The Premier League’s top 10 one-season wonders
Goals. It only takes a second to score a goal. Goals win you games.
Any football manager who’s worth their salt — and also the owner of a shiny new copy of footballing clichés — will tell you all of the above.
But, it’s easier said than done scoring goals, which makes it that much sweeter when your club stumbles across a prolific goal-getter capable of sticking it in the onion bag on a consistent basis.
Whether they’re there for one season or 20 seasons, becoming one of the most feared strikers in the Premier League at some stage is a commendable achievement, even if only for a fleeting moment.
So with that in mind, here are 10 of the best one-season wonders the Premier League has ever known. These fellas don’t hang around for an encore. The big teases.
Marcus Stewart (2000/01)
Ipswich Town legend Stewart chipped in with a healthy 19 goals in the 2000/01 season. He was undoubtedly unfortunate not to receive an England call-up, but he can take solace in the fact that he took his side into the UEFA Cup, back when it was a competition clubs actually wanted to play in.
A decent spell with Sunderland followed, but the magic at the Tractor Boys was never replicated. When he ended his career with Exeter in 2011 he looked a completely different player, and not in a good way.
Michael Ricketts (2001/02)
When Ricketts banged in 13 goals before February for Bolton in the 2001/02 campaign, it didn’t look like anything could stop him. Ironically, a place in the England squad proved to be his undoing.
A move to Middlesbrough followed but Ricketts never rediscovered his goalscoring touch, putting away a few efforts here and there for the remainder of his career.
Andy Johnson (2004/05)
The Crystal Palace legend netted 21 goals in the top flight during the 2004/05 campaign. Only a certain Thierry Henry managed more than old AJ. Only he wasn’t that old. Yes, his bald bonce made him look older than he was, but he still did enough to make it into the England squad. Briefly.
He had spells with Everton, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, but Selhurst Park will always define his career.
Eleven of his goals for the Eagles in ‘that’ season were penalties, but let’s not ruin his moment. He returned to Palace in 2014 and is now retired, and works as an ambassador for the club.
Benni McCarthy (2006/07)
Picture him now. What image does your mind’s eye muster up? A rather smug-looking rotund chap, we imagine. However, it wasn’t always so.
The former South African international once gobbled up the goals for Blackburn Rovers — 18 to be precise. One more than a certain Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006/07.
Things went downhill from thereon in and he struggled to repeat the feat for the rest of his career. Not even ‘swansongs’ with West Ham United or the Orlando Pirates could reverse the decline.
He managed Cape Town City FC for a time between 2017 and 2019 but was dismissed after just two wins from 18 games. Now, believe it or not, he is a first-team coach at Manchester United under Erik ten Hag.
Roque Santa Cruz (2007/08)
The Paraguayan seems like a reasonable inclusion. He managed a huge 19 goals for Blackburn Rovers in the 2007/08 campaign and never looked back. Wait, yes he did because he’s been pretty rubbish ever since.
He still pulled out a great finish at Old Trafford though; zing! Then he signed for Manchester City. They just used to love spending recklessly didn’t they!?
Santa Cruz enjoyed a decent spell at Malaga before signing for Mexican outfit Cruz Azul in 2015. At the ripe old age of 41, Santa Cruz is still going strong in Paraguay, signing for Asuncion-based Libertad last year.
Benjani (2007/08)
He had a cracking celebration; you can’t argue with that. Unfortunately, the Zimbabwean didn’t have much else going on after his impressive campaign with Portsmouth, which earned him a move to Manchester City.
To be fair, Benjani didn’t even really want to move to City, at least according to then-Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp, and it showed in the striker’s performances for the club.
Amr Zaki (2008/09)
The bulky Egyptian’s season in England’s top tier was a memorable one. Although he only arrived at Wigan Athletic on loan, his impact was instant.
He smashed in five goals in his first six games, which was promptly followed by a ridiculous volley at Anfield. Yet his displays proved short-lived and he even refused to return to Steve Bruce’s side following a spell back in his homeland on international duty.
Well, he was a bit of a lunatic. He hasn’t got a club now having retired in 2015, with his last team being Arab Contractors.
Asamoah Gyan (2010/11)
No one could quite believe it when Sunderland managed to sign one of the stars of the 2010 World Cup, but they did.
The Ghana international burst onto the scene but then got cold feet and promptly ran away to Al Ain, where he surely earned a shed load of cash before joining Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG. He returned to European football with Kayserispor but in September 2019, joined Indian Super League side NorthEast United. A season-ending injury saw him released in January, with NorthEast United bringing in ex-Leeds and Millwall forward Andy Keogh as a replacement.
He returned to Ghana in 2020 to play for Legon Cities but has since hung up his boots.
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Papiss Cisse (2011/12)
It was a bit awkward when Newcastle United unearthed the ‘next’ Demba Ba in 2012, only for him to get better than the original rather quickly.
Instinctive and ruthless in front of goal, Cisse was unstoppable in his first half-campaign on these shores. Yet he’s mostly flattered to deceive ever since. He always seems to promise a resurgence, but such lofty heights are unlikely to be managed ever again.
He left the Toon for Chinese side Shandong Luneng in 2016, spending two years at the club before joining Alanyaspor in Turkey in 2018, where he was once again among the goals, which prompted Istanbul giants Fenerbahce to bring him to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium. Cisse had a brief stint at Caykur Rizespor and recently turned out for Amiens in Ligue 2.
Michu (2012/13)
Swansea City probably wish they took the £20 million fee that was bandied about after the Spaniard’s debut season right about now.
Michu scored 18 goals in his debut campaign with the Swans in 2012/2013, and just two the year after, mainly due to a chronic ankle injury which ended up hampering the remainder of his playing career beyond his Premier League days.
The forward, who confirmed his retirement in 2017, went off the boil as quickly as he came to it. He was at Real Oviedo before retiring, after spending his penultimate season as a player with UP Langreo, a Spanish club in the third tier with whom he served as director of football until becoming technical secretary of Oviedo and now having a similar role with Burgos CF.
