Manchester City have a long history of identifying ridiculously good strikers, but Alexander Isak and Mo Salah are holding their own among the greatest ever.

These are the best goalscoring ratios of every player with over 50 Premier League goals.

10) Edin Dzeko – 142 minutes per goal
The most memorable and meaningful of Dzeko’s 50 Premier League goals was a neat synopsis of an entire Manchester City career spent in the shadow of Sergio Aguero. Without his equaliser against QPR at the Etihad in May 2012, there would have been no winner.

That was one of two titles Dzeko helped deliver as a support act. Two years later, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho picked the Bosnian as his Player of the Year ahead of Luis Suarez as Dzeko “was the third striker at the beginning of the season and when the team needed him, in crucial moments, he made the difference”.

Even in that season his contributions in pipping Liverpool to the post were completely overshadowed by the exploits of Yaya Toure, but it was Dzeko who scored five goals in the last four games to help Manchester City hold their nerve.

9) Robin van Persie – 140 minutes per goal
Before Erling Haaland managed the feat in consecutive seasons, Van Persie was the last player to win the Golden Boot and Premier League title in the same campaign. For seven years until Anthony Martial got off his arse in June 2020, he was the most recent player to score a Premier League hat-trick for Manchester United. He is still one of just three alongside Alan Shearer and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to win the Golden Boot with two different teams.

The Dutchman made an inauspicious start in England, claiming a modest return of 48 goals in his first six Premier League seasons. But between 2010 and 2013 Van Persie was almost untouchable, breaching 30 goals for Arsenal to awaken the little boy inside of him screaming ‘Manchester United’, then 26 to deliver what might forever remain Old Trafford’s last league title.

Even under David Moyes after a Sir Alex Ferguson hospital pass, Van Persie scored 11 in 18.

8) Luis Suarez – 139 minutes per goal
It sounds impressive enough, but in games exclusively against Norwich and John Ruddy, it was 40.4 minutes per goal.

There was a time when 31 goals and 13 assists in a Premier League season was generationally phenomenal but some Liverpool forwards wouldn’t settle for that in mid-January nowadays. Suarez broke a fair few records in setting that bar but barely any of them still stand more than a decade since his departure.

All in all, 54 goals in 66 Premier League games across his final two Liverpool seasons earned him a move to Barcelona but no trophies; the League Cup medal Suarez earned the campaign before his transformation into elite forward for beating Cardiff on penalties – a shootout in which he did not feature – will take pride of place on his Miami mantelpiece.

7) Mo Salah – 130 minutes per goal
A ridiculous footballer who by season’s end should be fourth in the all-time Premier League scorers list. Aguero is two goals ahead while Andy Cole sits a further three in front.

And this includes two goals in 530 Premier League minutes for Chelsea. If this is to be his final campaign for Liverpool, Salah has secured some remarkable bookends: 32 goals and ten assists in 2017/18, then 25 and 17 respectively thus far in 2024/25.

6) Ruud van Nistelrooy – 128 minutes per goal
He quite foolishly timed his peak at the same time A Certain Frenchman was va-va-vooming the shuddering balls out of Premier League defences in north London, but Van Nistelrooy more than held his own in a comparatively lesser team.

The Dutchman set a record for scoring in consecutive Premier League games in January 2002, which he himself proceeded to break by August 2003 before having to wait 12 more years for Jamie Vardy to pick up the slack.

But ultimately only a fool would argue Ferguson was wrong for picking Cristiano Ronaldo over Van Nistelrooy when the pair clashed in 2006. Manchester United won one Premier League title during the latter’s ridiculous five seasons of scoring 95 goals in 150 Premier League games, then three in a row immediately after his exit.

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5) Harry Kane – 126 minutes per goal
It will remain phenomenal until his return on loan as a grizzled, trophy-hoarding veteran that one of Kane’s most prolific seasons was his last, when he scored 30 Premier League goals for a largely managerless Spurs side which finished 8th and was eliminated early from every cup competition, and he still missed out on his fourth career Golden Boot by six goals because of Erling sodding Haaland.

