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The 'Golden Boot' is the one of the most prestigious individual awards in the Premier League. With the new campaign set to commence, the race for the golden boot could be as exciting as the title race. Defending champions Manchester City and neighbors Manchester United have been going all-out in the transfer market so far with big-name signings.
As the top clubs battle it out in the league, the race for the Premier League golden boot is one to keep an eye on. Players like Harry Kane, Bruno Fernandes, Mohamed Salah and Jamie Vardy could be gunning for top spot.
Premier League golden boot history
The coveted Premier League golden boot has been won by some of the legends of the game from past and present. While the early years were dominated by the leading Premier League scorer of all-time Alan Shearer, Frenchman Thierry Henry is another player to have won it more than once.
World-class forwards like Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero have also won it. Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah have dominated the race for the golden boot more recently.
Without further delay, let's rank the best Premier League golden boot winners of the last decade.
#5 Sergio Aguero | Manchester City
Sergio Aguero bid farewell to the Premier League last season as a champion. While he has been Manchester City's top-scorer in multiple seasons, Aguero won the Premier League golden boot only once in the 2014/15 campaign.
The Argentine netted 26 goals with City finishing second in the league that season. Understandably, Aguero has been regarded as one of the best goal-scorers in the Premier League in recent years, and has the status of a club legend for the blue side in Manchester.
The diminutive striker has scored goals for fun, with a record 12 hat-tricks to his name in the Premier League. City's all-time leading goal scorer etched his name into the history books when he scored 'that' goal against Queens Park Rangers to dramatically win the title in the last minute. Aguero was an excellent servant for the club, performing exceptionally well under all the managers he played for at Manchester City.
#4 Luis Suarez | Liverpool
Luis Suarez won the golden boot in the 2013/14 Premier League season, scoring a staggering 31 goals in the English top flight. This performance by him is widely regarded as one of the best individual Premier League seasons ever.
Apart from the Golden boot award, Suarez had a lot more accolades to his name that season, including the PFA and Premier League player of the season. His 31 goals were complemented by 12 assists as well.
The Liverpool number 7 was simply unplayable in what was his final season for the club, wrecking havoc in the Premier League. Notably, the Uruguayan was banned for the first five games in the league, serving the remainder of a 10-game ban from last season, and still produced scintillating numbers in front of goal. 'El Pistolero' led Liverpool to a title charge, only to dramatically fall short towards the end.
Suarez made headlines for the wrong reasons during the 2014 World Cup after biting Giorgio Chiellini, but that didn't stop Barcelona from signing him on a blockbuster £65 million move from Liverpool.
#3 Robin van Persie | Manchester United & Arsenal
Robin van Persie was dominating the Premier League at the start of the decade, winning the golden boot twice in consecutive seasons. The first came in the 11/12 season when he scored 30 goals for Arsenal, with 13 assists to go along with it. However, the following season, the Gunners' captain made a shock move to rivals Manchester United.
After a painful title loss to Manchester City on goal difference in the previous campaign, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was adamant about finding a solution to the lack of goals in his side.
Van Persie proved to be the right signing, hitting the ground running from the start. He managed to win the golden boot that season and helped bring the Premier League title back to the red half of Manchester courtesy of his 26 goals.
#2 Mohamed Salah | Liverpool FC
Mohamed Salah has truly established himself as the talisman of the Liverpool side that conquered both England and Europe in recent years. When the Egyptian signed for the Merseyside outfit, nobody expected the winger to be in the race for the golden boot.
But he took the Premier League by storm, scoring a record-breaking 32 league goals in a 38 game season. Salah fit perfectly into Jurgen Klopp's system and reaped the benefits of his advanced position.
Many labeled this a fluke, calling the winger a "one season-wonder." But he won his second golden boot the following season, sharing it with teammate Sadio Mane and Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after all three of them scored 22 goals apiece, a first in the Premier League. Salah has gone on to prove his doubters wrong by consistently featuring in the race for the Premier League golden boot.
#1 Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Kane, the latest winner of the Premier League golden boot, became just the third player to win it for the third time last season, behind Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry.
In what was a rather disappointing season for his team, Kane was arguably the best player in the league, scoring 23 and was also the top assist-provider with 14 to his name.
His two other golden boot awards in the last decade came in consecutive seasons starting in 2015-17, scoring 25 and 29 goals respectively. These were also the two seasons where Spurs came closest to challenging for the Premier League title.
The 28-year old Kane is currently in his prime and coming off a personal best season, so it's only fair that a player of his caliber wants to win trophies.
Although Kane has several years remaining on his contract with Spurs, the Englishman has been linked with a move to green pastures at Manchester City.
It remains to be seen if Kane will still be a Spurs player come the end of the transfer window, but it is almost certain that he will be in the running for the golden boot, irrespective of the club he represents next season.
