Aston Villa Football Club is one of the most historic institutions in the English game. The Midlands club was one of the 12 founding members of the Football League.
In recent decades, the Villans have experienced their fair share of ups and downs, especially in the Premier League era.
However, Villa has had some strong attacking players in the latest era of the English top flight. Here are the Villans top Premier League goalscorers:
Gabriel Agbonlahor (73 goals in 322 Premier League appearances)
Having come through the youth system at his home city club, Agbonlahor enjoyed a decent career in front of goal for Villa.
He featured in 11 Premier League campaigns for the Villans, scoring a respectable 73 goals in 322 appearances.
His most prolific single campaign for Villa came in the English top-flight season 2009/2010, when he scored 13 times and 16 goals in all competitions.
Agbonlahor’s performances for Villa earned the forward three caps for England.
Dwight Yorke (60 goals in 179 Premier League appearances)
Although born in Trinidad and Tobago, Yorke came through the youth system at the club. He joined the Villans after impressing then-Villa boss Graham Taylor during a tour of the West Indies.
After impressing for the club’s reserves, Yorke made his Villa debut at 18 on 24th March 1990 in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Yorke would appear in ten English top-flight seasons for Villa, seven of which were in the Premier League era, scoring a respectable 60 goals in 179 appearances.
His most prolific goal league tally for the Villans was 17, which he achieved in both seasons, 1995/96 and 1996/97. His goals helped Villa lift the League Cup in 1996.
Yorke left the club in August 1998 to join Manchester United for a fee of around £12.6m.
Ollie Watkins (59 goals in 145 Premier League appearances)
The forward joined Villa from Brentford for a then club-record fee of £28m, plus add-ons, which could take the fee to £33m.
Watkins has been a consistent goal scorer for the Villans, reaching double figures in all four seasons. His most prolific campaign was in season 2023/24, when he scored 19 (with a game remaining).
The forward has also produced a highly respectable 26 assists in four Premier League campaigns. Watkins’ goals for Villa saw him called into the England squad.
Dion Dublin (47 goals in 155 Premier League appearances)
The forward played for Manchester United and Coventry City in the English top flight before he joined Villa from the latter, where he had been prolific in front of goal.
Dublin repaid some of the £5.75m fee by scoring 47 top-flight goals in six seasons with the Villans. Unfortunately for Dublin, he struggled with injuries, with the highest number of Premier League appearances he made in a single season being 33.
The forward left Villa in 2004 on a free transfer and joined another Midlands rival, Leicester City.
Juan Pablo Angel (44 goals in 175 Premier League appearances)
The Colombian forward became Villa’s club-record signing when he joined the club in the January window of 2001 from River Plate for a fee of £9.5m.
There were big expectations on the shoulders of the striker due to his impressive goal ratio in Argentina.
However, despite his lofty position on our list, it didn’t quite happen for the forward in seven seasons in the Midlands.
Angel’s most prolific goalscoring campaign came in season 2003/04 when he scored 16 goals in the English top-flight. In 2007, he joined MLS outfit New York Red Bulls.
Christian Benteke (42 goals in 89 Premier League appearances)
After a breakthrough season in his homeland with Genk, the Belgian forward joined Villa in 2012 for a fee of £7m.
Benteke produced the most prolific campaign of his Premier League career in his debut season, scoring 19 goals. He got into double figures of goals in all three of his seasons with Villa.
In July 2015, Liverpool met Benteke’s release clause of £32.5m, and he moved to Merseyside for just one ill-fated season.
Gareth Barry (41 goals in 365 Premier League appearances)
The former England star is the only player on our list who is not a football player. After joining Villa’s youth ranks in a controversial move from Brighton, Barry established himself from a young age as a Villa regular, even earning the club captaincy.
Barry’s most prolific top-flight campaign with the club was in season 2007/08, when he notched nine Premier League goals.
The midfielder played for Villa for 12 seasons before a £12m move to Manchester City in 2009.
Julian Joachim (39 goals in 140 Premier League appearances)
The forward started his career in non-league football before a switch to Leicester City in 1992. Having enjoyed a relatively successful spell with the Foxes, he joined Villa in 1999 for a fee of £1.5m.
Joachim was never really prolific in his five seasons with the Villans. However, his goal return wasn’t awful.
Dean Saunders (38 goals in 112 Premier League appearances)
The former Wales international joined Villa in the maiden Premier League campaign from Liverpool for a then club-record fee of £2.5m.
The forward enjoyed three seasons at Villa Park, scoring a respectable, if not spectacular, 38 goals in 112 Premier League appearances.
Saunders’ goals contributed to the Villans’ League Cup win in 1993/94. He later joined his former Liverpool boss Graeme Souness at Turkish club Galatasaray in 1995.
John Carew (37 goals in 113 Premier League appearances)
After a somewhat nomadic career in the European game, the Norwegian forward joined Villa in 2007 in exchange for Czech forward Milos Baros.
The giant forward played in five seasons for Villa, with his highest goalscoring coming in season 2007/08, when he scored 13 league goals. He reached double figures in three of his five seasons at Villa.
After a loan spell with Stoke City, Carew left the Villans permanently when he joined West Ham in 2011 at the expiration of his Villa contract.
Who was your favourite Villa player from our list?