There are only so many times you can perform and produce so laughably far above the station of your boyhood club before deciding to branch out in a desperate bid to adorn a ludicrous career with silverware more illustrious than the Visit Malta Cup.

But he bloody well tried. Kane finished 2nd with 29 goals, 3rd with 30, 4th with 17, 5th with 21, 6th with 18, 7th with 23 and 8th with 30, and would have swapped any of them for 1st with none.

4) Thierry Henry – 122 minutes per goal
Even in a final full season decimated by injury Henry reached double figures for goals from 17 games, then when he returned on a painfully short loan in 2012 the Frenchman scored once in 94 entirely substitute minutes.

No player has won the Golden Boot more often, consecutive European Golden Shoes for a Premier League club before or since, nor scored more goals at a single stadium. And he chucked the 14th-most Premier League assists into an often irresistible equation too.

3) Alexander Isak – 116 minutes per goal
The Henry comparison has been made often and it is a conversation in which Isak does not feel completely out of place, which is testament to a quality destined to be perennially linked with a £150m move to Arsenal he will never make. The Swede is lacking the same creative edge as the Gunners legend but in terms of prolific excellence, Isak is on track to match the greats.

Newcastle would be screwed without him.

2) Sergio Aguero – 108 minutes per goal
He scored twice in both his first and last Premier League games, then a bucketload of times in between. Aguero had six 20-goal seasons and won the title fives times, yet obviously his only Golden Boot came in the same season Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea refused to relinquish top spot.

The most recent of five players to score five goals in a single Premier League game, only 39 have scored more times in the 136-year history of the English top flight. And that really is quite mad.

1) Erling Haaland – 92 minutes per goal
“We cannot replace him. We cannot,” said a deeply emotional Pep Guardiola after Aguero’s final league game. That might be true but Haaland has given it a ridiculously good go.

Chelsea do not have one single player over the age of 27. Which puts them way ahead on a Premier League table of average ages of starting XIs.

19=) West Ham United – 28.3
Now that’s what we call a David Moyes squad; Mohammed Kudus is the only West Ham player under the age of 27 to start more than 10 games.

19=) Everton – 28.3
So Moyes must feel at home in more ways than one at Everton, where 39-year-old Ashley Young is joined by first-teamers James Tarkowski, Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure in the ‘old heads’ club.

18) Fulham – 27.8
Last year’s oldest team have actually defied time and got a little younger with the additions of Emile Smith Rowe, Sander Berge and Joachim Andersen and the exit of the ancient Tim Ream.

17) Liverpool – 27.2
This ‘problem’ could be solved in an instant this summer if Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah leave. Jokes. It’s not a problem; they are top of the Premier League table by a mile.

15=) Newcastle United – 27.0
Can we all just stop for a minute and note that Jacob Murphy is 30? Now you’ve recovered…this is a fairly well balanced squad.

15=) Aston Villa – 27.0
Of their most-used 13 players this season, nine are in the sweet spot between 23 and 28. Villa are getting things pretty much just right.

14) Manchester City – 26.8
Looked to address an ageing squad by bringing in Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush and Vitor Reis this season.

13) Wolves – 26.7
Matt Doherty and Craig Dawson are the old men of the group, but they are largely the exception as Wolves’ midfield is built on youth.

12) Leicester City – 26.6
Lose Jamie Vardy and they would instantly lose about a year off this average age. And pretty much all their goals.

10=) Nottingham Forest – 26.1
Chris Wood is their only outfield 30-plus player to start more than 10 Premier League games this season. And he has definitely been worth making the exception.

10=) Crystal Palace – 26.1
Jefferson Lerma is only 30 and is yet the oldest Palace player to start more than four Premier League games. They are good at this lark.

