All 24 EFL League One club's best striker ranked from worst to best | OneFootball

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As the new 2026/27 League One campaign begins to take shape following the summer months, clubs throughout the division will be assessing the firepower at their disposal and assessing whether it's enough to help achieve their aims or simply keep heads above the water until the January transfer window rolls around.

Some managers in League One are boasting well-stocked striking options and may even face some serious selection headaches, whereas others have been left desperately short of the required quality at the top-end of the pitch.

Ultimately, of course, goals win games, and no position in football is more debated than the popular discourse of who really has the best striker.

With that in mind, then, Football League World has decided to take a close look at every League One club's strongest striker - and rank all of them in the division from worst to best...

24 ? ? Christian Saydee - Wigan Athletic

Somebody had to finish bottom of the pack and it's rather difficult to look past the often-misfiring Christian Saydee at Wigan Athletic to get things underway.

Saydee showed early promise when on loan at Shrewsbury Town from Bournemouth in the 2022/23 campaign but has failed to kick on since, scoring just seven goals from 73 appearances throughout two years for Portsmouth before enduring even less success infront of goal after making the move to Wigan last summer.

The 24-year-old Cherries academy product can be a physical handful with his powerful running and ability to hold off opposing defenders, though he has simply struggled to deliver where it matters most by finding the back of the net on just two occasions in 41 outings - 28 of which were starts - during his debut season with the Latics.

23 ? ? Makenzie Kirk - Barnsley

Much more of an unknown quantity, however, is Makenzie Kirk, with the young forward yet to prove his worth in the EFL after moving to Portsmouth from St. Johnstone last year.

Still aged just 22, Kirk has some credit in the bank owing to his promising displays north of the border and earned his arrival at Fratton Park with eight strikes in the 2024/25 Scottish top-flight campaign.

It's hard to judge Kirk too much as he managed just one goal from 451 minutes of league football under John Mousinho last time out, but a lack of goalscoring pedigree does mean that the ex-Northern Ireland international has a point to prove after landing at Barnsley on loan for the duration of this season.

22 ? ? Matthew Dennis - Burton Albion

Matthew Dennis, meanwhile, will be bidding to show what he's all about in the third-tier, having previously fallen short at this level with MK Dons.

Much has changed since then, of course, and Dennis is older with a respectable 18-month goalscoring spell under his belt, briefly impressing in a short stint with Carlisle United before finishing as Notts County's second-highest scorer behind Alassana Jatta with 14 strikes from just 23 starts at a rate of 0.52 per 90 minutes as the Magpies won the League Two play-offs.

Despite that, Notts decided to sanction his departure to Burton Albion in the summer, and while there's every chance that the ex-Arsenal and Norwich City prospect will come good at the Pirelli Stadium, inconsistent goalscoring and the absence of - at this moment in time - any tangible body of work at League One level prevents a higher ranking here.

21 ? ? Mathew Stevens - AFC Wimbledon

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Mathew Stevens' reputation predominantly comes from being a feared force in League Two, twice providing the goalscoring spark in promotion-winning sides at Forest Green Rovers and AFC Wimbledon.

League One has proved a bit trickier for the 28-year-old, although he's been a big hit at Plough Lane and kept the Wombles afloat with nine goals from just 20 starts in an injury-disrupted 25/26 term.

20 ? ? Gassan Ahadme - Cambridge United

As for Gassan Ahadme, the 25-year-old's career has been characterised by spurts of promise but an inability to consistently deliver on that.

There is, however, plenty of hope that being under the stewardship of Neil Harris could truly ignite Ahadme's fortunes, having embarked on a second loan away from Charlton Athletic to return to newly-promoted Cambridge United after scoring four times at Stevenage last season.

Ahadme previously impressed at this level with Cambridge by hitting double digits in fewer than 30 appearances during the 2023/24 campaign while on loan from Ipswich Town, who took a punt on the striker following a run of eight goals in 22 outings for Burton in 2022.

19 ? ? Michael Mellon - Stevenage

Should Michael Mellon translate his history of goal-getting antics in League Two to the third-tier, he could soon find himself considerably higher when compared to his divisional counterparts.

For now, at least, we can only work with the available pre-existing evidence, which is that the 22-year-old has 25 goals from just 45 fourth-tier appearances for Morecambe and Oldham Athletic - albeit excluding a less-fruitful loan stint with Bradford City - and is only now making the step-up at Stevenage after departing Burnley on a permanent basis over the summer.

18 ? ? Daniel Kanu - Notts County

Notts County should be in good goalscoring hands despite losing both Dennis and the aforementioned Jatta in recent months, with the pair having been replaced by Daniel Kanu on loan from Charlton and the wildcard addition of Luka Smyth from Finland's top-flight.

It was a toss-up between the two, but Kanu just about gets the nod after Notts fought off strong competition elsewhere to land the 21-year-old's services off the back of a 15-goal campaign at Walsall in League Two - and he also scored six times for the Addicks at this level in 23/24.

17 ? ? Victor Adeboyejo - Bromley

Michael Cheek would have every right to feel hard done by as a result of his legendary status at Bromley with 15 or more goals in every full season since arriving from Ebbsfleet United in 2019 to spearhead the Ravens' stunning rise from the National League to English football's third-tier for the first time ever, and his 16 strikes proved instrumental behind a shock title triumph last time out.

When it comes to League One, however, you'd perhaps edge towards Victor Adeboyejo, who was one of the South Londoners' higher-profile recruits as part of a significant summer squad upheaval and has previously hit double figures with both Burton and Bolton Wanderers.

16 ? ? Jake Beesley - Bradford City

Jake Beesley's position is very much contingent on the 29-year-old replicating the form he displayed at Burton to earn his move to Bradford over the summer, having attracted attention higher up the division with 13 goals and nine assists in Staffordshire last term.

A multi-functional frontman with the sort of physical presence that suits Graham Alexander's side to a tee, Beesley represents a much stronger option than one of Kayden Jackson or Will Swan and will hope to offer up the goals to help the Bantams progress past the previous season's play-off semi-final defeat to Bolton.

15 ? ? Mark Harris - Oxford United

Though perhaps not at the level required for the Championship, Mark Harris has solidified his reputation in League One with Oxford United in recent years.

A graduate of the Cardiff City academy, the Welsh international scored just ten times from 92 outings for the Bluebirds before heading down the M4 to join Oxford three years ago.

Harris managed only nine Championship goals across the U's two seasons at the level, but their promotion to the second-tier was helped by the energetic attacker's haul of 15 strikes in his first term in Oxfordshire.