Every football fan loves a spectacular strike from distance, but the art of goal poaching appears to have fallen under the radar in recent years.

The rise of social media allows users to watch short clips of scintillating 30-yard volleys at their leisure from various leagues around the world, although a compilation of six-yard tap-ins is unlikely to chalk up as many views.

On September 9, Middlesbrough’s Britt Assombalonga netted twice against Bolton from a combined distance of 12 yards. The Teesside outfit paid £15 million for the powerful striker and he’s already begun to repay them with four goals in six appearances for the club.

The former Peterborough man has power and pace in abundance but his eye for goal and anticipation is a major reason for his success at this level. He scored 14 goals for Nottingham Forest last season despite missing a chunk of the campaign through injury but he makes a huge difference to the side whenever he is fit enough to start.

Arsenal paid £40 million for the services of Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon during the summer months and the powerful frontman netted 21 times during the 2015-16 season with not a single effort coming from outside the box. The following campaign saw the Frenchman plunder 28 goals with only two being fired from distance.

The Gunners frontman is also a penalty taker, which skew his statistics slightly, but his overall contribution to a side cannot be underestimated. He netted after just two minutes on his debut against Leicester from inside the area and has acclimatised to the Premier League life perfectly.

Arsene Wenger’s side have been accused of over-complicating matters and “trying to score perfect goal”; he will be hoping that employing a natural finisher should help relinquish this accusation.

Lacazette’s movement is superb, he is subtle and clever as well as possessing the desirable ability to predict where the ball will drop. Unlike team-mate Danny Welbeck, he doesn’t rely on blistering pace and has significantly more composure in front of goal than the former Manchester United striker. Both players were on the scoresheet against Bournemouth recently.

Manchester United have possessed a number of poachers in recent years, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Andy Cole and Javier Hernandez amongst the more memorable finishers to grace Old Trafford. The latter is back in the Premier League with West Ham and has already found the net twice when he notched a double against Southampton in August.

The Red Devils signed Romelu Lukaku this summer and the Belgian offers plenty to the side although his poaching ability cannot be underestimated. He’s netted four times in as many appearances and is currently 3/1 favourite to finish as top goalscorer in the football betting markets with the aforementioned Alexandre Lacazette priced at 14/1 to plunder the most Premier League goals this year.

Aesthetics are not important to a poacher. He is simply in the side to put the ball in the back of the net and help fire his side up the table. A scruffy two-yard tap-in or a mishit shot bobbling apologetically into the corner of net are often met with a shrug of the shoulders.

“They all count” is often the quote used in the media and it’s hard to argue with that statement. There’s an insatiable appetite for a wonder goal these days and the art of goal poaching is extremely underrated; every side requires a competent finisher who will be waiting inside the six-yard box ready to latch onto the next tempting delivery.