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The Premier League is the richest football league in the world and arguably the most competitive one as well.
The competitive nature of the Premier League, especially in recent years, can be gauged from the fact that the English top flight has been won by five different teams in the last decade. Moreover, no club has done a Premier League three-peat since Manchester United in 2009.
Some of the best players in the game ply their trade in the Premier League. In fact, six of the ten most valuable active players in the game are from the English top flight. So without further ado, let's take a look at the ten most valuable players in the Premier League at the moment:
#10 Phil Foden (Manchester City) - €80 million
Phil Foden is one of the most promising young players in the game at the moment. Since debuting in the Premier League in 2017, the 21-year-old has improved by leaps and bounds under the tutelage of Manchester City's legendary manager Pep Guardiola.
Foden, a three-time Premier League winner, has registered 15 goals and eight assists in 69 games in the competition, with the player enjoying a career-best nine-goal, five-assist season in City's triumphant campaign last season.
Foden, who also scored thrice and assisted as many in City's run to their maiden Champions League final, has received high praise from Guardiola. The Spanish tactician has called Foden the most talented player he has seen, saying:
"He (Phil Foden) is the most talented player I have ever seen. The best is Messi, first. (But), I didn't meet Leo Messi at 17 when I met Phil (Foden), and (at) that age, I've never seen a player with (Foden's) potential. But you have to see it on the pitch and on the biggest stages."
#9 Sadio Mane (Liverpool) - €85 million
Sadio Mane has seen his value plummet after an underwhelming 2020-21 Premier League campaign with holders Liverpool. Nevertheless, he remains one of the best players in the English top flight.
One-third of Liverpool's attacking triumvirate of Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, the Senegalese has scored at least ten goals in each of his seven Premier League campaigns, five of them coming with the Reds.
Mane enjoyed a breakthrough Premier League campaign in 2018-19, scoring 22 goals before his 18-goal campaign the following year helped Liverpool win their first English top-flight title in three decades. However, much like the rest of his team, Mane's goal count dropped by eight as Liverpool endured an abysmal title defense in the 2020/21 season.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright said he was 'bemused' at the criticism coped by Mane for his performances in the 2020-21 Premier League:
‘Mane, for major parts of the season last season and the season before, where they only missed out [on the league] by one point. What that man has done for that club. For him to get the stick he was getting, I don’t believe it. I think that must be bots. There’s no way Liverpool fans would be having a go at that man."
#8 Heung-Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur) - €85 million
Heung-Min Son enjoyed a career-best campaign in the Premier League last season, scoring 17 goals and providing ten assists. But his exploits weren't enough, as Tottenham Hotspur only qualified for the UEFA Conference League on the last day of the season.
The 29-year-old formed a devastating partnership with Harry Kane upfront, creating a whopping 32 chances for each other, a record in a Premier League season.
Son has scored at least ten goals in all but one of his six Premier League seasons since arriving from the Bundesliga in the summer of 2015.
#7 Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) - €85 million
Marcus Rashford has been one of the best players for Manchester United in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. The 23-year-old has racked up 88 goals and 57 assists in over 250 games in all competitions for United, with 55 of these strikes coming in the Premier League.
After enduring an underwhelming campaign in the 2020-21 season, where he registered 11 goals and as many assists in the Premier League, Rashford made news for missing his spot-kick in England's Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.
Rashford came on as a late substitute in the game but hit the post with his penalty that would have given England a 3-1 lead in the shootout. Nevertheless, the winger remains one of the best young players in the Premier League and will hope to redeem himself in the 2021-22 edition of the competition.
#6 Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) - €90 million
Bruno Fernandes has been like a whiff of fresh air since arriving in the Premier League eighteen months ago.
After landing on English shores in January last year, Fernandes registered eight goals and seven assists in just 14 Premier League games to propel Manchester United to an unlikely third-place finish. To prove his first-season exploits were no fluke, the 26-year-old produced 29 goal contributions (18 goals, 11 assists) as United finished second in the Premier League last season.
Fernandes may have endured a lean outing for Portugal at Euro 2020, failing to score or assist in four games. But he remains one of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's prized possessions as Manchester United strive to win their first Premier League title in nine years next season.
#5 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) - €90 million
Raheem Sterling has been one of the best players for Manchester City in the last few seasons. Despite an underwhelming 2020-21 campaign by his staggering standards, Sterling has played at least 30 games in each of his last eight Premier League seasons.
The 26-year-old has scored nearly 100 goals and registered 73 assists in the Premier League, with most of these goals (72) and assists (49) coming for City. Sterling was especially clutch in City's back-to-back Premier League wins in 2017-18 and 2018-19, registering double-digit goals and assists tallies in both campaigns.
Despite his indifferent club form of late, Sterling was one of England's standout performers in their run to the Euro 2020 final, scoring thrice and providing an assist in seven games.
Despite being linked with an exit from City this summer, Sterling is likely to stay put at the club and continue his development under Pep Guardiola.
#4 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - €100 million
One of the best midfielders in the game at the moment, Kevin De Bruyne is the crown jewel in Manchester City's star-studded team.
The midfield metronome, one of the first names in the City XI, has scored 62 goals and assisted 107 in over 250 games for City. De Bruyne has tallied double-digit assist tallies in four of his six Premier League campaigns.
Despite coming off an injury-plagued campaign, De Bruyne excelled for Belgium at Euro 2020, scoring once and assisting twice in the Red Devils' run to the quarterfinals.
#3 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - €100 million
Mohamed Salah was one of the few bright spots in Liverpool's dismal 2020-21 Premier League campaign, scoring 22 goals and registering five assists to help the Reds qualify for the Champions League.
The 29-year-old made a dazzling entry into the Premier League in 2017-18, scoring 32 goals to announce himself as a player to be reckoned with. In his next three campaigns in the competition, Salah has reinforced that perception.
He has scored at least 19 goals in each of his four Premier League seasons and is now only five short of becoming one of the quickest players to register 100 goals in the competition.
Despite being linked with an exit from Liverpool this summer, Salah is likely to remain at Anfield with the 2019-20 Premier League champions.
#2 Jadon Sancho (Manchester United) - €100 million
Jadon Sancho is the only player on this list yet to appear in the Premier League. Sancho has arrived at Manchester United after an impressive four-season stint with Bundesliga heavyweight Borussia Dortmund.
The 21-year-old English winger may not have scored as many goals as he would have liked in the Bundesliga last season, but he registered his third consecutive double-digit assist tally in the competition.
Sancho, who has been on Manchester United's radar for well over a year, comes in with big expectations. He will look to hit the ground running in the Premier League after making news for all the wrong reasons at Euro 2020 - missing his penalty in England's shootout defeat to Italy in the final.
#1 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) - €120 million
Harry Kane is one of the best strikers in the game at the moment. The 27-year-old has excelled for both club and country, coming off a four-goal campaign in England's run to the Euro 2020 final.
Kane had a memorable 2020-21 Premier League campaign, topping both the goalscoring and assists charts with 23 goals and 14 assists. In the process, the Englishman emulated Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer as the only players to win three Premier League Golden Boot awards.
It is a shame that despite Kane's exploits, Spurs failed to qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League. With Kane intent on moving to a club where he could win a major trophy this summer, it remains to be seen where the talismanic centre-forward lands up before the start of the next season.
