The Premier League is now filled with players who earn astronomical salaries. Year upon year, wages for top players seem to skyrocket. By how much? We’ve identified the highest-paid Premier League player for every season since 1992 to find out.
Not many teams competing in the English top-flight are operating on a shoestring budget. Rewarding individuals with lucrative earnings helps attract Europe’s finest to ply their trades in the Premier League.
Even fairly run-of-the-mill players are now pocketing upwards of £100,000 per week. Figures have shot up since the Premier League’s formation in 1992. The numbers are in a different stratosphere from what the average person earns in their working lives.
If recent reports are to be believed, the anticipated arrival of Erling Haaland at Manchester City ahead of the 2022-23 season could see already staggering numbers reach new heights once more – the 21-year-old is expected to receive £500,000 per week.
We’ve taken a look at the players who have raked in the most cash in every Premier League season to date and assessed whether they justified their tag as the highest-paid footballer in the division. All the figures quoted are per week.
John Barnes – £10,000 – 1992-94
It’s believed that the former England international was earning £10,000 per week from the moment he joined Liverpool from Watford in 1987 – five years before the Premier League was formed.
Remembered as one of the Reds’ greatest-ever players for his goalscoring and assist-making prowess during a 10-year Anfield stay, it’s fair to say Barnes was worthy of his hefty salary.
He won five major trophies at the Premier League titans in addition to a Player of the Year award in 1988.
READ: John Barnes: I was p*ssed recording World In Motion and Anfield Rap
Eric Cantona – £18,000 – 1994-95
At the start of the 1994-95 season, Barnes remained the highest-earning player in the Premier League, but that soon changed later that term when…