Highest paid player from each of the big six teams in the Premier League (2021)

The Premier League is the most popular top division football competition in the world. The best English top-flight teams like Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have fans all over the world.

Premier League clubs are some of the richest in the world

This incredible appeal and reach translates into great revenue generating opportunities on a global scale. As a result, Premier League clubs are some of the richest sporting entities in the world. This in turn helps the club make huge investments in order to improve their squad.

To bring in the best players in the world, a team not only has to cough up a ridiculous amount of money as transfer fee, they also need to be able to shoulder the player's exorbitant wages. Football players are some of the highest paid athletes in the world.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the highest paid players from each of the big six sides in the Premier League.

#6 Tottenham Hotspur - Harry Kane (£200,000 per week)

Everton v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League

Harry Kane has been a talismanic presence for Tottenham Hotspur over the last several years. The Englishman has established himself as one of the best strikers in the game. He is a prolific scorer with a well-rounded skillset and his playmaking skills are pretty extraordinary as well.

In the 2020-21 season, Kane scored 23 goals and provided 14 assists in 35 Premier League appearances. He won the Golden Boot and the Playmaker's Award for topping the goalscoring and assist charts respectively.

Kane is Tottenham Hotspur's most prized asset and their highest paid player. The 28-year-old extended his contract by six years in 2018 and earns £200,000 per week. Kane reportedly wanted to leave the club this past summer but was forced to stay put.

He has got off to a poor start to the 2021-22 season, having scored just a single goal in one goal in 10 Premier League appearances so far.

#5 Liverpool - Virgil van Dijk (£220,000 per week)

Manchester United v Liverpool - Premier League

Securing the services of Dutch centre-back Virgil van Dijk has been one of the best transfer decisions made by Liverpool in recent times. The former Southampton man immediately transformed Liverpool into one of the most formidable defensive units in Europe.

Van Dijk was a vital cog in Jurgen Klopp's system as Liverpool won the Champions League title and the Premier League title in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons respectively.

He put pen to paper on a new deal at the start of the 2021-22 Premier League season and is now tied to the club until 2025. He earns £220,000 per week in wages.

#4 Arsenal - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£250,000 per week)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang proved to be an inspired signing for Arsenal in his first two seasons at the club. He finished the 2018-19 Premier League as the joint-top scorer in the league with 22 goals in 36 appearances. The Gabonese international scored 22 goals in the 2019-20 Premier League season as well.

His levels have dropped considerably since then and is nowhere near as prolific as he used to be. Aubameyang put pen to paper on a new deal in 2020 which sees him earn £250,000 per week. His current deal expires in the summer of 2023 and it will be interesting to see if he will be handed a new contract at the club.

#3 Chelsea - Romelu Lukaku (£325,000 per week)

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea - Premier League

Chelsea signed their former player Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan this summer. Thomas Tuchel's side, despite winning the Champions League last term, lacked a clinical striker as Timo Werner seemed unable to sort out his goalscoring woes.

They signed Lukaku for a club record £103.5 million. The Belgian international was Inter Milan's most important player as they won the Serie a title after 11 years in the 2020-21 season. He scored 30 goals and provided 10 assists in 44 appearances across all competitions for the Nerazzurri last term.

Chelsea were also ready to make Lukaku their highest paid player. He has a five-year contract with the Blues and currently earns £325,000 per week in wages.

#2 Manchester City - Kevin De Bruyne (£400,000 per week)

Manchester City v Club Brugge KV: Group A - UEFA Champions League

Kevin De Bruyne has arguably been the best midfielder in Europe's top five leagues over the last five seasons or so. The Belgian international is one of the most technically adept footballers we've seen in recent times.

De Bruyne is a joy to play with for strikers as he can pick them out from afar with inch-perfect through balls. He is also a wonderful crosser of the ball, possesses an incredible shooting range and is very effective from set-pieces.

De Bruyne has now won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award for two years running. He won it in the 2019-20 and the 2020-21 seasons. He is Manchester City's midfield lynchpin and they gave him a new contract in June earlier this year.

The 30-year-old earns £400,000 per week and is tied to the club until the summer of 2025.

#1 Manchester United - Cristiano Ronaldo (£480,000 per week)

Atalanta v Manchester United: Group F - UEFA Champions League

Despite their struggles on the pitch, Manchester United continue to be one of the most successful clubs away from it. The Red Devils have fans all over the world and are one of the most widely followed sporting entities on the planet.

They also have one of the highest wage bills in all of Europe. The Red Devils are known for spending heavily on wages. They welcomed their former player and one of the greatest footballers of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo, back to the club this summer.

Manchester United signed him from Juventus for £13.5 million on a two-year deal. Ronaldo earns close to half a million in wages on a weekly basis. He pockets £480,000 per week but has brought some vital goals with him as well.

In 13 games across all competitions this season, Ronaldo has scored nine goals and provided an assist.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

Know More

Edited by Shambhu Ajith