4 Players who could have beaten Alan Shearer's all-time Premier League scoring record 

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo

What if Ronaldo Stayed in Manchester for the entirety of his career?

No goalscoring list can truly be ever complete without mentioning machine himself: Cristiano Ronaldo. A once in a generation footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in Manchester in 2003 as a skinny kid who dazzled the crowd with his skills and by the time he left in 2009, the kid had transformed into a goalscoring phenomenon.

A five-time Ballon d'Or winner, Ronaldo enjoyed tremendous success not only in Spain but also in England. When Sir Alex Ferguson snapped him up from Sporting CP for a record transfer fee of £12.24 million, many eyebrows were raised. But in the following six years, the transfer fee looked like a bargain as he smashed a league-record 31-goals in the 2007-08 season.

Just when people thought he could be the one to break Shearer's record, Real Madrid came calling. Overall, Ronaldo spent six years in England, winning three Premier League titles and scoring 84 goals in 196 league appearances.

Ronaldo was just 24 when Los Blancos came calling, meaning his peak years would be spent battling out with Lionel Messi rather than catching Shearer's record. Ronaldo, who started out as a traditional winger soon moved into a more central role as the years passed by as he was able to use his tremendous speed and acceleration, combined with the technical skills to dribble past defenders and find the back of the net.

After moving to Spain, the Portuguese smashed in an astonishing 311 league goals in 292 appearances, a tally that would have seen him beat Shearer's record comfortably.