9) Brentford – 25.9
Another club doing some excellent squad-building, with their six most-used outfield players all in the 23-28 bracket.

8) Arsenal – 25.7
Injuries have undoubtedly played their part but two teenagers starting 14 Premier League games between them is something to warm the cockles. The imminent exit of Thomas Partey will bring this number down further.

6=) Ipswich Town – 25.6
At least they resisted the urge to bring in a slew of expensive old heads for their doomed survival campaign. They will recoup their money on some.

6=) Manchester United – 25.6
There have been significant minutes for seven players 23 and under, though we think they should take the money and run on this pair.

5) Southampton – 25.4
Young and sh*t is somehow better than old and sh*t at least.

3=) Bournemouth – 25.1
Of their 11 most-used players in the Premier League, only two – Kepa and Ryan Christie – have (only just) turned 30. Which means several have the potential to earn the Cherries some serious money.

3=) Tottenham – 25.1
Son Heung-Min and Ben Davies are literally the only outfield players over 30 to play a Premier League minute this season. Archie Gray is 18 and pulling the average age down.

2) Brighton – 25.0
Having a 22-year-old goalkeeper will do that, but he is one of eight regular first-teamers who are 24 and under.

1) Chelsea – 23.4
It’s not even close. And it’s truly ludicrous. They do not have one single player over the age of 27.

Man Utd ‘want to sign’ Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia in the summer transfer window to replace Andre Onana, according to reports.

The Red Devils have been struggling in many aspects of their play this season with Man Utd currently 14th in the Premier League after 27 matches.

Ruben Amorim’s side also exited the FA Cup on Sunday on penalties to Premier League rivals Fulham, while their final hope of silverware comes in the Europa League.

Goalscoring has been one of the main concerns this season with only five Premier League sides scoring fewer goals than Man Utd this campaign.

Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund have scored just five Premier League goals between them and there are rumours a new centre-forward will be a priority in the summer.

However, Onana has also struggled at times this season with the Cameroonian producing some fantastic saves but also a number of errors leading to goals.

Man Utd have conceded 39 goals in 27 Premier League matches and there have been reports that some staff are ‘concerned’ at Onana’s displays this season.

And now Spanish publication Fichajes claims that Man Utd have ‘chosen’ Espanyol goalkeeper Garcia – who has been heavily linked with Arsenal – as their replacement for Onana.

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The report adds that the Red Devils ‘have set their sights on’ the former Spain Under 21 international after Onana’s poor form ‘has led the English club to consider new options, and the young 23-year-old Spanish goalkeeper appears as an attractive candidate for the restructuring of Erik ten Hag’s team.’

Amorim replaced Ten Hag in November but has yet to get the players heading in the right direction and he will want some help in the form of new signings in the summer.

Man Utd ‘want to sign’ Garcia ‘and the opportunity to defend the goal of one of the most important clubs in England is difficult to reject’.

Former Man Utd defender Gary Pallister wants to see Onana “dominate the box” more as he outlines areas the goalkeeper can improve.

Pallister told Casino Apps: “I don’t like goalkeepers that take a chance! I’m an old-school centre-half and a lot of them would be asking, ‘what’s the goalkeeper doing?’ if they saw Andre Onana do some of the stuff he does with the ball at his feet.

“That being said, he is comfortable on the ball, but I’d prefer my goalkeeper to stop the ball going into the back of the net first and foremost. If you’re bad with the ball at your feet in this day and age then you’re probably not going to survive in a Premier League side, but I’d still prefer my goalkeeper to dominate the box, be decisive and make good saves.”

On whether he’d prefer having David De Gea in the Man Utd side, Pallister added: “I think David de Gea was released too early. I think he’s a very good goalkeeper, and I for one certainly wouldn’t have got rid of him.”

Manchester United v Arsenal may not be the fixture it once was, but it’s still a worthy headliner on a big weekend for Marco Asensio and Andoni Iraola.

