It is not exactly a secret that footballer salaries in England are among the best in the world, but who are the highest-paid players in the Premier League?
With each club receiving hundreds of millions in television money, even average Premier League footballers are extremely well-paid compared to many of their contemporaries on the continent.
But here are the 10 Premier League stars with the highest weekly wage* as the 2022-23 season takes its World Cup break.
=9. Casemiro (Man Utd, £300k)
Just edging out fellow big-name summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly into the top 10, Brazilian superstar Casemiro arrived at Manchester United as one of the league’s top earners.
And fair enough, really. Signing as a five-time Champions League winner and arriving at a club that can only offer Europa League football, you don’t imagine his agent needed to be a master negotiate to demand top dollar.
And Casemiro has been brilliant so far, making you wonder why United didn’t sign someone of his ilk years ago.
Casemiro’s goal against Chelsea [@SkySportsPL] #MUFC pic.twitter.com/HimrVLyz7r
— MUFC Scoop (@MUFCScoop) October 22, 2022
=9. Jack Grealish (Man City, £300k)
England’s great white hope – summer 2021 version – endured an underwhelming debut season at Manchester City following his £100million move from Villa.
But Grealish remains a player of immense quality, capable of beating his man and delivering incisive passes, and many observers expected him to perform closer to his ability in 2022-23.
“Jack is a number 10,” former City winger Trevor Sinclair told talkSPORT. “He’s one of these star players who gets fans off their seats and gives them excitement and we didn’t really see enough of that last season.
“We saw it against Real Madrid in the game where he came off the bench and was excellent, and I thought that should have been the catalyst to make him believe that he’s good enough this season coming and really hit the ground running.”
That’s not quite happened but Grealish did enough to be included in England’s World Cup squad.
8. Raheem Sterling (Chelsea, £325k)
It’s no surprise that Chelsea are paying Sterling £325,000 a week; the summer signing from City seemingly represented an upgrade on their existing forward options and has been one of the best attackers around.
But the England international has failed to shine at Stamford Bridge, partly because Graham Potter insists on starting him at wing-back.
7. Raphael Varane (Man Utd, £340k)
Varane’s quality has never been in doubt – nobody has four Champions League gold medals alongside winning the World Cup without being able to kick a ball straight – but injuries meant his first season at United was distinctly unmemorable.
But his first appearance alongside Lisandro Martinez, with United beat Liverpool 2-1, started something infinitely more promising.
=5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, £350k)
After a contract impasse that threatened to overshadow Liverpool’s 21-22 campaign, Salah signed a new deal until 2025 that made him the highest-paid player in the club’s history.
“At the end of the season, from maybe April until the end, there was a lot of talk about (his) contract and stuff,” Virgil van Dijk told The Telegraph in July. “We’re all human beings and maybe that affected him a little bit, unfortunately.”
But it’s safe to say Salah has earned his pay rise and, despite Liverpool’s struggles, has kept banging in the goals with regularity.
Clinical from @MoSalah to open the scoring in #TOTLIV 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Auf61QLtOB
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 6, 2022
=5. Jadon Sancho (Man Utd, £350k)
United were hoping for a greater return on their Sancho investment this season but, apart from an ice-cool finish against Liverpool, he’s once again failed to impressed and has been overshadowed by Alejandro Garnacho.
No wonder England manager Gareth Southgate left him at home for the World Cup.
=3. David de Gea (Man Utd, £375k)
De Gea is by far the Premier League goalkeeper pocketing the most cash per week – second-placed Kepa Arrizabalaga gets a relatively trifling £150k – and United’s shoddy defending last year meant he earned every penny.
The long-serving keeper is determined for United to improve this season, telling The Guardian: “We cannot do the same because it was a disaster. I really hope we’re going to play much better. It was very tough, embarrassing sometimes.
“Some games were a mess. It was painful, unacceptable. Sometimes, you have to feel pain to go up and keep going.”
=3. Erling Haaland (Man City, £375k)
Forget his underwhelming Community Shield display; Haaland will back himself to break Premier League goalscoring records and City fought off competition from the cream of European football to bring him to the Etihad.
It normally takes players a season to acclimatise to Pep Guardiola, but, at £375k a week, the 22-year-old has already scored 18 Premier League goals. Crikey.
2. Kevin de Bruyne (Man City, £400k)
Even at £400k, De Bruyne represents brilliant value for City; the midfielder can do things with a football that’d be considered illegal in parts of the Southern Hemisphere and was deservedly named their Player of the Season for 21-22…
READ: Forget Salah, De Bruyne was the PL’s best player in 21-22 & we can prove it
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd, £515k)
Another reason for United to tear up Ronaldo’s contract; he’s the highest-paid bench-warmer in Premier League history.
*Salary information courtesy of Capology
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