Ranking the best Everton strikers of the Premier League era

(Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Yakubu Ayegbeni will be the first guest joining ToffeeWeb in the upcoming weeks for our upcoming Once a Blue series.

Ahead of the first conversation with ‘the Yak’, here’s my personal rankings of Everton’s Premier League era strikers.

We’ll count down from lowest on the list from 10th to 1st.

10. PAUL RIDEOUT

Everton’s matchwinner in the 1995 FA Cup final, Rideout is the first name on this list.

It’s that goal at Wembley that swayed it for me — I can’t leave out the goalscorer who clinched Everton’s last major trophy, can I?

His record wasn’t spectacular — 29 goals in 112 games in all competitions during the Premier League era, but his name is forever etched in Everton folklore.

9. TONY COTTEE

I never saw Cottee in an Everton shirt — full disclosure, I wasn’t even born at the time. But looking at his record, going off highlights and knowing generally what kind of centre-forward he was, I couldn’t not include him on this list.

Cottee netted 99 goals in 241 games for Everton, and 28 of those came in the Premier League era. In fact, he did so in just 28 appearances from the 1992-93 season onwards; not bad going.

8. LOUIS SAHA

Signed from Manchester United in 2008 on a “pay as you play” deal — you don’t see them much anymore! — Saha is one of the most technically gifted strikers Everton have had in the Premier League era.

The issue was keeping him fit, but when he was firing, he gave us some quality moments; a double against West Ham in his first campaign, which he capped off by scoring the fastest ever goal in an FA Cup final (Everton, of course, went on to lose), and a brace in a 2-1 win over Chelsea in 2009-10. There was also his four goals in that thrilling 5-3 win over Blackpool in 2011. The Frenchman left Everton for Tottenham on a free transfer in January 2012.

7. DOMINIC CALVERT-LEWIN

I never quite got why Calvert-Lewin came in for so much aggro from plenty in Everton’s fanbase. But even his haters can’t deny he should take his spot on this list.

If you’re doing it on goal record alone, he’d have to be in the top three — after all, only two players have netted more Premier League goals for the Toffees.

Calvert-Lewin had his flaws, sure, but he is such a well-rounded player and he came up with some huge moments. Signed for just £1.5M back in 2016, he gave 9 years to Everton and developed beyond even his biggest fans’ hopes. His record stands at 71 goals in 273 appearances — since the start of the Premier League era, only one player has netted more times for Everton.

When the ball kept bouncing off Thierno Barry and Beto last season, I for one, was missing him.

6. YAKUBU

Just missing out on the top five is the Yak.

He scored 33 goals in 108 games in all competitions for Everton, with 21 of those coming in the 2007-08 season, after he had become the club’s record signing.

Yakubu was brilliant. His finishing was exceptional, his positioning arguably even better. But he sustained an Achilles injury in 2008-09, and never was able to get back to full sharpness while at Everton.

It was still bizarre to see him sold for such a low amount in 2011, and Yakubu showed he still had it as he plundered 18 goals in 33 games for Blackburn Rovers in 2011-12.

5. KEVIN CAMPBELL

Super Kevin Campbell.

I can’t remember his early days at Everton, but I do remember his later years. Campbell joined Everton in 1999 and his goals steered them clear of danger.

He was then the perfect, experienced head to help lead Everton’s line in the early 2000s, and the ideal player for a certain academy graduate to learn off, too.

Campbell left Everton with 45 goals in 145 games. A lovely, lovely man. It’s hard to believe it’s already been 2 years since he left us.

4. RICHARLISON

Everton were scoffed at when they spent an initial £36M on Richarlison in 2018, after the Brazilian had flashed but then faded in his first season at Watford.

However, he was only 21, and Everton had seen enough to suggest he could be the all-round, versatile attacker the team needed.

He proved them right, and then some. With 53 goals in 152 games, Richarlison is Everton’s sixth-highest scorer in the Premier League era. He’s still a cult hero, four years after his departure to Tottenham — easy to forget he’s now spent as long at Spurs as he did do at Everton.

He loved the club, and still loves it; that instant bond is a rare thing, especially with a young player from abroad, but his dogged nature and undoubted ability just made him a hit. A massive player who has been sorely missed.

3. WAYNE ROONEY

Rooney only scored 26 goals for Everton, but in terms of sheer quality, there has never been a better player to come through the club. In fact, you could say any English club — if he’s not the best talent England has ever produced, he’s certainly right up there.

His first stint ended far too soon, but at the time he was sold to Manchester United (for a pathetic £30M, even by 2004 standards), he was as good as any 18-year-old has ever been, and I count Lamine Yamal in that. Rooney had it all, and had he stayed fit at Euro 2004, I believe he would have led England to the trophy.

Rooney’s return coincided with Everton’s chaotic spending in the early Farhad Moshiri years, but he was still the club’s top scorer in his sole season back, and I don’t think he should have been moved on in 2018. He still had plenty to offer.

2. DUNCAN FERGUSON

A club legend — and one who can be called a legend, considering he was part of the team that won the FA Cup in 1995 — Ferguson takes the silver medal here.

He netted 60 times in all competitions for the Toffees, with all of those coming in the Premier League, in which he is Everton’s second-highest scorer.

Ferguson’s two spells at Everton also account for a three-month stint in prison, of course, but he’s a Stirling boy who bleeds blue.

That caretaker stint in charge in 2019, after Marco Silva was sacked and before Carlo Ancelotti started, summed up everything about Ferguson and his love for the club, and it’s brilliant to see him now flourishing as a World Cup pundit for ITV. A hero, even if sometimes, he liked to play the villain.

1. ROMELU LUKAKU

Everton’s all-time leading scorer in the Premier League tops this list — Lukaku netted 68 goals in the top tier, while his overall tally for the Toffees rounded out at 87 in 166 games.

His signing, initially on loan on deadline day in 2013, was a real ‘wow’ moment. A young, powerhouse forward who already had it all. No need to be patient here, he was just brilliant from the get go.

Everton smashed their club record transfer fee to bring him to the club permanently in 2014, at £28M, and he was worth every penny.

The club should have ensured he signed that new contract in 2017. They should have ensured Lukaku felt like they were going in the right direction. He had asked Everton to show ambition and urgency in the January transfer window; to sign real, top quality players to push them on in the hunt for Champions League qualification.

Of course, Lukaku did also do the last-minute U-turn when the contract was all but agreed — the press were waiting at Finch Farm for the official announcement that never came — but looking back, it’s one of the sliding doors moments of the past decade.

Had Everton given Lukaku £250,000 per week, or even more, it would have been worth it. His goals alone would have ensured the Toffees were always in the upper echelons, a bit like Harry Kane with Spurs.

Of course, he wasn’t liked by every Evertonian, but nearly a decade on, the club have never come close to replacing him. An elite striker.

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