Highest Premier League wages: Biggest EPL salaries, earners as Haaland leads highest paid players

Erling Haaland sits alone at the summit of English football’s pay pyramid, pocketing a base wage of £525,000 every week at Manchester City—more than £100,000 clear of any rival in the division. The 25-year-old Norwegian, already a multiple Golden Boot winner since arriving in the Premier League, has turned goal-scoring dominance into financial supremacy.

Figures compiled by Capology and current through 23 February 2026 show that no other player cracks the half-million mark. Behind Haaland, the chasing pack is led by a constellation of stars spread across the traditional “Big Five” clubs, with Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea each stretching their payrolls to keep global talent onshore.

Arsenal’s new deal for Bukayo Saka pushed the England forward into headline territory, yet the widely circulated “£300,000-plus” weekly number is inflated by an atypically large signing bonus. Strip away that one-off payment and Saka’s base salary settles at £195,000 per week—seventh-best inside his own dressing room. Kai Havertz remains the Gunners’ top basic earner on £280,000 weekly, while Saka’s performance-related bonuses add an extra £5.2 million per season, the largest incentive package at the club by more than £1.5 million.

At organisational level, City’s eminence is equally stark. The champions’ weekly wage commitment exceeds the next-best spenders, Arsenal, by more than £1 million, underlining the scale of investment required to sustain a squad capable of fighting on four fronts. Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea follow in third, fourth and fifth respectively, forming a financially elite quintet that outstrips the rest of the league.

Breaking into that upper bracket are Aston Villa, who sit sixth in the salary table, and Fulham, who occupy 10th despite lacking regular European revenue. Nottingham Forest present the most intriguing case: the ninth-highest pay roll in the Premier League is currently battling relegation, a reminder that lavish wages do not automatically translate to points on the board.

At the opposite extreme, Brentford prop up the wage list. The Bees have offset modest spending with astute recruitment and the departure of several high-earning veterans, proving that shrewd operations can offset financial disadvantage.

With clubs mindful of profit-and-sustainance regulations, every extra zero on a payslip is scrutinised like never before. Yet as long as the Premier League remains the most lucrative domestic competition on earth, the race to secure—and remunerate—elite talent will only intensify.