The Premier League is the most watched league in the world for good reason, and that status gives them enormous financial muscle to use to attract the best talent in the world.
With the rise of the Premier League’s financial situation, it is the salary of the football players who play here. A weekly salary of 200,000 pounds is not a very rare thing now. But let’s also take into account that the average wage in the UK is £31,285, so you can see how much our football heroes are worth, even though the sport has a long history of top players earning more than the average player. But at the moment the gap is a huge increase from the era when the Premier League was just beginning.
Some clubs have gone through a change of ownership and found themselves with Saudi or Russian investment, expanding their financial muscle and paying the sport’s best players ever more generous wages. The Mirror takes stock of the highest-paid stars since the first year of the Premier League, their earnings, and, most importantly, whether they have finally proved their worth on the back of that earnings:
1992-1993, 1993-1994 – John Barnes, £10,000 a week
The Liverpool legend made his way back in 1987, and in fact made history when he became the first British player to earn more than £10,000 a week.
Although he arrived at Anfield five years before the Premier League was established, he still holds those wages during such a huge transformation in English football.
Barnes’ salary alone is a big enough shock to the sport, especially considering the average annual salary of a Premier League first-year player is £77,000, while the Liverpool hero is paid £520,000 a year.
1994-1995 season – Cantona, £18,000 a week
In fact, Barnes and Chris Sutton remained at the top of the table with £10,000 a week for most of the season, until Cantona was rewarded for his efforts, which the Kings quickly snatched away This limelight.
The Frenchman was awarded £18,000-a-week by Manchester United despite the fact that he took a long break for kicking Crystal Palace fans.
1995-1996 season – Bergkamp, £25,000 a week
Bergkamp, affectionately known as the “Prince of Ice” by Gunners fans, joined Arsenal from Serie A giants Inter Milan, and he has a lot to prove. While he will silence any doubters in striking fashion on the pitch, he has certainly made a fortune from the north London side in doing so.
When Arsenal won every Premier League title, Bergkamp was there. The mercurial attacking player justified his £25,000-a-week salary with some of the most iconic goals in English football history, the most impressive of which is of course the “Borgkamp” turn around”.
1996-1997 season – Ravanelli, £42,000 a week
This is another player to join the Premier League from a top Italian side, with Middlesbrough paying £7m for Ravanelli from Juventus.
The Italian striker has only had one season at the Riverside, but it has been quite a season, with a staggering 31 goals in all 48 appearances proving he deserves £42,000 weekly salary.
Ravanelli’s goal helped the club reach the finals of both domestic cups, but sadly they lost the FA Cup to Chelsea and the League Cup to Leicester City.
1997-1998, 1998-1999 – Shearer, £34,000 a week
After Middlesbrough’s relegation, Ravanelli switched to Marseille, so Shearer, who has played for Newcastle since he was a boy, became the first top salary in the Premier League.
The England international striker is a goalscorer wherever he goes, and he remains the top scorer in Premier League history to this day.
Surprisingly, all of Shearer’s individual honours came outside of his two seasons as the Premier League’s highest-paid player, with his last Premier League Golden Boot the previous season, when Ravane. Leigh remains at the top of the salary list.
1999-2000, 2000-2001 season, Roy Keane, weekly salary of 52,000 pounds
The tough, no-nonsense United’s iconic midfielder isn’t known around the world for buying anything flashy, so his weekly wages never really garnered much attention.
Before 2000 he had passed the £50,000-a-week salary mark, which is enough to prove how high Keane’s status is at Manchester United. However, a few years later, he fell out with the Red Devils in an explosive manner. .
Keane’s pay rise comes on the heels of United’s historic treble, of which the Irishman was a big part.
2001-2002, 2002-2003 seasons, Roy Keane, weekly salary of 90,000 pounds
Keane renewed his contract with the club before the start of the 2001-2002 season, which ensured that he won the Premier League’s top salary for four consecutive seasons.
The Manchester United legend’s £38,000-a-week increase has taken him to £90,000 a week as the Red Devils want to continue dominating English football.
But that rosy vision didn’t quite materialize, as United ended the 2001-2002 season without a trophy for the first time in four years.
2003-2004 season, Crespo, weekly salary of 94,000 pounds
Everyone has witnessed Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea revolution this season, and Crespo is one of many stars the Russian has approved to sign during his time as Blues boss.
Although Chelsea didn’t win the league title because of Arsenal’s invincibility, they had the highest-paid player in the league thanks to the Argentine.
Crespo’s time at Stamford Bridge can be described as unremarkable, with three of his five seasons here on loan at AC Milan and Inter Milan, but his time at the west London side , did win the Premier League title in the 2005-2006 season.
2004-2005 season, Lampard, weekly salary of 98,000 pounds
When Mourinho’s reign at Chelsea began, Lampard became the highest-paid player in the Premier League, earning infinitely close to £100,000 a week.
The ex-England international is worth every penny earned as the Blues finally get their first Premier League title this season and have a reputation for being the best defensive player ever.
Lampard has contributed so much to the title-winning season that his away goal against Bolton effectively secured Chelsea’s title, so his salary is appropriate.
