Since the Premier League started in 1992, footballers’ wages have increased incrementally over the following 30 years.
Liverpool star John Barnes was the highest-paid player during that inaugural season, earning £10k per week. 10 years later, the highest-paid player, Roy Keane, was taking home £94k per week for Manchester United, who had won three of the previous four top-flight titles.
In 2012, Carlos Tevez was the highest-paid player in the Premier League, with the Argentinian earning a staggering £250k per week for Manchester City.
In just 20 years, you can see just how big the wage increases were, especially for those clubs in the upper echelons of the league table.
With more money than ever being poured into the game due to improved TV deals and greater prize money, wages will only continue to increase. There hasn’t been a better time to be a professional footballer.
Rank
Player
Club
Weekly wage
Erling Haaland
Man City
Kevin De Bruyne
Man City
Casemiro
Man Utd
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool
Bruno Fernandes
Man Utd
Jack Grealish
Man City
Bernando Silva
Man City
Omar Marmoush
Man City
Kai Havertz
Arsenal
Gabriel Jesus
Arsenal
Mason Mount
Man Utd
John Stones
Man City
Reece James
Chelsea
Martin Odegaard
Arsenal
Declan Rice
Arsenal
Via Capology
With this in mind, we have taken a look at the highest player salaries in the Premier League for the 2024/25 campaign.
15 Declan Rice (Arsenal) £240,000 per week
Declan Rice made the move from West Ham United to Arsenal in the summer of 2023, becoming the most expensive English player of all time as the Gunners paid £105m to secure his services. As well as the massive transfer fee, Rice receives a salary of £240,000 a week at the club.
Since then, he has made 85 appearances for the club in all competitions, but is yet to win a trophy under Mikel Arteta.
Despite not reaching the heights of last season’s performances, Arsenal still have a slim chance of winning the Premier League. If so, they will need plenty of things to go their way.
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ByRoss Kilvington 14 Martin Odegaard (Arsenal) £240,000 per week
Martin Odegaard takes home £240,000 a week, which is the same as Rice. However, the Norwegian midfielder, who has been one of Arteta’s main talismans since joining the Gunners a few years ago, also receives an estimated £3m in bonuses per year.
The 26-year-old was wonderful last season, registering 22 goal contributions for the north Londoners as they narrowly missed out on a first league title in 20 years.
He has failed to replicate those numbers so far during the current season, scoring just three goals. If Arteta aims to push Liverpool all the way, he needs Odegaard in better form.
13 Reece James (Chelsea) £250,000 per week
Reece James has suffered plenty of setbacks during his career so far, missing a total of 131 games for Chelsea since the 2019/20 season.
Despite this, the right-back earns £250,000 a week at the Blues, and when fit, the Englishman is an excellent player.
At the time of writing, he has played just 10 games under Enzo Maresca throughout 2024/25, but it appears as though he is putting his struggles behind him.
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ByBen Browning 12 John Stones (Man City) £250,000 per week
John Stones became one of Pep Guardiola’s first signings as manager of Manchester City, costing the club £47.5m. it is safe to say that this has been one of the best transfers in the club’s recent history.
Earning £250,000 a week, Stones has made over 250 appearances for the Etihad side over the previous eight and a half seasons. During that time, the centre-back has won six league titles, a Champions League crown and two FA Cups.
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ByBarney Lane 11 Mason Mount (Man Utd) £250,000 per week
Mason Mount joined Manchester United in the summer of 2023. Erik ten Hag paid £60m for the midfielder despite his contract expiring the following year, but he has yet to live up to this fee.
Not only did they overpay with regard to the fee, Mount is currently earning £250,000 a week, which ranks him as the 11th-highest-paid player in the Premier League when including bonuses of around £2.6m per year.
Considering the Englishman has scored a solitary goal for the Red Devils and played only 32 times since August 2023, it was yet another underwhelming piece of transfer business by the club.
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ByRoss Kilvington 10 Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal) £265,000 per week
When Arsenal signed Gabriel Jesus from Man City in 2022, it looked like a move alone which could turn the club into title challengers. An impressive tally of 95 goals and 45 assists in 236 games for City gave the Arsenal supporters an indication of exactly what the Brazilian would bring to the club.
He currently earns £265,000 a week, but over the previous two and a half years, injuries have hampered his progress, with the forward currently back on the treatment table after suffering an ACL injury in January.
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ByRoss Kilvington 9 Kai Havertz (Arsenal) £280,000 per week
Kai Havertz had scored 15 goals while recording five assists for the Gunners this season before he suffered a hamstring injury that ended his campaign prematurely.
The forward earns £280,000 a week at the club, but is thought to earn £2.6m per year in bonuses. In effect, the German is earning an extra £50k every week at the Emirates Stadium.
8 Omar Marmoush (Man City) £295,000 per week
Man City signed Omar Marmoush during the winter transfer window in a bid to improve their attack, especially as Guardiola was relying heavily on Erling Haaland.
The move has been an inspired one. The Egyptian recently scored a 14-minute hat-trick against Newcastle United, which powered the club to an impressive 4-0 win over the Magpies.
He earns £295,000 a week at the Etihad, and if he keeps up this sort of form, Marmoush will be a wonderful signing, even considering the immense finances involved.
7 Bernando Silva (Man City) £300,000 per week
Bernardo Silva has been a key member of Guardiola’s team ever since making the move to England in 2017.
Over the last eight years, the Portuguese midfielder has played nearly 400 times for the club, helping them win a host of league titles and the Champions League.
He is one of the highest-paid players at City, taking home £300,000 a week.
6 Jack Grealish (Man City) £300,000 per week
Yes, you read that correctly – Jack Grealish earns £300,000k a week at Man City. So far this season, the Englishman has scored just two goals, with one coming against Salford City in the FA Cup.
This sort of form hardly justifies earning such a staggering amount, and if he doesn’t improve his performances, Guardiola may look to move the player on before his value drops. The next few months could be the most important of his career.