The Premier League is the biggest league in world football, and the gap between the English top flight and all the other top five European leagues is only increasing in terms of both fan support and financial power.
Nowadays, the biggest names are no longer in the Italian league, and while the biggest attacking superstars are still in La Liga, the Premier League is closing the gap on them, too, especially when looking outside Real Madrid and Barcelona.
While talent is becoming more concentrated in the Big Six – which is quietly becoming more of a Big Five – of the Premier League these days, too, the overall star power in England still feels like it is growing overall.
Instead of ranking the 10 best players in the Premier League solely based on numbers or on who is the best actual player, let’s rank the top 10 Premier League players based on which players have the most star power and name recognition.
These are the 10 biggest movers and shakers in English football, ranked from 10th to 1st.
10. Arsenal CB William Saliba
Most center backs, even the great ones, aren’t considered household names in world football unless they have accrued a certain number of years at service at the top level and won many major titles over.
William Saliba is the exception to the rule. He is still young at the age of 24 and has yet to win either the Premier League or the Champions League for Arsenal. But he has come close to both titles, and though he is young, he has been playing at an elite level for several years now, including before he arrived in North London.
Each year, Saliba impresses Premier League observers with his athleticism and football IQ. He is one of the best passers of the football at the center back position in the English top flight, and perhaps the best pure defender at recovering with his closing speed.
As Arsenal continue their ascent and finally start picking up silverware, Saliba will begin his climb up the rankings and will eventually displace Virgil van Dijk as the biggest name among center backs in the Premier League.
9. Arsenal DM Declan Rice
When Arsenal spent a record 105 million pounds to sign Declan Rice over rivals Manchester City in 2023, few could have seen the former West Ham star becoming THIS good for the Gunners.
I mean, Arsenal definitely had high expectations that Rice would transform their team and chances in the Champions League, but he has become so adept in that holding midfield role that he is now a legitimate Ballon d’Or contender as their No. 6.
Arsenal are stronger than ever in the 2025/26 season, and while Manchester City have ensured that the Premier League remains a tense contest, Rice is now the best player on the best team in England, which means he has, at this point, exceeded the expectations of his massive price tag.
When Rice scored two brilliant goals to sink Real Madrid in the Champions League knockout stages, that was the moment when everyone around the world learned that Rice is a serious baller. He is 100 percent one of the biggest stars in the league today.
8. Manchester City AM Phil Foden
The Premier League Player of the Season in the same 2023/24 season that Rodri soaked up the Ballon d’Or, Phil Foden was perhaps hurt in his pursuit of the most prestigious individual honor in world football by disappointing for England in the European Championships.
And Foden was himself disappointing again throughout the 2024/25 season for a Man City side that fell apart and came dangerously close to missing out on Champions League football.
In 2025/26, Foden has rebounded and is still a key player for a Man City side that is now beyond stacked in the attack after adding Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, and now Antoine Semenyo in the last two transfer windows.
The 25-year-old has scored 7 goals with 3 assists in the league this season, averaging 1.8 key passes per game. He is even contributing well to the defensive cause, and as much as the narrative has been about Foden needing to find a specific position to shine in, his versatility in playing virtually anywhere on the wings or midfield is a huge asset to Man City.
Foden is easily one of the most recognizable names in the Premier League – and a movable chess piece for Pep Guardiola – who has been central to this organization’s success over the years. In addition, his superior technical quality lends itself to some gorgeous highlights.
7. Arsenal RW Bukayo Saka
Even as Arsenal mount their strongest Premier League title push under Mikel Arteta to date, Bukayo Saka’s stock is honestly falling. Based on where he was in the preceding seasons, Saka should be a Ballon d’Or contender right now and the biggest star in the league, supplanting Mohamed Salah as the ace right winger.
Instead, while Saka is still the main star for Arsenal, he only just barely edges out Declan Rice and William Saliba at this point and is trending downward, with even Noni Madueke and the other Arsenal forwards outshining him in many games this season.
Saka, though, has still played well overall, even if his seven goal contributions in 22 appearances are not superstar level. He remains one of the best wide creators in European fooball with two key passes per game and progresess the ball as well as any winger in the Premier League, working hard on both ends of the pitch.
No matter what, even when he is out of form, you can always count on him to put in a good shift and work hard for the team, which is a different mentality from most star players. You’d like to see Saka be more ruthless and take that step towards becoming elite, but maybe it’s better for him to be a humble non-superstar.
6. Manchester City DM Rodri
The 2023/24 Ballon d’Or winner, Rodri won the award for his excellence with Premier League champions Manchester City and European Champions Spain, and while there were many people clamoring for a Real Madrid superstar to win it after their big double triumph, nobody was singing that tune a year later.
That’s because Rodri’s ACL tear showed just how badly Man City were reliant on the No. 6 to lead the way, as Man City were utterly despondent and nowhere near Premier League or Champions League contention without the best defensive midfielder in the business.
For that reason, Rodri is still one of the biggest stars in the entire Premier League, even as he has yet to fully bounce back from the serious knee injury. Still, a Rodri at less than truly 100 percent is still an asset and one of the best one-on-one defenders in the midfield, as well as elite in possession and well above the league average at creating chances from deep.
