Yes, that title is a genuine question. Is Sergio Aguero the greatest striker to ever grace the Premier League? Well, no.

That honour certainly goes to the leagues all time top scorer, Alan Shearer.

How about second place? Perhaps.

You’ll have plenty of Arsenal fans very upset that you overlooked Henry if you said that. But look, you can’t really blame them.

After all, he is the Gunners all time top scorer, and netted a cool 175 Premier League goals in a relatively short 258 appearances. Plus, the man was unplayable, particularly in the mid 2000’s.

Well, if Aguero isn’t top of the pile, where does the Argentine rank in the all-time greatest Premier League striker conversation?

The Best Of The Best?

For our money, the bronze medal position is the argument to make.

It’s always an intriguing discussion to have. Your answer may vary depending on the club you support, age demographics and of course, sweet, sweet stats.

Some will have Robbie Fowler in their top three behind Shearer and Henry. Others may go with Andy Cole, on the fact he sits in 3^rd position on the all-time scoring charts for England’s top tier. We wouldn’t even bat an eyelid if you were to throw the underrated Matt Le Tissier into the mix.

All viable options, but all ones we feel aren’t right.

Now, some eagle-eyed readers may have noticed one name not mentioned so far in this little chat of ours.

Of course, we’re talking about a tight haired fella, most famous for playing in the colour red, albeit with an affiliation to the city of Liverpool. That’s right, Sean Dundee.

Talk about an underappreciated gem. Oh sorry, got my scripts mixed up again.

Apparently, it’s Wayne Rooney I’m talking about, which in hindsight does make more sense than bloody Sean Dundee.

Anyway, with the designated bit of craic out of the way.

Wayne Rooney is the player that most would mention when rounding out their top three Premier League strikers of all time. He’s not everybody’s pick, but it’s a general-consensus one.

Away from his other countless individual accolades, Rooney is Manchester United’s all-time leading goal scorer, stemming from his fruitful 13 year stay at the club.

He’s sitting pretty behind Alan Shearer in the all-time Premier League scoring standings. Bagging himself a staggering 208 goals over 491 appearances with both Manchester United and Everton.

Despite all the goals and championship medals, Aguero is still ahead of Wayne Rooney in the conversation of the best striker in Premier League history.

Sergio Aguero vs Wayne Rooney

Premier League:

Let’s bring in our old friend Mr. Stats again. Yes, I’m also aware Mr. Stats sounds like the worst Mr. Men and Little Miss character of all time.

Awful naming aside, I’m of the belief that statistics aren’t the be all, and end all in every debate. But they are a solid foundation.

Going back to the all-time Premier League goal scorer list, Wayne Rooney is in 2^nd behind Aguero, who’s sitting somewhat comfortably in 4^th.

Rooney has more goals in his back catalogue, compared to Aguero’s 184.

However, Rooney had a longer tenure in the league. He made his debut for Everton back in August 2002, in a 2-2 home game against Tottenham. Then, he got his first league goal in October of that year, his now famous strike against Arsenal. With his final league goal coming against Swansea in December 2017.

While Aguero’s decade in England is no minor stint, the now Manchester City legend had a substantially shorter stay in the Premier League than Wayne Rooney.

Aguero opened his Premier League account in a 4-0 home win against Swansea City, in August 2011. In fact, this was his league debut, and he grabbed himself a brace, and an assist during his 30 minutes of game time. He finished up his Manchester City league career with another double, against Everton on the final day of the 2020/21 season.

So, while Rooney is ahead of Aguero in terms of goals tally, the latter done more in a shorter time frame. His 184 league goals in 275 appearances gave Aguero a goals per game ratio of, 0.67. Which is only behind Thierry Henry’s and Harry Kane’s ratio of 0.68, from the entire Premier League ‘100 club’, not bad.

For Their Club:

We already talked about Rooney finishing his career as Manchester United’s record goal scorer. As you may expect, Aguero is leaving their city rivals as their all-time leading scorer too. Overtaking greats of City’s yesteryear, like Eric Brook, Tommy Johnson, and Colin Bell.

Aguero scored 260 goals in all competitions, while Rooney earned himself 253 goals throughout his Manchester United career.

Both astonishing achievements, but the fact Aguero reached 253 City goals in 192 fewer games. This just shows the instant impact he had for the reigning Premier League champions.

His two goals against Everton in his final Premier League appearance, took his overall goal tally to 184. Which is now the record for the most Premier League goals for a single club, breaking the previous record of 183. Of course, that previous record was held by Wayne Rooney.

Look, when talking about team and individual honours, you can’t compare the two. Wayne Rooney has been superior in that category. You could even say overall, Rooney was the more complete player throughout his career. He had everything, even way from his attributes as a striker. His speed was frightening, unmatched physicality and an excellent range of passing.

Sergio Aguero is more of an all-out striker, with his range of finishing ability, positional awareness, and accuracy.

Rooney had everything a coach looks for in a footballer, but Aguero is the complete striker. So, if we’re looking solely on these two as forward players, Aguero gets the nod from us in the history books.

Manchester City Legend

One thing is for sure, just like how Manchester United struggled to replace Wayne Rooney, Manchester City won’t be the same without Sergio Aguero.

While the 32-year-old missed the start of his most recent season with injury. Even when he was fit, Pep Guardiola’s side preferred to play without a central striker. Instead, rotating attacking players like Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus.

Without the constant presence of Sergio Aguero, City scored 83 goals throughout the duration of their title winning 2020/21 campaign, the lowest tally from all their Premier League winning seasons.

Now, they could splash the cash on Harry Kane, who will guarantee you the goals that Aguero got. But by reading all the heartfelt goodbyes by those involved with Man City, you get a sense that he meant more to the people at that club, than just his goals.

So, to finish up, in the eyes of the Big Kick Off, Sergio Aguero may not be the greatest striker to entertain the fans since 1992, but he can certainly be in the conversation, and is an outstanding acquisition for Barcelona.

Now it’s over to you dear reader.

How highly do you rate Sergio Aguero amongst the other Premier League forward greats?

Let us know in the comment section below, and keep an eye on the Big Kick Off, for more regular content.