Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Claims He Would Score More Goals in Today’s Premier League Than During His Playing Days

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, one of the most potent strikers of his generation, has stated with confidence that he would be more prolific in today’s Premier League than he was during his own playing career — a bold assertion that invites scrutiny of how significantly the top flight has changed over the past two decades.

The Dutch forward, who scored 127 Premier League goals across spells at Leeds United, Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Charlton Athletic, made the comments in an interview with Flashscore. “I would kill it! Honestly, I would score far more goals than I did back then. You get more chances in a game now than you did before, so yes, I would absolutely thrive,” Hasselbaink said.

Hasselbaink’s confidence stems from his assessment of how the physical landscape of English football has shifted. During his playing days — which spanned the late 1990s into the mid-2000s — defenders operated under a far more permissive ruleset, according to the former striker. “When I played, you’d get away with a lot more. Elbows, hard tackles, things you wouldn’t get away with now. Back then, strikers expected to get kicked in the first five minutes. It was sometimes like the Wild West,” he said.

Beyond refereeing standards, Hasselbaink also pointed to a fundamental shift in the physical profile of centre-backs. “Centre-backs now aren’t as big or as strong as in my day. Back then, every team had defenders who were tall, powerful, and aggressive,” he explained, suggesting that the modern game’s preference for technical, ball-playing defenders has come at the cost of raw defensive imposing presence.

Hasselbaink won the Premier League Golden Boot on two occasions — first with Leeds United in the 1998-99 season with 18 goals, and again with Chelsea in 2001-02 when he netted 23 times. His Chelsea stint from 2000 to 2004 remains the most prominent chapter of his Premier League career, during which he established himself as one of the division’s most feared forwards.

The timing of Hasselbaink’s comments arrives against a difficult backdrop for Chelsea. The club finished tenth in the 2025-26 Premier League season — their lowest league finish in recent memory — and were beaten by Sunderland on the final day of the campaign with ten men, confirming their absence from European competition next season. Head coach Enzo Maresca’s position and the future of several key players, including reported interest from Manchester City in one Chelsea star, are among the issues the club’s hierarchy must now address.

Hasselbaink’s broader argument — that modern forwards benefit from improved officiating protection and less physically dominant opposition — is one shared by several former players from that era, though it remains a matter of debate among analysts and coaches. Goal tallies in the Premier League have increased in recent seasons, lending some statistical weight to the suggestion that attacking players operate in a more favourable environment than their predecessors did.