20 Highest Earners in the Premier League 2025/26 Season

The Premier League has never been shy about its appetite for talent, or the price it is willing to pay. Each season, wages climb higher, record transfer signings, and conversations around money overshadow the football itself.

As of the 2025/ 26 season, the league’s pay packets are almost as famous as the players, a symbol of ambition, excess, and the pressure to win at all costs.

Some players justify every pound, shaping games, driving clubs forward, and carrying the weight of expectation. Others spark debate, drawing salaries that seem impossible to rationalize when compared to their minutes played on the pitch.

The numbers alone are enough to make any observer blink; behind each figure lies a story: a gamble, a reward, a statement of intent. Clubs are not just buying for skill; they are buying influence, identity, and the promise of success.

This is a league where value is measured in goals, tackles, and moments of genius, but the paychecks often tell a different story. From the dependable workhorses to the headline-grabbing stars, the Premier League’s highest earners define both the beautiful game and the spectacle, a living record of how football and finance collide in the most extreme and fascinating ways.

20. Declan Rice (Arsenal) — £240,000-per-week

Rice is the engine that keeps Arsenal ticking over. He covers ground like a man possessed, breaking up attacks and launching the next phase of play with that smooth, effortless passing.

He does the work of two players most weeks. And he’s earning less than people who spend more time with the physios than on the pitch.

If Arsenal finally end their title drought, this will look like the deal of the century. Right now, it already feels like Arsenal got themselves a bargain, which is mad when you remember they paid over £100 million to bring him from West Ham.

The fee was massive, and the wages are somehow reasonable.

SEE ALSO | Greatest Player in Every Premier League Club’s History

19. Martin Odegaard (Arsenal) — £240,000-per-week

The Norwegian earns the same as Rice, and that feels about right when you consider what he brings. Odegaard is the creative soul of this Arsenal side. Every attack flows through him. Every dangerous moment has its fingerprints on it. He makes the whole machine hum.

What’s remarkable is that he could have demanded more. He could have played hardball during contract talks, leveraged interest from Spain or elsewhere, and squeezed Arsenal for another fifty grand a week. He didn’t.

In a league where players and agents extract every possible pound from negotiations, Odegaard took a fair deal and got on with his work. It’s refreshing, even if £240,000 a week still sounds like an unfathomable amount of money to normal humans.

18. John Stones (Manchester City) — £250,000-per-week

City knows exactly what they’re doing when they hand out contracts, and Stones is proof.

He’s the blueprint for the modern center-back, comfortable with the ball at his feet, smart enough to step into midfield when needed, and solid enough to handle the rough stuff when required. He makes defending look elegant.

A quarter million every week might sound steep, but City aren’t a charity. They pay for quality and they get it back. Stones have been integral to everything they’ve won over the last few years.

No complaints here.

17. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City) — £250,000-per-week

After the chaos of his Paris exit, Donnarumma landed at the Etihad and immediately made everyone forget about the Ederson era. City needed someone capable of stepping into massive shoes, and the Italian giant has done exactly that.

He commands his box, makes saves that feel impossible, and brings a calmness that spreads through the entire defense.

The wages are huge for a goalkeeper, but City operates in a different financial world. They wanted the best available shot-stopper, and they got him.

His agent still whispers about Serie A every few months, but for now, he’s planted in Manchester and earning a fortune.

16. Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) — £250,000-per-week

Gakpo has quietly become one of the most valuable players at Anfield. He’s not the flashiest name on the teamsheet, but he’s the kind of player that managers dream about.

Need a winger? He can do that. Need someone through the middle? He’ll play there too. Tactical flexibility wrapped up in a player who actually performs when the stakes are highest.

Liverpool is paying for dependability, and in a squad full of stars, that matters. Gakpo shows up. He does his job. He doesn’t vanish when things get tough.

For £250,000 a week, that’s a player worth keeping around.

