Arabic version: ديفو يتصدر تصنيف بي بي سي سبورت لأفضل البدلاء في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز

According to BBC News, Jermain Defoe has been ranked as the greatest Premier League super substitute in a BBC Sport list assessing players’ goals and assists from the bench. The ranking describes substitutes as game-changers called upon when a manager needs a goal, while noting Mikel Arteta’s preferred term, “finishers”.

Defoe leads the list after scoring a Premier League record 24 goals as a substitute. All 24 came in different fixtures, and five were match-winners, another league high. His first top-flight goal came as a substitute in West Ham’s 3-2 win at Ipswich, while his final Premier League substitute goal rescued Bournemouth a stoppage-time point at Watford 17 years later. He is also England’s highest-scoring substitute, with seven goals.

Nwankwo Kanu was placed second, followed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Edin Dzeko. Kanu scored 17 Premier League goals from the bench and made 12 substitute assists across spells with Arsenal, West Brom and Portsmouth. Solskjaer also scored 17 substitute goals and averaged one every 83 minutes, a competition-leading rate matched by Dzeko. Dzeko recorded 17 goal contributions in 56 top-flight appearances as a replacement and scored Manchester City’s equaliser against QPR on the final day of the 2012 season.

Javier Hernandez ranked fifth after scoring 19 goals in 78 substitute appearances, ahead of Tore Andre Flo, Olivier Giroud, Daniel Sturridge, Victor Anichebe and Theo Walcott. Giroud is second on the all-time substitute scoring list with 21 goals, while Walcott holds the record for substitute assists with 14 and added 10 goals. The list gave honorary mentions to Adam le Fondre, Hernan Crespo and Mark Robins, who did not make the top 10.