Game to watch: Manchester United v Arsenal
At one time – and for a long time – the key fixture in English football, Man United v Arsenal may have a slightly reduced status now but remains compelling viewing.

It appeared to be a game that would pit two struggling sides together, albeit struggles on different scales.

Both teams were struggling desperately in front of goal, with the only tiny difference between them that United’s struggles meant they were stuck in the bottom half of the league scrapping with Spurs and West Ham, while Arsenal’s struggles meant they couldn’t keep pace with leaders Liverpool and would likely finish second in the league for a third year in succession.

So not quite the same. And then Arsenal went to PSV in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie and made the bold, correct decision to take all of their chances instead of none of their chances. It really is a mystery why more teams don’t do this.

United were in their own European last-16 clash two nights later, but didn’t adopt that new foolproof strategy devised by the Gunners and managed only a 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad.

The lack of preparation time that leaves them for this clash with an Arsenal team that is also much better than they are means United start this one on the back foot.

The league may not now be top priority for either side as they chase European titles but there’s no doubt that result in Eindhoven this week gives Arsenal more scope to hit this game harder than they otherwise might knowing they effectively have a week off given the state of that Champions League tie.

No such luck for United, who really do appear to have very little going for them in a game that before Tuesday night we’d have said came with huge 0-0 energy.

Player to watch: Marco Asensio
We’re still trying to get our heads around the idea of Marco Asensio’s Barclaysman era, but it’s certainly not something that appears to be fazing him after helping himself to five goals in his last four games for Villa, his latest putting the cap on a fine away win at Club Brugge that leaves Villa on the cusp of a Champions League quarter-final to go with the FA Cup quarter-final his goals have also helped secure.

Villa go to Brentford on Saturday evening and could really do with another compelling result away from home to match the one they got in Bruges. There is a pattern developing, in the league at least, at Villa where they are a force at home but too soft-centred and easily picked off on their travels.

Their last Premier League away game was a chastening 4-1 defeat at Palace, which was also a fourth three-goal defeat in a run of four points from nine Premier League away games stretching back to October.

Asensio and co now face an interesting chance to start turning that form around against a Brentford side that started the season with an even more prominent reliance on home form but who have now failed to win a home game since early December.

Team to watch: Nottingham Forest
A huge day in Forest’s unexpected Champions League challenge. After three Premier League games without a win, Forest’s grip on third place has loosened sufficiently that defeat at home to Man City will see Pep Guardiola’s side leapfrog them and slightly restore the natural order of things.

And if Forest do lose on Saturday lunchtime they are likely to find themselves outside the top four for the first time in the longest time with Chelsea, a point behind City and two behind Forest currently, at home to Leicester on Sunday afternoon.

As with all discussion of Forest, there must be some acknowledgement that ‘possibly dropping to fifth this weekend’ wasn’t the sort of grave concern that haunted their pre-season dreams, but times and expectations change and shift.

The battling goalless draw against Arsenal in their last league game offers a Gerard Pique-irritating blueprint, but it might be harder to make that plan stick against a City side that quite famously does possess a centre-forward.

Things do, inevitably, get easier again for Forest after this but however harsh it may be Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will carry the look of one running out of momentum and energy if Saturday goes sideways.

Manager to watch: Andoni Iraola
Tottenham’s lacklustre defeat at AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of the last 16 in a Europa League campaign that represents their only plausible route to saving a rotten season has reopened the Ange Out talk, and the Bournemouth manager remains high on the list of contenders to be next in line for English football’s impossible job.

It creates an interesting backdrop for Bournemouth’s trip to Spurs this weekend, and a match that should on the face of it matter far more to the Cherries than to Spurs, for whom all eyes are now on next Thursday’s attempts to repair the damage suffered in the Netherlands.

Unlike Spurs, Bournemouth still have something beyond the last shreds of their dignity to play for in this league campaign, but they are in need of a lift themselves. They’ve slipped slightly off Champions League pace after a run of one win and three defeats since that astonishing demolition job on Nottingham Forest.

