Football wages at the top of the English league have compressed so tightly that a hypothetical XI of the highest earners for 2026-27 has no room for Phil Foden, Kai Havertz, Alexander Isak or Omar Marmoush. Each of them takes home somewhere between £280,000 and £295,000 a week.
The XI, put together by PlanetFootball on 10 August 2026, lines up in a 4-3-3 and puts Erling Haaland’s £525,000 wage at the top of the sheet.
The most eye-catching name in the side is Jack Grealish. The winger joined Everton on loan from Manchester City a year ago, but his £300,000-a-week City wage still keeps him inside the elite pay bracket while he plays for another club altogether.
The £3.37m XI in full
Position by position, the top-earning Premier League XI for 2026-27:
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GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City) – £265,000
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RB: Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) – £250,000
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CB: William Saliba (Arsenal) – £250,000
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CB: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – £350,000
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LB: Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City) – £250,000
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CM: Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool) – £280,000
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CM: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) – £300,000
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CAM: Jack Grealish (Manchester City) – £300,000
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RW: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) – £300,000
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LW: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) – £300,000
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ST: Erling Haaland (Manchester City) – £525,000
Add the wages up and the XI would collect £3.37m in a single week. Haaland alone earns almost double what the league’s best-paid goalkeeper is on.
Donnarumma reshapes the goalkeeper market
Between the posts sits the most expensive keeper of the season by a distance. Gianluigi Donnarumma signed a five-year deal at Manchester City in September 2025 after the champions paid Paris Saint-Germain £26m for the Italy international.
His £265,000-a-week package makes him the highest-paid goalkeeper in the Premier League. Per PlanetFootball’s numbers, Alisson at Liverpool, the runner-up in the goalkeeping pay table, trails him by £115,000 a week.
£280,000 no longer guarantees a place
The compression is easiest to see in the names that miss out. Foden and Havertz both take home around £280,000 a week according to a parallel top-earners breakdown published by GiveMeSport on 8 August 2026. Marmoush is closer to £295,000, and Isak also sits at £280,000.
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None of the four make the XI, even though Ryan Gravenberch does, on that same £280,000-a-week wage. The £280,000-to-£300,000 band at the top of the Premier League is now so tightly packed that position and squad depth, rather than pay, decide who gets in.
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