SEE ALSO | Longest-Serving Premier League Players Still Active in 2026

15. Reece James (Chelsea) — £250,000-per-week

Here’s where the conversation gets uncomfortable. James is phenomenally talented. When he’s fit and firing, there isn’t a better right-back anywhere near him. He can defend, he can attack, he’s got a rocket of a shot, and he reads the game like someone twice his age.

But Chelsea is essentially paying a king’s ransom for someone who has spent more time rehabbing injuries than playing football over the last two years.

It’s brutal but true. The potential is there, the ability is undeniable, but availability matters. Right now, this feels like the most expensive “what if” in English football.

14. Ruben Dias (Manchester City) — £250,000-per-week

The leader of the best defense in the country earns his money by making everyone around him better. Dias is the one barking instructions, organizing the line, making sure everyone knows their job. He’s the vocal presence that turns good defenders into great ones.

That kind of leadership is hard to quantify on a spreadsheet, but City understands it perfectly. They’re not just paying for his tackling or his positioning. They’re paying for the way he holds the entire defensive structure together.

It’s an investment in stability, and it pays off every single week.

SEE ALSO | 20 World-Class Players in the Premier League As of 2026

13. William Saliba (Arsenal) — £250,000-per-week

Saliba at 24, looks like he’s been playing top-level football for a decade. There’s a composure about him that’s rare, a calmness under pressure that spreads through the whole Arsenal backline. He’s the kind of defender you build a team around, the foundation that everything else rests on.

Without him, Arsenal would be a different animal entirely. Probably a worse one. The wage feels justified because the alternative, watching him leave for a rival or a European giant, would be catastrophic.

Sometimes you pay to keep what you can’t afford to lose.

12. Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal) — £265,000-per-week

This is where the praise stops and reality sets in. Jesus came to Arsenal with a reputation as a winner, someone who knew what it took to succeed at the highest level after his time at City. The idea was sound. The execution has been patchy.

He’s become a luxury squad player, someone who offers energy and work rate off the bench but rarely takes center stage. That’s fine for a rotation option, but £265,000 a week is not rotation-option money. It’s money for someone carrying out the attack.

Jesus is a secondary character collecting a lead actor’s salary, and that’s hard to justify.

Oh, Jesus.

11. Alexander Isak (Liverpool) — £280,000-per-week

Liverpool finally abandoned their careful, calculated approach to spending and went all-in on the Swede. It marked the end of an era, the moment when Anfield accepted that competing at the top means paying top dollar for top talent.

Isak looks like a throwback to the great strikers of the past, all grace and lethal finishing. He moves like Thierry Henry, and strikes like him too. If he keeps scoring at his current clip, nobody at Liverpool will care about the accounting.

Sometimes you have to spend to win, and this feels like money well spent.

SEE ALSO | 15 Funniest & Silliest Red Cards in Premier League History

11. Kai Havertz (Arsenal) — £280,000-per-week

Remember when everyone thought this was madness? When Havertz arrived, he looked lost, played in positions that didn’t suit him, and struggled to make an impact. That feels like ancient history now.

Havertz has become the kind of player Arteta can’t do without. He does the dirty work, scores the scrappy goals, and fights for every ball like his life depends on it.

He’s earned every penny of this contract by proving all the doubters wrong. Sometimes the gamble pays off.

10. Omar Marmoush (Manchester City) — £295,000-per-week

Marmoush burst onto the scene with a goal that had everyone talking. The pace, the power, the confidence. City saw something special and paid nearly £300,000 a week to secure it.

The problem is that special moments don’t win leagues. Consistency does.

And this season has been quieter than anyone expected. At that wage, quiet doesn’t cut it. City need more than a highlights package. They need someone who changes games week after week.

The jury is still out.

9. Marc Guehi (Manchester City) — £300,000-per-week

City threw money at Guehi when other clubs hesitated, and the figure they landed on made people gasp. He’s now the second-highest-paid defender in the league, a staggering status for someone who was captaining Crystal Palace in mid-table not long ago.

