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The Premier League has boasted some of the greatest goalscorers in modern footballing history as well as some very surprising ones.
Whilst we have seen Ronaldo and Messi score over 40 goals in a single league season on a number of occasions, in the English Premier League it is a fairly uncommon feat to see a player exceed 30 goals in a season.
Although these figures pale in comparison to Ronaldo and Messi's best figures in La Liga, scoring 30+ goals in the Premier League is no easy task.
Only a small clutch of players have hit the 30 mark and beyond in the Premier League's relatively young history and with Liverpool's Mo Salah being crowned as the League's top goalscorer for 2017/18, this article will look back and present the top 5 all-time goal scoring tallies for the English Premier League by an individual player.
#5 Robin Van Persie, Thierry Henry, Kevin Phillips, Harry Kane (30 goals)
Robin Van Persie, Thierry Henry, Kevin Phillips, Harry Kane all managed to reach the 30 goal mark during their time in the English Premier League.
Whilst it would've been fair to have given the number 5 spot to the player with the best goal to game ratio, it seems more diplomatic to put all of them in at number 5.
Whilst three of the four players listed are either retired or no longer play in England's top flight Harry Kane still does and as a player who admits his desire to be the greatest goalscorer in the world there is little doubt that he will have extra motivation next season to try to not only reach 30 goals but also attempt to set a new goalscoring record in the Premier League.
#4 Alan Shearer (31 goals in 35 games) 1995/96
During the early stages of the Premier League, there was no goal scorer more prolific than Alan Shearer.
Despite not playing for necessarily the biggest clubs in England he was still able to consistently be at the top of the goalscoring charts in the 1990s.
Whilst his season best is actually 34 goals this was achieved when there were more teams in the Premier League.
Therefore this article is keeping it at a level playing field by only allowing the season where there were 20 teams in the League and despite this Shearer was still able to notch 31 goals in 35 games during the 1995/96 season whilst playing for Blackburn Rovers.
This tally was a record for over a decade until a certain young Portuguese player equalled it...
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo (31 goals in 34 games) 2007/08
... this player was, of course, a then 22-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo who during the 2007/08 season managed to eclipse Alan Shearer's record all whilst playing at Left Midfield!
Ronaldo's 07/08 season is regarded by most pundits and commentators as the greatest individual season for a Premier League in history and whilst he was unable to overtake Shearer's record he did boast a superior goal to game ratio of 0.91 to Shearer's 0.88.
On top of that, he also led Manchester United to the Premier League title and the Champions League title (for good measure)
In addition, of all the players who scored 31 goals and above, he was the only one who converted this success into a title-winning season.
#2 Luis Suarez (31 goals in 33 games) 2013/14
Potentially football's most controversial character since Diego Maradona, Luis Suarez electrified both Anfield and the Premier League during his fabled 2013/14 season.
In this season the Uruguayan notched up 31 goals in just 33 games to equal Ronaldo and Shearer's record.
Although like Shearer he was unable to convert his goal-scoring prowess into a title-winning season, Suarez can still look at this record proudly as out of all the players who have scored over 30 goals in the history of the Premier League he has done it with the best goal to game ratio.
Shading Ronaldo's ratio of 0.91 with an even more impressive ratio of 0.94!
#1 Mo Salah (32 goals in 36 games) 2017/18
On May 13th, 2018, Liverpool's Egyptian King scored his 32nd goal of the season and with that finally broke a record originally set by Alan Shearer over 20 years ago.
Although Shearer's record had been equalled by Ronaldo and then Suarez no player was able to better it until Salah.
Probably the most unexpected turnouts in a Premier League season (after Leicester City's unfathomable triumph of course) no one expected Salah to have performed the way he did this season with many initially questioning Liverpool's purchase of the player.
However, with free-flowing confidence and a glint in his eye, Salah proved all his doubters wrong playing an exquisite style of football from the right wing.
Although some may argue that his record is flawed as his goal to game ratio is inferior to both Ronaldo and Suarez who played fewer games than him that's all hypothetical as it assumes that both Suarez and Ronaldo would have scored in the extra games that Salah had.
Considering the level that Salah has elevated his game this season his record is nothing short of frightening and with a Champions League final around the corner his already spectacular season could get even better!
