Ranked by Jamie Carragher: Top 10 Premier League midfielders

April 14, 2026 Aksel Kryhlmand

Jamie Carragher’s top 10 is not just a nostalgia list. It is built around the qualities he kept returning to when explaining his picks: passing quality, control of games, versatility across midfield roles, influence in the biggest moments, and the ability to dominate at the highest level. He was asked to choose from 24 legendary Premier League midfielders, and his final order shows that he values complete, game-shaping players above pure reputation alone. The ranking below is based on GiveMeSport’s report of Carragher’s Monday Night Football selections, with Roy Keane notably disagreeing and arguing that Kevin De Bruyne should have been number one.

10. Cesc Fabregas

Cesc Fàbregas — Photo: ph.FAB / Shutterstock.com

Carragher placed Cesc Fabregas at number 10, which still puts him ahead of 14 other legendary midfielders from the original shortlist. That alone tells you how highly he rates the Spaniard in the Premier League conversation. At the same time, the ranking suggests Fabregas falls just short of the more dominant, era-defining names above him. His strength here is clear: he is good enough to make the final cut in one of the league’s toughest debates. His weakness, in Carragher’s framework, is that others were judged to have left a bigger all-round mark on the position.

9. Rodri

Rodri comes in at number nine, which is a major statement given how crowded this field is with all-time greats. Carragher’s decision to include him shows real respect for his standing, but the placement also suggests he is not yet viewed on quite the same level as the older icons above him. His strength is that he already belongs in elite company. His flaw, if you follow Carragher’s ranking logic, is simply that others were seen as more complete, more proven across time, or more defining in the history of the league.

8. Yaya Toure

At number eight, Yaya Toure sits above Rodri and Fabregas but outside Carragher’s inner circle. That feels like a ranking of enormous respect rather than outright dismissal. Toure clearly has the stature to make the list, yet Carragher stopped short of placing him among the names he sees as the very best of the best. His strength is that he remains part of the elite all-time discussion. His weakness, in this top 10, is that Carragher believed several others had a stronger overall claim when every part of midfield play was weighed together.

7. Paul Scholes

Scholes is the most fascinating inclusion because Carragher speaks about him with real admiration while only ranking him seventh. He praises Scholes for being different from the usual English midfield profile, describing him as a more technical, continental-style player rather than a classic box-to-box powerhouse. Carragher even points out that many of the others had major physical qualities that Scholes did not. That is both the brilliance and the flaw in this ranking: Scholes’ football brain and style made him unique, but Carragher still preferred more physically complete midfielders overall.

6. N'Golo Kante

N’Golo Kante lands in sixth, which places him firmly among the elite without quite breaking into the very top bracket. Carragher does not go deep on his reasoning here, but the ranking itself makes the point: Kante is held in extremely high regard in this debate. His strength is obvious in the placement alone, because only five names are above him. His flaw, within Carragher’s order, is that he was not seen as quite as complete or as historically commanding as the midfielders ranked from fifth upward.

5. Frank Lampard

Lampard reaches the top five, and that is a reminder of just how serious his standing is in Premier League history. Carragher puts him ahead of Scholes and Kante, which says plenty in itself. Even so, he still keeps Lampard outside the final four, which suggests that in his eyes there were others with a stronger case when total midfield influence was considered. Lampard’s strength in this list is his sheer stature in the argument. His flaw is not a glaring weakness, but the fact that Carragher simply rates four others as greater all-round midfielders.

4. Patrick Vieira

Vieira narrowly misses the podium at number four, and that feels like one of the clearest signs of how fierce this ranking is. Carragher clearly sees him as one of the true giants of the Premier League era, because only Gerrard, Keane and De Bruyne finish above him. That is elite company by any standard. His strength is that he survives almost every cut in an all-time debate this difficult. His flaw, according to Carragher’s final order, is simply that three others were judged to have had an even greater influence on the role.

3. Kevin De Bruyne

De Bruyne takes third place, and Carragher’s praise for him is huge. He calls him the best passer of the ball the Premier League has ever seen and points to the way he changed matches for Manchester City, including the dramatic title decider against Aston Villa in 2022. Carragher also goes as far as calling him Manchester City’s greatest player of all time. The reason he is not first is not a lack of brilliance. It is that Carragher still values Keane’s command of midfield and Gerrard’s all-round completeness even more.

2. Roy Keane

Roy Keane finishes second, and Carragher’s case for him is built on more than toughness or leadership. He argues that Keane has been unfairly boxed in as merely a combative midfielder, insisting instead that he was the best passer on the list when it came to finding a number 10 and playing through the lines. Carragher also says no one on the shortlist ran games quite like Keane did. That is the core of his greatness here: total control. His only real flaw in this ranking is that Carragher believes Gerrard had even fewer limitations as a footballer.

1. Steven Gerrard

Carragher puts Steven Gerrard at number one because, in his words, he had no weakness. That is the foundation of the whole ranking. He argues that Gerrard could play as a six, an eight or a 10 at a very high level, and that very few players on the list could match that range. He also dismisses the lack of a Premier League title as a deciding issue, saying Liverpool would not necessarily have won the league by swapping Gerrard for one of the other names. For Carragher, Gerrard tops the list because he was the most complete midfielder in it and the man who could do everything.