Biggest Transfer Profits in Football: The Art of the Deal
Deals that can be studied on universities across the world, check out the many surprising biggest transfer profits in football history. Flops and hits.
With the terraces of English stadiums creeping all the way up to the grass, the bottom rows able to touch the netting on many grounds, converting penalties could be the hardest to do there. As in basketball free throws - the crowd’s noise can be an active deterrent as much as the goalie’s dance moves. Not to mention the wind-up culture that the English are known for. So the best penalty takers in the Premier League could start coaching people on mental toughness on that merit alone.
Especially when you find out just how many times some of these sharpshooters have come head-to-head with the goalkeepers (and fans) to come out victorious. Some have never missed!
On the shortlist for making this list in the future are James Ward-Prowse, Erling Haaland, and the so far perfect from the spot Cole Palmer.
Listing the best penalty takers the Premier League has ever seen we are sticking to that modern era when the division got its world-famous name -which started in that 1992/1993 season!
Rankings are done with the number of penalties scored, in case of identical numbers the tie-breaker is the success ratio.
Starting with the penalty takers who have scored 18. But to illustrate their successes, Premier League legends like Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin van Persie haven’t made that cut.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Blackburn, Everton, Middlesborough, Portsmouth) - 18 penalties scored, 81.8%
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United) - 18 penalties scored, 81.8%
Troy Deeney (Watford) - 18 penalties scored, 81.8%
Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) - 18 penalties scored, 85.7%
Gary McAllister (Liverpool, Coventry City, Leeds) - 18 penalties scored, 94.7%
Danny Murphy (Fulham, Charlton, Liverpool) - 18 penalties scored, 94.7%
Peter Beardsley (Everton, Newcastle) - 18 penalties scored, 100%
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) - 19 penalties scored, 82.6%
There's no doubt that Bruno Fernandes would've taken the penalty nickname off his compatriot and friend CR7 if it could be converted as well as Penaldo. In a short time span, Bruno Fernandes became known primarily for his penalty-taking ability. Of his total 187 goals, 54 have been scored from the spot kick, 19 in the Premier League with four misses in the league. Aged 29, Bruno will certainly rise on this list of best PL penalty takers.
Jorginho (Chelsea) - 19 penalties scored, 86.3%
The man whose technique is so unique and satisfying that each of his shots could've been featured in our list of the best penalties ever taken. The hop run-up has been one of the signature movements of any player in the last decade. Interestingly, even though Jorginho played in 38 PL games for Arsenal, he has yet to take a penalty for the Gunners. Recording all of his 19 successful penalties and three unsuccessful ones for Chelsea.
David Unsworth (Everton, Portsmouth, Wigan) - 20 penalties scored, 83.3%
By Everton Football Club - DAVID UNSWORTH'S PRE-LEICESTER PRESS CONFERENCE, CC BY 3.0, Link
Perhaps a bit forgotten Premier League veteran with 364 games in the competition, the left-back has been Everton's main penalty-taker for years. Scoring also for Wigan and Portsmouth, from the spot, but not Sheffield or West Ham who he also represented. Unsworth missed four penalties in the top flight, one for the Blades, three for Everton.
Leighton Baines (Everton) - 20 penalties scored, 90.9%
Fittingly, Unsworth, Everton’s long-time left-back and penalty kick taker is followed and barely bested by his successor - Leighton Baines. Also a left-back and a PK taker, Baines has continued the lineage at Goodison Park. Baines only missed two penalties in his Premier League career, against worthy competition though in Shay Given and David de Gea.
Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham, Manchester United, Portsmouth, West Ham) - 21 penalties scored, 80.7%
For a man who scored 146 Premier League goals, it's actually a feat that "only" 21 have came from the spot. Additionally, Teddy Sheringham enjoyed a solid success ratio, with only five missed spot kicks in the league. Although, while he has triumphed in a duel against David James, David Seaman, he hasn't had the best outcomes against some lesser well-known PL keepers.
Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace) - 22 penalties scored, 88%
One could say that Luka Milivojevic was at Crystal Palace for two things - to shot penalties and to captain. Doing both things exquisitely without much fanfare, while the occasional long-range efforts got more attention from the media. Fraser Forster, Ederson, and Jordan Pickford bested Luka, although he got even with the latter two. While Joe Hart, Emiliano Martinez, Kasper Schmeichel, and Bernd Leno (multiple times) had to bring the ball out of the goal after going eye-to-eye with the Serbian midfielder.
Thierry Henry (Arsenal) - 23 penalties scored, 100%
In the Premier League, Thierry Henry holds a perfect record from the penalties. Of course, some will remember the failed pass attempt from Robert Pires when they tried to do the tricky penalty, but that goes officially (and rightfully) on the midfielder's account. If anything, it's surprising that Titi didn't shoot more penalties while he was at Arsenal, with 258 Premier League games played total.
Wayne Rooney (Everton, Manchester United) - 23 penalties scored, 67%
A Premier League legend, yet Wayne Rooney won't be boasting about his penalty taking record in the division. Yes, he did score many goals - 23, but he also missed 11! In the 2017/2018 season, he had a 50% rate with Everton out of six tries. Rooney scored two penalties in two league matches, against Portsmouth and Asmir Begovic in 2009, as well as Chelsea and Petr Cech in 2012. Still, out of all these top Premier League penalty takers, Rooney has by far the worst conversion rate. Yet he kept getting the shot due to earning by his overall efforts.