2005-2006 season, Gerrard, weekly salary of 100,000 pounds
After the Istanbul miracle, Gerrard returned to Merseyside to sign a new contract after what could be the greatest final in Champions League history, becoming the first Premier League star to earn £100,000 a week.
There were many at the time that Liverpool were being coerced in contract negotiations because Chelsea made no secret of their desire for him and wanted to bring Gerrard to Stamford Bridge to play him in Mourinho’s tactical system. important role.
His loyalty ultimately earned him this record wage return, although the midfielder was indeed drawn to the bright lights of Stamford Bridge at the time.
2006-2007 season, Shevchenko, weekly salary of 118,000 pounds
The star nicknamed the Ukrainian nuclear warhead was poached by Chelsea with a high salary from AC Milan, but he has not been able to repay the Blues’ trust in him.
Shevchenko played 30 games in his first season and only scored 4 goals. Almost everyone would not think that such a return on investment ratio was normal, because Chelsea paid him the highest amount ever for an English club. transfer fee.
He only spent two seasons at Stamford Bridge before being loaned back to the San Siro, and again spent the entire 2008-2009 season at Milan.
2007-2008 season, Terry, weekly salary of 135,000 pounds
Terry continues Chelsea’s dominance since the Abramovich era, and the Russian’s wealth has provided ample funding for the club’s success.
The centre-back earns £135,000 a week as he proves he is the best player in this position in the league.
The ex-England captain is still adored by Chelsea fans to this day, although his costly error in the Champions League final remains in the memory.
2008-2009 season, Robinho, weekly salary of 160,000 pounds
The Brazilian’s arrival in Manchester’s blue zone marks a power shift as City try to prove they are the most successful team in the city.
While it took them another four years to win the Premier League title, Robinho’s arrival heralded a new dawn for the club as they proved they now have enough wealth to attract some of the sport’s biggest players great player.
The former Real Madrid player has completed a mediocre season with just four goals in 31 appearances.
2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013 seasons, Tevez, weekly salary of 250,000 pounds
When Manchester City agreed to pay Tevez an eye-watering £250,000-a-week, they completely changed the Premier League wage landscape.
The Argentine initially proved he was worthy of the salary with some brilliant performances, but he ended up breaking out with then-Mancini manager Mancini and refused to come off the bench in the Champions League.
Tevez returned to South America to play golf for a few months after being temporarily expelled from the first team at the Etihad Stadium, a player who also shaped the football world‘s famous “homesickness” meme.
2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017 seasons, Rooney, weekly salary of 300,000 pounds
At the end of the 2013-2014 season, Yaya Toure had actually outpaid his Manchester City team-mate Tevez, but Rooney won himself a £300,000-a-week contract before the end of the season.
The deal took some twists and turns during which Wayne Rooney actually threatened to leave United because of his disappointment at Old Trafford in the transfer market.
Then he re-signed, and that contract kept him here for another five-and-a-half years, during which United didn’t win the next Premier League trophy, but they got an FA Cup, a League Cup, and There is a Europa League winner.
2017-2018, 2018-2019 season, Sanchez, weekly salary of 350,000 pounds
The Chilean, who joined Manchester United from Arsenal midway through the 2017-18 season, has reportedly told his agent that he could return to the Gunners after a training session at Carrington if there was any way.
That perhaps sums up Sanchez’s time at Old Trafford well, where, despite enjoying the best earnings of his career, he simply couldn’t use his performances to justify the contract.
Sanchez inherited the club’s most iconic No. 7 shirt, but he only scored three Premier League goals throughout his time at Manchester United.
2019-2020 season, De Gea, weekly salary of 375,000 pounds
Another United talent, along with Sanchez, mirrors the embarrassment United have suffered in recent years, briefly becoming the Premier League’s highest-paid player in the worst years of his career.
The Spanish goalkeeper signed a huge contract with Manchester United during Solskjaer’s tenure, but it wasn’t until this season under interim manager Rangnick that De Gea started to recover and was close to his best.
It is also likely to be De Gea’s last contract at Old Trafford, as reports are mounting that the club are seriously considering a potential replacement for De Gea.
2020-2021 season, Bell, weekly salary of 560,000 pounds
This figure is surprising, but even more surprising is that a large part of this salary is paid by Real Madrid, the player’s rental company.
When the Welshman joined former Spurs on a season-long loan deal from Real Madrid, he became the highest-paid player in the Premier League.
According to most media reports, Real Madrid actually pays most of this huge salary, while Tottenham only needs to pay 40% of the salary.
Despite this, Bale’s return has not been very exciting, and now he is back at the Bernabeu.
2021-2022 season, Cristiano Ronaldo, weekly salary of 480,000 pounds
The Old Trafford man made a triumphant return last summer when the transfer window was about to close, with Manchester United signing him for around £20m.
However, there is a “trap” in this, because Manchester United signed him to avoid the high transfer fee, so they made up for Ronaldo in salary, and the Portuguese became the highest paid player in the entire Premier League.
For now, he has shown he can still do well in England’s top flight, with the 37-year-old sitting comfortably at the top of United’s top scorer list.
But his return has sparked a heated tactical debate, with opinions on whether his presence does more harm than good.
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