Playing in the Premier League is the pinnacle of any footballer’s career. Indeed, England’s top flight is, without doubt, the most competitive league in the world and certainly the most watched domestic football tournament on the planet. Needless to say, once a player signs a Premier League contract, they automatically become one of the wealthiest athletes in professional sport. With this in mind, who is the Premier League’s highest earners?

Cristiano Ronaldo

If Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was your first guess then you would be right. However, it should be said that his wages don’t quite match where his team, Manchester United, is as a club at the moment. The latest betting UK markets for the Premier League price the Red Devils at long odds of 22/1 to win the title.

In fact, a change in fortunes seems unlikely with the Paddy Power news and football tips predicting that Manchester United’s wait for top-flight silverware will go on. Still, you could say that it’s all the same for Ronaldo, who will continue to win regardless of whether the Red Devils claim another victory whilst the 37-year-old is on the club’s books.

Essentially, that’s down to Ronaldo’s weekly wage of £510,000, which certainly goes a long way in softening the blow of any defeat, and comfortably makes him the highest earner in the league.

Kevin De Bruyne

In second place is Belgian midfielder maestro, Kevin De Bruyne, who takes home £400,000 a week. Although, unlike Ronaldo’s indifferent spell at Old Trafford, which hasn’t been the most convincing case as far as value for money goes, De Bruyne has been worth every penny of his eye-watering take-home having driven Manchester City on to become the most dominant team in the league since he arrived at the club in 2015.

Incredibly, De Bruyne has won four Premier League trophies during his time at the Etihad Stadium as well as five League Cups and one FA Cup. It has been a trophy-laden spell for the 31-year-old in the east of Manchester and he will undoubtedly go down as one of the all-time greats in the Premier League when he retires.

David de Gea

Third on the list is another Manchester United player, David de Gea, who nets £375,000 a week for keeping the ball out of the Red Devils’ goal. The Spaniard is one of the best goalkeepers in the league and has been busier than most of his United predecessors were over the last three decades. That is proved quite emphatically when you look at which goalkeepers made the most saves during the 2021/2022 season and see De Gea’s name in third position having made 127 saves over the course of that campaign.

Tellingly, that wasn’t enough to stop the Red Devils from finishing in the sixth position and in doing so, only managing qualification to the somewhat underwhelming Europa League competition. What this essentially proves, however, is that without their Spanish shot-stopper, United would have fared a lot worse in the league.

In most cases, it’s clear to see that the seemingly exorbitant salaries are backed up by standout performances in the world’s most demanding league. There is, of course, the odd exception but most of the best-paid players justify their contracts.

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