Football
Who is the Best Premier League 200-Goal Club Striker?
The ‘200 Club’ is the most special group of goalscorers Premier League history. It is a great achievement that only three players have ever achieved. Scoring 200 goals in the top flight of English football is not just about being a good goal scorer, it requires a lot of consistency, staying in good form for many years and being able to score chances time and time again. Players need to keep improving, adapt to different situations and perform well even when the pressure is on. At the top of this group is Alan Shearer, who is the best example of what it means to be a great English goalscorer.
Alan Shearer / Getty Images
Right behind him is Harry Kane, known for his skill, movement and ability to score goals even when things are difficult. The third and final player in this group is Wayne Rooney, who was not only an excellent finisher but also had good vision and versatility on the pitch. Together, these three players demonstrate the highest level of goal-scoring ability in Premier League history, and that is a record that will be very difficult to match.
SB Market Index: How We Evaluate the Premier League's 200-Goal Titans
This evaluation combines a statistical analysis of their Premier League goalscoring careers with expert and media perception to provide a comprehensive ranking.
Industry Insights
A curated analysis from top 10 football and sports media sources measures how prominently each of these three strikers is featured in discussions of the "greatest Premier League players/strikers of all time."
| Source Name | Alan Shearer | Harry Kane | Wayne Rooney |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League Official Site – Hall of Fame Inductees | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| FourFourTwo – "100 Best Premier League Players Ever" | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sky Sports – "Ranking the PL's Greatest Strikers" | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| The Guardian – "Defining Players of the PL Era" | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bleacher Report – "Top 50 Players in PL History" | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| talkSPORT – "Best Premier League Striker" Debate | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| ESPN – "Ranking the Top 10 PL Strikers" | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 90min – "The 50 Greatest Players of the Premier League Era" | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| GiveMeSport – "The 30 Greatest Strikers in PL History" | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Reddit r/soccer – "All-Time PL XI" Fan Polls | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total Mentions | 10 | 10 | 10 |
SB Score
| Player | Goals | Apps | Ratio (GPG) | SB Score |
| Harry Kane | 213 | 320 | 0.67 | 0.957 |
| Alan Shearer | 260 | 441 | 0.59 | 1.000 |
| Wayne Rooney | 208 | 491 | 0.42 | 0.793 |
This score is calculated based on three key Premier League career metrics: Goals Per Game Ratio (50% weightage), Total Goals Scored (30% weightage), and Total Appearances (20% weightage).
SB Market Index
| Rank | Player | SB Score | Industry Insights | SB Market Index |
| 1 | Alan Shearer | 1.000 | 10 | 8.200 |
| 2 | Harry Kane | 0.957 | 10 | 8.191 |
| 3 | Wayne Rooney | 0.793 | 10 | 8.159 |
The Verdict: An Incredibly Tight Race at the Top
According to our SB Market Index, Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney are tied on reputation, each with a perfect Industry Insights score, showing they are top Premier League legends. While expert opinion is divided, the key difference comes down to the SB score, which looks at how many league goals they have scored over their careers.
Shearer wins by a narrow margin. His record of 260 Premier League goals is still the highest after almost 20 years. That slight advantage helps him finish just ahead of the impressive goal-scoring figures of Kane, who left for Bayern Munich at the end of his career, and Rooney, who also moved to America, in the MLS. This is because they did not stay in the Premier League for their entire careers.
All three are certainly among the greatest players in Premier League history, but Shearer's unbeaten goalscoring record keeps him slightly ahead in this race among 200-goal legends.
Alan Shearer: The Premier League's Goal King
Alan Shearer is the top scorer in our list and no one has ever surpassed his record. He scored 260 Premier League goals, the most in the history of the competition. This record remained unbeaten for almost 20 years and is still the best standard for strikers in the English top flight.
Shearer's statistics show that he was really good not only because he scored a lot, but also because he continued to score consistently over 14 seasons. He could score from open play, with a powerful header or from a calm penalty. He was a complete striker, always agile, powerful and never stopped being effective.
His SB score shows that he is still the best, slightly ahead of Kane and Rooney, even though the competition was fierce. Until someone scores more than 260 goals, Shearer's name will always be mentioned when talking about the absolute scorer in the Premier League.
Harry Kane: The Master of Efficiency
Harry Kane only comes in second place in our final rankings, but his case for the top spot is a solid one.
As Tottenham and England captain, he has an impressive 0.67 goals per game ratio, which is the best of the top 200 Premier League scorers. In terms of goal-scoring efficiency, he is the best, converting his chances into goals better than the likes of Shearer or Rooney.
Kane's finishing skills are very varied: he can score first-time, take penalties with precision, curl the ball from distance and find space in tight penalty areas. And let's not forget that Kane was also a very good passer, something we haven't seen as much of with Shearer at least, Rooney has had his moments.
His stats in our model show that he is particularly strong in terms of efficiency. He is close to breaking Shearer's all-time record if he returns to the Premier League. In many ways, Kane's stats suggest that if he maintains his current form for a long time, he could end up changing the Premier League's record books for top scorer. Even if that's no longer likely.
Conclusion on the Premier League's Most Exclusive Club
In conclusion, our full model shows that Alan Shearer is the best striker in the Premier League's 200-goal special group. His astonishing tally of 260 goals gives him a very small lead over Harry Kane. Kane's extraordinary ability means that the gap between them is very small indeed. Wayne Rooney's ability to play in so many ways and stay at the top for so long helps him join these two in the group of top players in the competition.
What unites them is more important than what separates them, they all have a rare blend of consistent performance, talent and mental toughness that has allowed each of them to reach a goal-scoring milestone that very few players have ever achieved. To manage to score that many goals in the best league in the world is something absolutely extraordinary.
In an era where scoring 200 Premier League goals is one of the most difficult things in football, Shearer, Kane and Rooney are forever symbols of great success, three great players who set the standard for goal-scoring excellence.
With a strong background in journalism and years of experience in sports commentary, Dragoș Șoneriu has written about every aspect of sport, from match reports and features to tactical analyses and investigative pieces. A lifelong Arsenal fan, he dreams of seeing his beloved team lift the Premier League trophy. Outside of work, Dragoș collects anything football-related, from stickers and mugs to vintage shirts and scarves.