The ability is there. Guehi is excellent on the ball, reads danger well, and has the mentality to succeed at the top. But £300,000 a week feels like City paying for potential rather than proven quality at the elite level.

It’s a bet, a big one, and time will tell if it pays off.

8. Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) — £300,000-per-week

Bruno is everything at United. The creator, the finisher, the leader, the one player who consistently delivers quality in a team that’s spent years trying to rediscover its identity. He could have walked away and earned triple this in Saudi Arabia. He stayed instead, and that makes this feel like United got off lightly.

The loyalty matters; the production matters more. Bruno shows up every single week and drags United through games they have no business winning.

At £300,000 a week, he might actually be underpaid compared to some names on this list.

SEE ALSO | 10 Greatest Fanbases In World Football 2026

7. Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) — £300,000-per-week

Every summer, the rumors start. Barcelona wants him. He wants Barcelona. A move feels inevitable. And then the season starts, and he’s still at City, running himself into the ground, covering every blade of grass, playing with an intelligence that makes football look simple.

His contract is winding down now, but while he’s here, he’s worth every penny.

Bernardo might be the smartest player in the division, someone who sees the game three moves ahead. City knows what they have, and they’re holding on for as long as they can.

6. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) — £300,000-per-week

The Star Boy finally got paid like one. Arsenal made this deal happen in the winter, and it felt like their biggest victory of the season. Saka at 24 is already the face of the club, the player around whom everything revolves, the one who makes the difference when games hang in the balance.

If you want to keep generational talent, you pay market rate. Simple as that.

Saka could have gone anywhere, earned anything. Arsenal matched the offer and kept him home. That’s £300,000 a week well spent.

5. Raheem Sterling (Chelsea) — £325,000-per-week

The nightmare scenario. Sterling is being paid more than Saka to essentially not play football. After a failed loan spell at Arsenal, he’s back at Chelsea in what everyone politely calls the bomb squad. He’s earning a fortune to train during the week and sit at home on Saturdays.

It’s grim, it’s wasteful. It’s everything wrong with football finances wrapped up in one contract.

Chelsea is stuck, Sterling is stuck, and the money keeps flowing out regardless. Nobody wins here except Sterling’s bank account.

SEE ALSO | AFCON 2025: Best Moments, Shock Results, and Major Lows

4. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) — £350,000-per-week

The King of Anfield silenced everyone who thought age might slow him down. He’s in his mid-thirties now, and he’s still the most imposing defender in the Premier League, still the one player Liverpool cannot function without.

Watch what happens when he’s missing. The whole structure crumbles. That’s the mark of a truly elite player, someone whose absence breaks the team.

At £350,000 a week, he might actually be underpaid when you consider his importance. Not many players can claim that.

3. Casemiro (Manchester United) — £350,000-per-week

The new management team has breathed life back into Casemiro. He looks fitter, sharper, more like the player who dominated midfields for Real Madrid. But £350,000 a week for someone in the twilight of his career remains a massive gamble.

When he’s on, he’s a wall in front of the defense, breaking up plays and launching attacks.

When he’s off, he’s a passenger collecting a fortune. United is betting he can maintain the good form. It’s a bet they need to win.

2. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) — £400,000-per-week

The Egyptian King put pen to paper, stayed at Anfield, and kept tearing defenses apart. 34 goals last season. He’s still the standard, the player every other winger in the league gets measured against.

At £400,000 a week, there’s no debate. Salah is worth it. He’s been worth it for years. Liverpool knows what they have, and they’re paying to keep him. Smart business.

1. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) — £525,000-per-week

Over half a million pounds every single week. The number feels absurd, like someone added an extra zero by mistake. But Haaland is a glitch in the system, a cheat code, a player who breaks football.

Man City is paying for inevitability. They’re paying for the certainty that goals will come, that chances will be buried, that trophies will follow.

As long as he’s in England, he’ll be the highest earner. And as long as he keeps scoring like this, nobody at City will lose sleep over the cost.

SEE ALSO | 10 Highest-Earning African Footballers (2026 Rankings)