list, which charts thirty years of continental excellence on the biggest stage, is more than just a list of goals; it’s a generational transfer of the torch.