Who are the 10 best players in the Premier League? (2024)

First things first. Let’s not even pretend this is a serious piece of journalism. It’s a game, a fun bit of distraction to force us all to argue with each other and berate everyone else’s bad opinions.

So, please, enjoy it for what it is and join the debate — but be nice. It’s just football, right?

On general talent, not just the form they’ve been in for the past few weeks.

And you have to put them in order, with No 1 the best.

It’s actually really hard.

Does Harry Kane deserve a place despite his nightmare of a season so far? Is Mohamed Salah plus nine Manchester City players a valid top 10? How do you compare apples and oranges?

We asked our writers and editors to have a go, then averaged out the answers to come up with this.

Outraged? Again, have a go yourself. We don’t mind being told we’re wrong.

For a degree of nuance, seven of our writers explain their picks here.

Enjoy, stay calm and get stuck in on social media with the #10bestplayers if you like.

1 Mohamed Salah
2 Bernardo Silva
3 Kevin De Bruyne
4 Sadio Mane
5 Trent Alexander-Arnold
6 Virgil van Dijk
7 Bruno Fernandes
8 Declan Rice
9 N’Golo Kante
10 Harry Kane

Obviously, I have already changed my mind about these choices since finishing the list and will have done again by the time you read this part. But the No 1 is a bit of a no-brainer, one of those great occasions when a previously brilliant player somehow takes things up a notch into the realm of the otherworldly. The only problem with that is Mohamed Salah’s light is so bright it sometimes blinds us to how good Sadio Mane is: in a team other than this Liverpool one, he’d be the standout superstar

Mohamed Salah is top of many of our writers’ lists (Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Elsewhere, Manchester City are so good that they often cope quite nicely without Kevin De Bruyne — partly because of Bernardo Silva — but his brilliance still dazzles when he comes back. Chelsea still miss no player more than they miss N’Golo Kante and Liverpool still miss no player more than Virgil van Dijk. Another big theme of this season has been people saying, after they watch the 2021-22 version of West Ham United for the first time, “I didn’t realise how good Declan Rice is. I do now.”

Michael Cox

1 Kevin De Bruyne
2 Bruno Fernandes
3 Mohamed Salah
4 Harry Kane
5 Cristiano Ronaldo
6 Bernardo Silva
7 Trent Alexander-Arnold
8 Sadio Mane
9 Ilkay Gundogan
10 Joao Cancelo

I’m looking for footballers who can dominate a game and shape its general feel, and also decide its result by providing match-winning contributions. That inevitably discriminates against defensive players, but that’s fine — attackers are football’s elite.

But the most pertinent thing from my list is that two full-backs are on it. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joao Cancelo can dictate the tempo and provide brilliant assists. I can’t think of many previous Premier League full-backs you could say that about.

Otherwise, I can’t see too many controversial picks.

Mohamed Salah has been the Premier League’s best player this season, but I’d just about favour Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes as they contribute more in deeper positions. Harry Kane is off-form but his record in recent years has been sensational. Cristiano Ronaldo scores enough to compensate for his lack of work off the ball. Bernardo Silva is quickly rising up this list with his displays this season, especially as he’s now scoring goals in addition to being able to spray the ball around. Sadio Mane is incredibly consistent and selfless and Ilkay Gundogan still goes under the radar, despite being the top scorer for the league champions last time out.

Jay Harris

1 Mohamed Salah
2 Kevin De Bruyne
3 Cristiano Ronaldo
4 Virgil van Dijk
5 N’Golo Kante
6 Sadio Mane
7 Son Heung-min
8 Thiago Silva
9 Joao Cancelo
10 Allan Saint-Maximin

Let’s cut to the chase. Nobody is interested in why I believe Mohamed Salah is the best player in the Premier League — that’s self-explanatory. Kevin De Bruyne is a technical marvel, Virgil van Dijk is indomitable and Joao Cancelo redefines what we expect from a full-back on a whim every week. If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you’re in a mild state of confusion over the final name on my list — Allan Saint-Maximin.

Allan Saint-Maximin’s dribbling gets him on Jay Harris’ list (Photo: Lindsey Parnaby – Pool/Getty Images)

Saint-Maximin is pure, unbridled chaos. All opposing teams swarm him with defenders, but he wriggles past and makes an utter mockery of them. You know that he’s going to take a player on one-v-one, but it’s impossible to work out what piece of skill he will use to teleport past them. It just feels inevitable that he will escape their desperate clutches, probably by popping the ball between their legs.

In a sport where there’s such an intense focus on structure and tactics, watching an individual nonchalantly flaunt those rules is enough for me to consider him one of the best in the division.

John Muller

1 Mohamed Salah
2 Joao Cancelo
3 Trent Alexander-Arnold
4 Alisson
5 Bruno Fernandes
6 Kevin De Bruyne
7 Virgil van Dijk
8 Harry Kane
9 Jack Grealish
10 Antonio Rudiger

Who changes their team’s whole style of play for the better? Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bruno Fernandes, Kevin De Bruyne and Harry Kane are no-brainers by that definition of “best”. Virgil van Dijk and Antonio Rudiger allow their teams to play aggressive football without worrying about counters. Joao Cancelo’s inside attacking role has made this version of Manchester City the most controlled since 2018-19.

But not everyone here was a popular pick.

Alisson deserves more love for organising Liverpool’s build-up while posting the best shot-stopping numbers in England over the last five seasons (Edouard Mendy had a hotter start for Chelsea but his mishaps against West Ham this month show why goals minus post-shot expected goals is a noisy stat).

Stylistically, Jack Grealish’s talent as a wide creator is the closest the Premier League has to Neymar or Lionel Messi, whose slow start after joining Paris Saint-Germain in the summer is a reminder that taking time to adjust to a new team doesn’t mean a player is bad. With Aston Villa, Grealish created more “possession value” per 90 minutes than any player in the league last season. It’s crazy that he only made two out of The Athletic’s 30 top 10 lists.

Amitai Winehouse

1 Mohamed Salah
2 Kevin De Bruyne
3 N’Golo Kante
4 Raphinha
5 Phil Foden
6 Antonio Rudiger
7 Reece James
8 Trent Alexander-Arnold
9 Edouard Mendy
10 Joao Cancelo

At this point, it’s impossible to look past Mohamed Salah, especially given Kevin De Bruyne — still a fair No 2 — has still not returned to his pre-injury heights. N’Golo Kante has been the best pure midfielder in the world for more than half a decade, so he gets in.

Kevin De Bruyne has yet to peak this season but his talent is clear (Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Raphinha is starring for a Leeds United team struggling towards the end of the table and Phil Foden could be a generational talent. Antonio Rudiger and Reece James have shone at both ends of the pitch and are part of a Chelsea side who are displaying a phenomenal understanding of total football. Edouard Mendy is probably unfortunate to be below Trent Alexander-Arnold, but that display against West Ham came at a bad time for this piece. Meanwhile, Joao Cancelo has become one of the best full-backs in the world and justifies his place in my top 10.