The Premier League has been blessed by some of the best French players to ever play the game since its debut in 1992.
This list honors the ten players who scored the most top-flight goals among their countrymen, from Puskas award winners to two-yard tap-ins – they all counted!
10. Samir Nasri – 36
Nasri is a player who, despite scoring 36 goals in 215 games, you may expect to see higher on this ranking. During his nine-year stint in England, the quick-footed Frenchman lit up the Premier League.
9. Steed Malbranque – 39
Malbranque spent eleven years in England, where he played for Fulham, Tottenham, and Sunderland. The Frenchman established himself in the Premier League with an astonishing 32 goals in five seasons at Craven Cottage. He then moved to Spurs where he bagged six, and ended his Premier League career at Sunderland, scoring just once.
8. Alexandre Lacazette – 53*
The current Arsenal captain has had some decent seasons with the Gunners, and given that he’s the only senior striker at the club, we might just be forced to update this list at the end of the campaign!
7. Anthony Martial – 56*
After arriving from Monaco for a record £58 million in 2015, expectations for the winger have been reasonably high – with early parallels between Martial and the brilliant Thierry Henry being drawn. Things have, however, kind of slowed down for the Frenchman and he has now been sent off to Sevilla for game time.
6. Robert Pires – 62
This is yet another Frenchman who scored goals under Arsène Wenge’s cautious eye.
Pires scored 62 goals in 198 Premier League games, and despite appearing nine times for Aston Villa in the 2010/11 season, he scored all of his Premier League goals for the Gunners.
5. Eric Cantona – 70
Despite frequently finding himself in trouble on and off the pitch, Eric Cantona appeared on Premier League scoresheets more consistently. Cantona scored 70 goals in 156 Premier League games for Manchester United and Leeds during a glittering Premier League career.
4. Louis Saha – 85
Louis Saha featured on Premier League team sheets 289 times for six different clubs, scoring 85 goals in a 15-year Premier League career. Saha scored goals for Fulham, Manchester United, and Everton, scoring 26 for Fulham, 28 for Manchester United, and 27 for Everton. He also played for Spurs, Newcastle, and Sunderland, but made a total of 32 appearances for those three clubs.
3. Olivier Giroud – 90
Giroud scored 73 goals during his tenure at Arsenal.
Now at AC Milan, the attacker is still finding the back of the net playing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but before the move to Italy, he featured for Chelsea, netting 17 times.
2. Nicolas Anelka – 125
Nicolas Anelka netted 125 goals in 364 Premier League games.
Anelka spent numerous seasons in the English top-flight due to his extensive travels across Europe to ply his trade. The striker featured in every Premier League game in 2002/03, having previously featured for Arsenal and Liverpool.
The Frenchman also spent time at Chelsea, Bolton, and West Brom, where he ended his 18-year Premier League career.
1. Theirry Henry – 175
Thierry Henry, the sixth all-time in the Premier League top goal-scorers log, established himself as one of the finest strikers to grace England’s grounds. With 175 goals in 258 games, he is by far the best French striker in Premier League history.
In 2012, the record-breaking talisman returned to the Emirates for four more Premier League outings, scoring one goal, 13 years after scoring his first for the club.