70. Emmanuel Petit
Arsenal, Chelsea
Where Patrick Vieira was fire and might, Petit may be reflected on as the cooler antithesis. In reality, the sultry Frenchman embodied Arsenal’s late-90s passion, and played with similar bite to his midfield partner. ‘Manny Small’ helped to deliver Wenger’s first Double, and later moved to Stamford Bridge via one unhappy season at Barcelona.
HIGHLIGHT As Arsenal gunned towards the finish line in 1998, Petit’s terrific goal decided a tight April encounter against Derby which set up their imminent trophy lift at Highbury.
69. Luka Modric
Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Redknapp telling his players to “just give the ball to Luka” might have appeared a rudimentary approach – but watching the Croatian, it didn’t take a genius to understand why. Although he initially struggled, Modric’s mastery of the ball soon came to the fore over four brilliant seasons at White Hart Lane.
HIGHLIGHT In an outstanding 2010/11, he was otherworldly in a goalless draw against Manchester United; later, Fergie would name him his player of the season.
68. Jermain Defoe
West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Bournemouth
Only seven men have scored more Premier League goals than Defoe, who struck 162 times for five teams. The Londoner carved out a career of expertly hanging on defenders’ shoulders, posting 10 double-digit top-flight seasons in a streak of healthy goal-getting. Anyone who can net 15 goals in back-to-back campaigns for Sunderland deserves a nod.
HIGHLIGHT Five second-half goals in a 9-1 Tottenham drubbing of Wigan had Redknapp hailing Defoe as the best finisher in England.
67. Carlos Tevez
West Ham United, Manchester United, Manchester City
At first, the circus of Tevez’s disputed move to West Ham seemed silly – his first 16 league games passed without a goal, as the Hammers looked doomed. Then it all changed – seven strikes in the run-in saved the Londoners, before the Argentine proved his class in title triumphs at both Manchester clubs. Life was rarely quiet.
HIGHLIGHT With West Ham requiring a win on the final day of 2006/07 at Old Trafford, Super Tev stepped up, netting the only goal.
66. Fernando Torres
Liverpool, Chelsea
When Rafael Benitez managed to convince La Liga’s hottest prospect to swap sunny Spain for the watercolour sprawl of English football, pressure for a speedy start was on but the Spaniard was quick to deliver. He set a new record as the most prolific foreigner in a debut season, usurping Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 23-goal collection of six campaigns earlier with a 24th on the final day of 2007/08.
After cementing himself as a Kop hero, he couldn’t quite reach the same heights at Stamford Bridge: Torres’ Premier League story was not one of longevity, then, but had a much shorter fuse. The fireworks, while brief, were also quite brilliant.
HIGHLIGHT Liverpool hammered Manchester United 4-1 at Old Trafford in March 2009, with Torres using Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand as his playthings. The Spaniard’s goal that afternoon is always his go-to highlight.
65. Matt Le Tissier
Southampton
He was certainly the best penalty taker in the history of the Premier League – Mark Crossley’s famous save in March 1993 gave Le Tissier a meagre 98 per cent success rate across his career – and arguably the foremost bottom-half player in the rebranded division. Criminally, the Guernsey demigod never finished above 10th in the Prem.
But perhaps no other player had ever assembled such a collection of goals; a compendium of free-kicks, volleys and inch-perfect long-range efforts that were necessary to prevent him from doing any more running. “Outrageous, sickening goals,” eulogised Barcelona idol Xavi, who developed an obsession with Le Tissier.
HIGHLIGHT That final game at The Dell, Southampton’s home for 103 years. Its greatest player came on with 16 minutes left against Arsenal; even by his standards, the 32-year-old Le Tissier looked out of shape. But when the ball fell his way, he swivelled to dispatch a magnificent left-footed half-volley. It proved his last goal, as well as the ground’s.
64. Dimitar Berbatov
Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Fulham
On a field of athletes, Berba invariably looked the artist: operating in his world, at his speed, a man apart from everyone else. There were occasions when the Bulgarian mooched around, his sleeves pulled over his hands like a student who had forgotten his coat – but Berbatov, who famously learned his English from watching The Godfather, acquired a cult following of his own. This iconoclast might have looked like a bit of a loner, but it also meant Berbatov fitted firmly into Spurs’ tradition of stylish crowd darlings. He would have had it no other way.
HIGHLIGHT His September 2010 hat-trick for United against Liverpool featured a fine overhead kick. It also proved the last league treble against the Merseysiders for a decade, until Ollie Watkins’ shock glut for Aston Villa in October 2020.
ANDREW MURRAY Why do footballers have to come to England to be appreciated?
63. Paolo Di Canio
Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United, Charlton Athletic
Di Canio offered excitement and identity. Combustible, controversial and charismatic, he overshadowed the exciting generation of homegrown talents who went on to scale greater heights – although none performed with such elan or such unpredictability. He was the master of the feint, often beating the defender or goalkeeper an extra time before shooting.
Even Di Canio’s penalties – one famously wrestled off a furious Frank Lampard – could be Panenkas. The icon was a mass of contradictions but in between, Di Canio was simply one of the best footballers in the division.
HIGHLIGHT Egil Olsen’s notoriously direct Wimbledon were rarely associated with things of beauty... that is, until Trevor Sinclair launched a 50-yard diagonal pass against them. Rather than controlling, Di Canio met it on the volley with a scissor-kick that flew past Neil Sullivan. In its technique, audacity and execution, it’s among the top Premier League efforts of all time. His 2002 volley at Chelsea was almost as good, though.
62. Jay-Jay Okocha
Bolton Wanderers
Okocha was the Ronaldinho of the Reebok. More than anyone else, he made Bolton fashionable with a dazzling array of flicks and tricks, rabonas and stepovers. He could fool foes using his fancy footwork, allied with seemingly elastic legs that appeared to bend during some skills.
Few have found more imaginative ways to lift a ball; indeed, one mind-boggling piece of magic involved a rainbow flick over a baffled Ray Parlour. Okocha packed a vicious long shot and even a long throw, which almost definitely endeared him to Allardyce. He was, as the club merchandise used to say, so good they named him twice.
HIGHLIGHT Pick from the solo run and missile to defeat West Ham and help keep Bolton up in 2003... or the dance with Big Sam when survival was secured
61. Riyad Mahrez
Jamie Vardy may have scored more goals and N’Golo Kante became a global sensation, but Mahrez was crowned PFA Players’ Player of the Year after providing the artistry that kept teams on the back foot all season. Defences knew exactly what was coming – the nightmarish, trademark chop inside – but could do nothing about it. At his best, there are few you would rather watch.
HIGHLIGHT Scoring Leicester’s second in that masterful win at the Etihad Stadium in February 2016, hopping over Nicolas Otamendi, then wrong-footing Martin Demichelis to fire past Joe Hart. Dilly ding, dilly dong: it was really on.
