Top 10 fast-starting strikers

In a top ten that is in absolutely no way connected to Diego Costa's formidable start at Chelsea, we look at strikers who began brightly but rapidly faded out...

10) Collins John

Chris Coleman paid £600,000 to bring 18-year-old Dutch striker Collins John to his ambitious Fulham side in January 2004. The former FC Twente prospect was initially regarded as a player for the future, but after coming off the bench to net both goals in a 2-0 win over Leicester in just his second game, John was promoted to the starting line-up for the visit of Blackburn.

Despite a 4-3 defeat, John hit another double and stayed around the first team for the remainder of the campaign. He then scored on the opening day of the following season, but could only manage a further three Premier League goals in 2004/05. He was last seen on trial at Crawley Town.

9) Adrian Mutu

One of Roman Abramovich's first big-money signings at Chelsea in summer 2003, Romanian striker Adrian Mutu hit four goals in his opening three Premier League games following his £15.8million switch from Parma. The 24-year-old's rich vein of form soon dried up, though, as he mustered only two more league goals that season.

Maybe a fresh start under new boss Jose Mourinho would rediscover his undoubted eye for goal the following season? Or maybe not. Mutu's Stamford Bridge career was cut short in October 2004 as he was released by the club after testing positive for cocaine. Mutu is currently plying his trade in his homeland with Petrolul Ploiesti.

8) Jon Stead

Jon Stead's career has come full circle - except he is no longer banging in the goals for Huddersfield Town and Premier League clubs are no longer fighting over his signature. Not to our knowledge anyway. Stead's impressive record for his hometown club was rewarded with a top-flight switch to struggling Blackburn in 2004 and he soon picked up from where he left off in the old Third Division.

A winner on his debut at Middlesbrough kick-started a run of six goals in 13 Premier League games as his fine form landed him an England Under-21s call-up and survival for Blackburn. But Stead's star soon faded and the following season saw him hit just two league goals before moving on to Sunderland. And then Derby County (loan), Sheffield United, Ipswich Town, Coventry City (loan), Bristol City, Huddersfield Town (again), Oldham (loan) and Bradford City (loan). Remarkably, he is still only 31.

7) Francesco Baiano

The summer of 1997 saw Derby splash £1.5m on Italian striker Francesco Baiano from Fiorentina. Despite a penalty miss on his debut at home to Barnsley, the 29-year-old soon found his feet in English football and hit eight goals in his first eight games, including braces at Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester.

But Baiano's form in front of goal took a turn for the worst and he headed back to Italy two years later after managing just a further eight goals in his next 56 games. They still love him at Derby, mind.

6) Robinho

Despite his desire to join Chelsea being far from secret, Man City's new owners persuaded Brazilian star Robinho to join them at Eastlands in a £33million move from Real Madrid. A gaffe at his unveiling - mistaking his new club for Chelsea - got him off on the wrong foot, but the 24-year-old soon atoned with his form on the pitch.

Robinho scored on his debut - a 3-1 defeat to Chelsea - before going on to find the target 11 times in his next 18 games. A dry spell in the opening months of 2009 was excused and he went on to finish his debut campaign with a respectable 15 goals. His following year was blighted by injury and his only goal came at Scunthorpe in the FA Cup (a difficult place to go) before returning to Brazil on loan at Santos.

5) Marouane Chamakh 

Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh joined his boyhood club Arsenal in summer 2010 - "I have been a fan since I was a child" - in a move initially regarded as somewhat of a coup for Arsene Wenger. The free transfer from Bordeaux had been prolific for club and country, and ten goals in his first 21 games did little to suggest he would be anything other than goal-laden for the Gunners.

Chamakh's work appeared to be done by November, though, as an FA Cup goal against Leyton Orient was the only other time he hit the net in his debut season. He mustered one more the following year and two the next, before a loan spell at West Ham signalled the end of his Arsenal career. He has now very much found his level at Crystal Palace.

4) Pavel Pogrebnyak

Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak was hardly prolific at Stuttgart prior to signing a short-term deal at Fulham in January 2012 - he had only managed one Bundesliga goal until that point - but the former Spartak Moscow man's career in England could not have started much better.

A debut effort against Stoke, the winner at QPR and a perfect hat-trick against Wolves saw Pogrebnyak become the quickest player in Premier League history to reach five goals. But he mustered only one more all season and Fulham released him in the summer as he went on to join Reading. His last goal came against Newport County in th Capital One Cup.

3) Michael Ricketts

England's Michael Ricketts was prolific throughout Bolton's 2000/01 season - scoring the goal to seal promotion - and the burly striker looked to have handled the step up pretty well with three goals in his first three Premier League games. Ricketts hit the winner at Old Trafford and his stock continued to rise, prompting Sven-Goran Eriksson to award him a first call-up to the national team.

It was all downhill from there though as Ricketts failed to score again that season after his solitary 45 England minutes against the Netherlands. He spent a further year with the Trotters before moving on to Middlesbrough, eventually ending his career at Tranmere in 2010.

2) Papiss Cisse

13 goals in 14 games, including the goal of the season at Chelsea, made it look like £9m well spent by Newcastle on Papiss Cisse, who scored the winner on his debut against Aston Villa. A remarkable run of nine in six even saw him overtake Hughie Gallacher as the club's most prolific goalscorer per game.

International team-mate Demba Ba dropped horribly out of form, failing to score again all season following the Villa game, but it made little difference as the new number 9 fired them into Europe. But that proved to be as good as it got for Cisse, who has since managed just ten goals in the last two seasons.

1) Amr Zaki

According to FIFA's player rankings, Amr Zaki was the world's best striker when Wigan signed him on a season-long loan from Egyptian side Zamalek in July 2008. The 25-year-old had hit 27 goals in 48 international games with Egypt, so there was no wonder Steve Bruce was convinced he could "do the business" in England.

A blistering start to Premier League life saw him hit seven goals in his first eight games, prompting Wigan chairman Dave Whelan to liken the stocky striker to Alan Shearer. But things soon turned sour as the goals dried up and Bruce sent him back to Egypt at the end of the season, labelling Zaki "highly unprofessional" after failing to return from international duty. Oh and Al Ahed in Lebanon, in case you were wondering.

A version of this article first appeared on Football365