Negredo to follow Robinho in terms of top-scorer prospects

Here is a testing trivia question for starters. What links Benni McCarthy, Roque Santa Cruz, Robinho, Sergio Aguero and Christian Benteke?

The answer is not that they are all strikers and not that they have all previously played in the Premier League, but those to offer the second answer are at least getting warmer.

It is not that they have all played in England’s top-flight, but that they have finished as one of the four top scorers in the Premier League in their debut season in the division and all have done so in the last six campaigns.

Meanwhile, in one of the two missing seasons from the sequence, Peter Odemwingie scored 15 goals for West Brom to put himself fifth in the scoring charts.

Interestingly, no overseas player has ever won the Golden Boot in their maiden Premier League campaign, which is a major turn off of the price of 16/1 on Alvaro Negredo waltzing off with the top goalscorer accolade in the upcoming campaign now that he has joined Manchester City.

However, with Ladbrokes paying the top four in this market at 1/4 of the odds, there may be some mileage backing the Spaniard each-way given the relative success of those to have gone before him.

Negredo certainly brings with him from Seville a scoring pedigree, netting 25 goals in 36 La Liga starts last season leaving him behind only Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Radamel Falcao in the scoring charts.

This was the second time in three seasons that he had finished as one of the four top scorers in the Spanish top flight.

From the above-mentioned list, Robinho and Aguero obviously achieved their scoring feats at Man City, so the club have somewhat of a track record of securing new recruits with an eye for goal.

Negredo will undoubtedly score goals, but expecting him to ensure a left-footed winner of the top scorer award for the third campaign in succession, may be a little too optimistic.

The same would apply for fellow new recruits Wilfried Bony of Swansea (66/1) and Norwich’s Ricky van Wolfswinkel (80/1).

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.