The arrival of Diego Costa at Chelsea and Luis Suarez’s exit from Liverpool are two perfect examples of how important it is to have an elite striker on a Premier League roster. Top strikers don’t grow on trees but if the Reds weren’t already aware of what they lost when Suarez left for Barcelona in the offseason, they learned the hard way over the course of a tremendously disappointing year. There is no doubt addressing the position will be extremely important this summer the same way it was for Chelsea a year ago. Here is a look at the most impressive strikers in the Premier League from this past season.
Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
No Premier League striker was more lethal this season than Aguero, who scored a league-high 26 goals with eight assists in 33 games. Without question, he was one of the main reasons why the Citizens finished with 83 goals this season, which was the most in the EPL and 10 goals clear of second place.
An elite talent that has all of the tools to consistently contribute at the highest level with his incredible ball skills and ability to finish, there is no doubt that Aguero will consistently land on this list for as long as he remains in England’s top division.
Harry Kane, Tottenham
The fact that Kane’s 21 goals in 34 games were the second-most behind only Aguero becomes that much more important when you consider that he managed to put up that total with a Tottenham club that was nowhere near as talented as Manchester City. While City finished in second place in the table, Tottenham was 15 points behind them.
Kane is still only 21-years-old and while the Spurs intend to keep him on their roster as their top striker for the foreseeable future, the reality is there will be a number of teams that come forward and attempt to lure them in to a deal to move him to another club.
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Diego Costa, Chelsea
Manager Jose Mourinho deserves all of the credit in the world for the way that he addressed his team’s biggest needs last summer. Costa was arguably his most important addition as he proved with 20 goals in 26 games. That means Costa had 27% of their tallies this season. Only one other player (Eden Hazard) scored in double figures for Chelsea.
Costa stood tall as the elite finisher that the Blues needed to run away with a Premier League title and only Aguero and Kane finished with more goals this season.
Charlie Austin, Queens Park Rangers
Austin is another example of a top striker that thrived despite the relative lack of talent around him. He scored 18 goals with five assists in 35 games this season despite playing for a QPR team that finished dead last in the EPL table. That’s quite impressive as QPR only totaled 42 on the season.
QPR will do everything they can in order to bring back Austin for next season but even more so than with Kane and Tottenham, they will be in tough to resist moving him at a substantial price at some point in the near future. They’ve been relegated due to their 20th place finish, so they might want to get what they can for him as some of the other big clubs in the EPL come asking about his services.
Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
A big reason for Arsenal’s success this season was the play of Sanchez, who was named the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year. The 26-year-old scored 16 goals with eight assists in 35 games with the Gunners this season. He’s one of the main reasons bettors are pegging Arsenal to make a title run next season. In terms of Sanchez’ fantasy potential, there is still room for growth as he’s surrounded by plenty of quality talent. With another full year of Premier League experience under his belt, he’ll be a player on the rise.
