Premier League highest scoring centre-backs ever: Gabriel, Van Dijk…

Novembro 4, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

Gabriel Magalhaes has chipped in with several goals for Arsenal, but where does he rank among the highest-scoring centre-backs in Premier League history?

The Brazilian has made a name for himself as a goalscoring defender and has become particularly lethal from set-piece situations.

Given how dangerous Arsenal have become in that department, it’s no surprise that the 28-year-old has scored so many goals over the past six years.

In fact, since making his debut for Arsenal in 2020-21, he’s scored more goals (21), than any other Premier League defender.

The likes of Fabian Schar, Virgil van Dijk, Michael Keane, Kurt Zouma, John Stones, Ben Mee and Lewis Dunk have also scored double figures in that time, but none have scored more than Gabriel.

“That shows a lot and not only set-pieces strategy but also mentality,” Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino told BBC MOTD when describing Gabriel’s goal against Newcastle back in September 2025.

“Other teams if they get six/seven corners and they don’t score, they start to lose belief in the qualities but for us it’s a matter of keep doing what we do, doing it at the highest level and in the end the last one, last second, we scored and I’m really happy.”

In the wider context of the all-time standings, the Brazilian defender is now joint 10th.

He’s now only one goal away from matching Laurent Koscielny’s Premier League tally and is only four goals away from securing a place in the top five.

Unsurprisingly, John Terry tops the list with a mammoth 41 league goals. Second on the list is Ian Marshall with 33 goals, although he did spend a portion of his career playing as a forward.

The rest of the top five is then made up of Virgil van Dijk, Gary Cahill and William Gallas.

Providing that Gabriel remains in the Premier League for the foreseeable future, there’s a chance that he could retire as the second-highest-scoring centre-back in the league’s history.

Admittedly, catching up to Terry’s record of 41 goals does seem out of reach, even for Gabriel.

Here’s the full breakdown of the highest-scoring centre-backs in Premier League history.

1. John Terry – 41 goals
2. Ian Marshall – 33 goals
3. Virgil van Dijk – 31 goals
4. Gary Cahill – 28 goals
5. William Gallas – 25 goals
6. Joleon Lescott – 24 goals
=7. Matt Elliott – 22 goals
=7. Laurent Koscielny – 22 goals
=7. Sami Hyypia – 22 goals
=10. Robert Huth – 21 goals
=10. Craig Dawson – 21 goals
=10. Gabriel Magalhaes – 21 goals
13. Sol Campbell – 20 goals
=14. Michael Keane – 19 goals
=14. Ugo Ehiogu – 19 goals
=16. Fabian Schar – 18 goals
=16. Nathan Ake – 18 goals
=16. Vincent Kompany – 18 goals
=16. Phil Jagielka – 18 goals
=19. Frank Leboeuf – 17 goals
=19. Gareth Southgate – 17 goals