The value of a Premier League striker can often be determined in different ways, depending on aspects such as contract length, age and general status. But it also refers what they offer to their respective football club.
For Liverpool, Mohamed Salah has more than paid off his £38million fee since joining the club after recently surpassing the 100-goal mark in the Premier League.
But at the other end of the table, Teemu Pukki is arguably more pivotal for Norwich in terms of the percentage of their goals scored by him and keeping the Canaries in the top flight.
A player’s value is often determined by their transfer fee, but it does not always represent their true value to the selling club or the one buying them.
What is indisputable is how the club benefits from the money spent on their signing — and Liverpool would argue shelling out £38m for Salah is some of the finest transfer business the club has ever conducted.
But purely on a pound-for-pound basis, is the Egyptian the most valuable attacker in the top flight in terms of his goals-to-fee ratio?
Using data provided by BingoSites, Mirror Football counts down the top 10 best value strikers in the Premier League…
10. Gabriel Martinelli
Some may have felt Arsenal had gambled by paying £6m to sign the obscurely-known Brazilian from Ituano in 2019.
But Martinelli has proved to be a bargain for the Gunners since arriving in north London.
On paper, his record of nine goals in 42 games is hardly earth-shattering, but it means the 20-year-old has cost just £666,666 per goal.
Compared to Nicolas Pepe, who has struck just 16 goals in the same time period and having cost £72m, that is a bargain deal secured by sporting director Edu.
9. Wilfried Zaha
The Ivorian opted to head back to Selhurst Park in a £3m deal just 18 months after his £15m move to Manchester United quickly turned into a nightmare.
And the Crystal Palace star has established himself as one of the finest players to pull on the red and blue shirt in the club’s history, scoring 52 Premier League goals in 248 appearances.
That puts him just above Martinelli in terms of his pound-for-pound value, although few would disagreed that the 28-year-old is priceless in the eyes of Palace supporters.
The 28-year-old has made several attempts to leave the Eagles in recent seasons, with Arsenal once coming close to signing the winger. But there is a feeling he may now stay with the south London outfit for the rest of his career — and Palace will be delighted if he sticks around.
8. Ashley Barnes
When assessing the best strikers to have graced the Premier League, Ashley Barnes is not normally a name that would crop up in the conversation.
But no one can deny that the 32-year-old has popped up with some crucial goals for Burnley down the years since joining the club from Brighton in 2014 for a reported £750,000 fee.
His haul of 12 goals in the 2018-19 season was crucial in keeping the Clarets in the top flight and his overall total of 44 in 214 appearances puts him at a better strike rate than Zaha, with a lower fee too.
Barnes is out of contract in June, but the English-Austrian forward will be hoping his record and effectiveness for Sean Dyche’s side will help him win another deal.
7. Michail Antonio
Antonio was once infamously the subject of a Change.org petition to remove him as a right-back under former West Ham boss Slaven Bilic, and the Hammers fans were right to suggest he had more to offer further up the pitch.
The Jamaica international has been in superb form since David Moyes returned for his a second spell as manager and is on course to surpass his best tally in a Premier League season of 10 goals, with eight in 22 appearances this season alone.
The 31-year-old has played a crucial role in spearheading the Hammers’ attack and surprisingly cost only £7m from Nottingham Forest back in 2015.
Few would argue his record of 54 goals in 181 appearances since then has proved he is more than worth his weight in gold for the east London side.
6. Callum Wilson
If Eddie Howe is to steer Newcastle away from relegation this season, he will need Wilson to be fit and firing as he has been this season.
The 29-year-old may have left Howe's Bournemouth to join the Magpies in 2020 in a £20m deal, but the pair have been reunited at St James' Park.
Wilson has etched out a decent strike rate to prove his value, bagging 18 goals in 41 appearances for the Tyneside club, and has six in 15 games this season.
And unlike the £36m spent on Joelinton, Newcastle can be satisfied they have got their money's worth with Wilson so far.
5. Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Some E verton fans may dread to think where the club would be right now if they hadn’t opted to sign a promising 19-year-old Calvert-Lewin from Sheffield United back in 2015.
The deal may have cost just £1.6m at the time but the target man’s goals have proved he was worth every single penny — and some. Since his debut, the 24-year-old has amassed 43 goals for the Toffees in 153 appearances.
While that doesn’t make him prolific in a sense, his goal totals have increased incrementally in every season and he hit 16 in 33 games last season alone.
It is no wonder then that Arsenal have been linked with a £60m move for the highly-rated striker, and Everton will be desperate to hang onto their key man.
4. Teemu Pukki
The only signing on this list to cost nothing but his signing-on fee, Teemu Pukki has been a revelation for Norwich City since his arrival on a free transfer.
The Finn’s impact at Carrow Road may be understated on this list as it only counts Premier League goals, but his role in their promotions to the top flight in 2018-19 and 2020-21 cannot be overlooked, scoring 29 and 26 goals in the Championship respectively.
The 31-year-old has found life tougher in the Premier League as many would, but 16 goals in 50 outings is a respectable figure given the Canaries’ troubles.
In fact, his contribution of five goals to Norwich’s 13 this season gives him the highest percentage of goals for their team, and it is surely only a matter of time before he gets his statue built at the Norfolk-based club.
3. Mohamed Salah
It is difficult to imagine the winger who struggled to break into Chelsea ’s first-team at the age of 22 having such an impact for Liverpool just three years later.
But the debut campaign of Anfield’s ‘Egyptian King’ will go down as one of the greatest in Premier League history, with his extraordinary tally of 32 goals making him a record breaker.
It wasn’t enough to give the Reds the Premier League title that year, but Salah was just as crucial when Jurgen Klopp’s side finally ended their 30-year hoodoo in 2019-20.
Having cost £38m to sign from AS Roma in 2017, Salah has bagged 111 goals in 165 league matches for Liverpool — the best goals to game ratio on the list.
He has his name in Anfield folklore already after beating Roger Hunt to becoming the quickest player to reach a century of league goals. And the sky is the limit for the 29-year-old after finding the net 16 times in just 20 games this season.
2. Patrick Bamford
The manner in which Bamford has silenced critics of his posh and polite persona has been impressive, with the Leeds striker allowing his goals to do the talking for him.
Now an England international, the 27-year-old has emerged as a fans’ favourite at Elland Road since moving from Championship outfit Middlesbrough for £7m.
While his goal record in the top flight has been admirable — 19 goals in 44 outings in the white shirt — there are few players that put in the hard yards quite like Bamford, chasing down every ball and lost cause.
Injury has kept the striker sidelined during a difficult period for Leeds, and Marcelo Bielsa will be hoping he returns to full fitness soon enough to help guarantee their Premier League survival before too long.
1. Jamie Vardy
Hollywood screenwriters are making a film about Jamie Vardy and it should be a fascinating watch, depicting his rise from the depths of non-league football to Premier League champion.
The harsh reality of a footballer’s life meant Vardy was once playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels before moving to Halifax Town in 2007. But his goals soon earned him a move to Fleetwood Town and then a £1.1m transfer to Leicester City in 2012.
Back then, the Foxes were in the Championship, but with some help from Vardy, they made it back to the top flight in 2014-15 under Nigel Pearson. The rest, as they say, is history.
The Sheffield-born striker notched 24 goals in the 2015-16 as Leicester beat odds of 5,000-1 to clinch their maiden Premier League title, pulling off one of the most incredible triumphs in the history of modern football.
Vardy has gone on to record a mammoth total of 127 goals in 261 Premier League appearances, and having cost such a low fee, there are few players in history that can better his value and contributions to one football club.
*Disclaimer: BingoSites studied the goals scored by forwards who have played a minimum of 38 games in the Premier League to determine which current player has proven the best value for money.
Each player was ranked from 0 to 10 based on how many goals they have scored per game, and on the size of their fee. These scores were then combined to discover which forward is the best ‘bargain’ in the Premier League.