5. Liverpool CB Virgil van Dijk
A serial winner, Liverpool superstar center back Virgil van Dijk is the unquestioned leader of one of the best team sin English football and, at 34 years old, still one of the elite center backs in world football.
Van Dijk has the best resume of any top center back since Sergio Ramos, and the best way to see his value to Liverpool is to notice how effortlessly he keeps everything together even when things seem to be falling apart.
In the midst of another strong season at the back for the Reds, Van Dijk has contributed to seven goals between the Premier League and Champions League this season, offering accurate passing as well to increase his profile as a center back who does more than just defend at a high level.
But obviously, center backs are paid and looked upon as examples by their teammates for their defensive work, and Van Dijk is a lockdown defender whose man-marking is as good as anybody else’s in England. He has been dribbled past just once in the Champions League and never in the Premier League this season, cleaning up messes and barely having to make interventions because his reading of the game is so sharp.
4. Manchester United AM Bruno Fernandes
There are always going to be rumors linking Bruno Fernandes to the Saudi Pro League, precisely because it is the stated mission of the league to sign the biggest stars in European football as a means of legitimizing their competition, with eventual aims of competing in the UEFA Champions League.
Alongside Mohamed Salah, Fernandes is going to be one of the chief targets of Saudi Arabia this summer transfer window, as these are the two biggest-named veteran players in the Premier League.
Even at Manchester United’s worst, Fernandes was still a standout player and the best in his role in the Premier League purely at creating chances, especially after Kevin De Bruyne’s decline and departure to Serie A.
Last season, Fernandes scored 8 goals and recorded 10 assists for the second time in his Man United career, averaging 2.5 key passes per game for a fifth consecutive season. The fact that he produced those numbers on a team as bad as Man United were last season speaks volumes to his quality.
Fernandes could still create at a high level even when thrust in an unideal role as a deep-lying playmaker by Ruben Amorim. Now that Amorim is gone, Manchester United look far more functional and are playing to their actual talent level under Michael Carrick, with Fernandes pulling the strings beautifully.
With 6 goals, a whopping 12 assists to already match his Premier League career high, and a bonkers 3.4 key passes per game, Fernandes should be getting a lot more Premier League Player of the Season and Ballon d’Or love than he is currently getting.
3. Chelsea AM Cole Palmer
Nobody is buying the Cole Palmer transfer rumors, as Chelsea rightfully have zero interest in parting ways with the brightest young English star currently playing in the Premier League and a player who led them back to the Champions League last season while shining brighter than any other player in world football in their Club World Cup triumph.
Injuries are a real blight on Palmer’s resume, and they have reared their ugly head to taper down his production in 2025/26. But when he is healthy and playing alongside new Brazilian attacking signings Estevao Willian and Joao Pedro, Palmer reminds everyone why he is a truly special talent tabbed as a future Ballon d’OR candidate.
Palmer scored an insane 22 goals and 11 assists as a non-striker in his first season at Stamford Bridge, and then he followed that up with 15 goals and 8 assists while doing more dirty work to help the team win games.
Even in a down year this season, Palmer has still been one of the best goal threats from midfield with eight successful strikes in just 13 starts. What Palmer did in his first season at Chelsea is a sign of all that he is capable of, and at just 23 years old, he is still several years away from his true prime.
2. Liverpool RW Mohamed Salah
The subject of controversy at the beginning of the season, Mohamed Salah’s situation is quite simple. Out of all the incredible players who have suited up for Liverpool, Salah is, statistically speaking, the best of them all and the best player in the most successful period of Liverpool football.
So naturally after winning the Premier League and being the best player in the league last season, Salah wants to continue to be important. He has clearly lost more than just a step as a dribbler, but his mind, finishing, and, especially, creativity are better than ever.
Salah only has 4 goals and 6 assists this season in 18 appearances, but his 2.3 key passes per game are still among the best marks in the league, even as his dribbling metrics are abysmal.
If this list were about the best players in the league today, Salah would not be on it, to put it bluntly. However, Salah is still the most globally recognizable name in the Premier League, and as long as he is still producing positively for Liverpool and starting games, he is one of the league’s two biggest stars.
1. Manchester City ST Erling Haaland
The fact that Mohamed Salah is not No. 1 on this list despite his widespread reach and years and years of being an icon in the Premier League is a testament to the sheer dominance of Erling Haaland up top.
He is unmistakably the best player in the Premier League today, and at this point, I doubt anyone would seriously entertain an alternative argument – not even Liverpool, Arsenal, or Manchester United fans.
Haaland has a sort of lovable arrogance about him like a Scandinavian superstar striker of the past in Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But Haaland is a little more down-to-earth and even more prolific in front of goal.
Owner of the most Premier League goals in a season, Haaland immediately lifted Manchester City up to treble territory, and while the team around him has transitioned, it appears Pep Guardiola and his millions have finally found a new winning formula around the Norwegian ace.
Haaland has never scored fewer than 22 goals in a single league season, which was last year when Man City fell apart, and he has already matched that total in 2025/26. The 25-year-old has doubled his assists total thus far with six in league play, because with superior wing talent, Haaland is reminding everyone that he’s always been an adept creator despite being a pure-blooded, colder-than-Yakutsk goal-scorer.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.