Wazza’s surprisingly bad penalty conversion ratio in the league makes his placement as the third top goalscorer in the league’s history all that more impressive in a way.
Mohammed Salah (Liverpool) - 25 penalties scored 80.6%
One of the few active Premier League players, and one of the proportionally numerous left-footed players. Mo Salah had an even better penalty conversion ratio before, but in the past two seasons, he recorded four of his total six misses. On two occasions Mo has scored a penalty brace against Leeds and the talented Illan Meslier. One of them was completed in the 88th minute for the 4:3 win.
Matt Le Tissier (Southampton) - 25 penalties scored, 100%
By Anything Goes With James English - Football & Conspiracies - Matt Le Tissier Tells His Story, CC BY 3.0, Link
Nearly the best penalty taker of all time, because Matt Le Tissier scored 47 out of the total 48 penalties he took. But having a perfect record in the Premier League is a satisfactory feat in itself. Especially as he has the biggest tally out of all the Infallibles in the league. It's only natural that a player with one of the most - and inexplicably so - relaxed playing styles would be good from the spot, but Matt Le Tissier showed that he isn't just a eurogoal merchant. If one can be that.
Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) - 26 penalties scored, 81.2%
It's actually incredible that Jamie Vardy would be amongst the Premier League's top five penalty takers ever if Leicester City didn't get relegated in the 2022/2023 season. But Vardy's inclusion in the top 10 alone is remarkable due to his known late blooming. Of course, all of his 26 shots were for LCFC, as well as the six misses. Eccentric man Vardy kept his nerves in three matches where he scored a penalty brace, against THFC's Hugo Lloris, City's Ederson, and WBA's Sam Johnstone. Vardy might be 37, yet with enough cans of red bull he might go up to 30 penalties and leapfrog some legends.
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) - 27 penalties scored, 81.8%
The fifth-best all-time goalscorer in the history of the Premier League has managed to achieve it with only 33 total penalty chances. Missing six of them. The Argentinian had issues with injuries later on in his Manchester City career and could've probably made it into the top three had he not experienced them. Kun always shot the ball with piercing intention and great precision. Also recording a penalty brace - against Hugo Lloris and Tottenham.
Mark Noble (West Ham) - 28 penalties scored, 84.4%
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Slow and steady might not win you the race in the case of Mark Noble, but it does get you into a select society. The least flashy of midfielders has taken on responsibility for a penalty for West Ham United 33 times in the league as a captain should. The Englishman missed five penalties and earned his spot in the team with reliability from the spot. Noble’s longevity allowed him to escort a generation of keepers off of his crosshairs and in the process have a place in the history books.
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) - 32 penalties scored, 82%
Liverpool's long-time captain took responsibility for 39 penalty kicks in the Premier League, converting 32 of them. LFC's Stevie G scored four penalty braces, against Ben Hamer, Adrian, and David De Gea. With the fourth one being quite peculiar, as he scored in the same game twice from the penalty kick but against two different goalkeepers - both PL stalwarts - Brad Friedel and Brad Guzan.
Gerrard is the Premier League's top goalscorer number 22 thanks to his penalty-taking abilities as well, even though he will be remembered for out-of-the-box screamers.
Harry Kane (Tottenham) - 33 penalties scored, 89.1%
Tottenham’s best player ever probably gave up on the record for the most penalties scored in the Premier League - not just the overall goals - by leaving for Bayern Munich. Of his total 213 goals in the English top flight, 33 came from the spot kick. This is a great ratio for proving - although redundantly - his open-play prowess. Kane also showed nerves of steel by scoring seven times in the Premier League North London Derbies against Arsenal. Missing only four total penalties in the top division, Kane is possibly the only one who could’ve reached the #1 spot had he not gone to Germany.
The next competitor will have to come from outside this shortlist of best penalty takers in the Premier League. Most likely - it will be Erling Haaland.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea, West Ham) - 43 penalties scored, 86%
The best goalscoring midfielder in the Premier League, actually the league's sixth top sharpshooter of all time with a total of 177 goals. A quarter of his total goals in the Premier League came from the spot kick. Even though he played with prolific goalscoring strikers like Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Nicolas Anelka, Eidur Gudjhonsen, or Paolo Di Canio, Lampard was still the one to take the ball out of the referee's hands. Brad Friedel with Aston Villa is the only one who conceded two penalties in the same match by Lamps. With the CFC legend missing only seven during his long career.
Alan Shearer (Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers) - 55 penalties scored, 91.6%
It only makes sense that the greatest goalscorer in Premier League history is also the best penalty kicktaker in history. Yet Alan Shearer got only 21.1% of his total 260 goals from the spot kick. The success ratio he managed to keep is equally mind-blowing with 55 penalties converted and five missed.
Three goalkeepers faced the goalscoring machine man-to-man twice in a game and lost both times - Nigel Martyn, Kevin Pressman, and Ludek Miklosko. With all the goalscoring and powerful shots, taking penalties has been an underappreciated skill of the Englishman who seemingly has another record locked.
Unless... there is a young man from Norway. Now he is the best penalty taker in the world. But to take Shearer’s throne as the best penalty taker in the history of the Premier League, one needs not just nerves of steel, but nerves immune to attrition of time. Focus to mind every opportunity for scoring with the attention of a first, while having the relaxation of a veteran with 100s of penalties taken.