And the one win was at Southampton, which barely counts. Iraola’s Bournemouth have always operated in this kind of streaky fashion. It’s not even the first time this season they’ve had a four-game run containing three league defeats and a 3-1 win over Southampton.

The last time that happened they ended the sequence with a 2-0 win over a side from North London. And that time it was the good side from North London, so every chance, you’d think, of doing likewise when presented with an opportunity against the rubbish one.

Football League game to watch: Notts County v AFC Wimbledon
Fourth v fifth here as League Two’s teak-tough promotion race comes to a boil. These teams have dropped off the pace at an inopportune time having managed just one win between them in their last eight games combined.

Both currently have a game in hand over the three teams above them, but whoever loses here finds themselves at risk of drifting away from the automatic promotion places and being sucked back into a play-off fight in which they suddenly won’t feel too secure.

European game to watch: Juventus v Atalanta
A significant if surely final chance for Juventus to insert themselves into the Serie A title race. A draw between top two Inter and Napoli last week, combined with Atalanta’s own failure to break down Venezia at home and Juve’s 2-0 win over Verona have just slightly brought that top four back together.

If Juventus can extend a Serie A winning streak that currently stands at five then they will move level on points with Atalanta and potentially within three of the summit having at long last seemingly found the key to turning all those draws – 13 in the space of 18 league games between September and January – into wins.

Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo will reportedly turn down the opportunity to extend his contract at the club so he can move abroad.

Mainoo is one of the best players to come through the Man United youth academy in the last decade.

He broke into the Red Devils’ first team under Erik ten Hag in the 2023/24 season, making 24 appearances in the Premier League.

The 19-year-old earned his England debut and a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad for last summer’s European Championship after impressing in a dysfunctional United team.

Mainoo is highly-rated at the club and around Europe, attracting transfer interest from rivals Chelsea in the winter transfer window.

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This time last year, the teenager was deemed ‘untouchable’ by United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who was open to offers for every player, except for Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund.

Nobody is safe at Old Trafford now, from the tea lady to club captain Bruno Fernandes.

Ratcliffe’s overhaul has been brutal and made an already extremely miserable atmosphere even worse with his job cuts and questionable cost-cutting decisions.

That, on top of players like Antony and Scott McTominay leaving United to have success elsewhere, could be the reason Ruben Amorim loses some of his better players and Mainoo is one star believed to be open to a transfer.

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This is according to a report from Guardian Sport, where it is claimed that Mainoo ‘is minded to reject the offer of a new contract at ­Manchester United and seek a move abroad’.

As an academy graduate who joined the club at the age of six, this comes as quite a surprise, but you can hardly blame him.

Mainoo only has two years remaining on his current deal and has been in talks over an extension and pay rise for some time.

Talks are clearly not going well and the England international is seriously considering leaving Old Trafford.

The report claims that Man United ‘would be open to selling’ the player and believe he is worth ‘around £70million’.

Chelsea’s previous interest is mentioned, however, Mainoo ‘moving to another Premier League club is not currently part of his thinking’.

United are not losing hope of agreeing a new contract with the teenage midfielder and believe he ‘could still agree to improved terms’ on the £20,000-a-week he currently earns.

Mainoo is certainly underpaid, especially when you consider the monstrous wages some of his peers are on.

Casemiro – who the Englishman has consistently performed better than since breaking into the side – is believed to earn over £300,000 per week.

While United want to keep hold of their best youngster, the fee from selling him ‘would be a welcome boost’, especially as an academy graduate able to be sold for ‘pure profit’.

With the relationship between the club and fans getting more strained every week, selling a homegrown player while head coach Amorim wants to rebuild the team ‘would be difficult for many fans to accept’.

No contact has taken place between United and interested clubs but they would ideally sell Mainoo in the summer to maximise his value.

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