The best Premier League players of all time

Since its inception in 1992, the Premier League has been the home of some of the greatest footballers of all time.

From early Premier League years heroes like Eric Cantona to Ballon d'Or winners like Cristiano Ronaldo and modern-day greats like Mohamed Salah, English football fans have been treated to watching true footballing icons week in, week out over the last three decades.

But who is the greatest Premier League player of all time?

Well, that's what we're here to decide.

50. Son Heung-min

Premier League club: Tottenham Hotspur
Position: Forward

One half of the most potent attacking partnership in Premier League history, Son Heung-min has been utterly outstanding throughout his time at Tottenham Hotspur.

Although seen by many as the Robin to Harry Kane's Batman for most of his time in north London, Son has been a superstar in his own right at the Lilywhites. The South Korean forward has won a Premier League Golden Boot, a Premier League Goal of the Season award and made the PFA Premier League Team of the Year over the last few years.

Now Tottenham's captain and leading man after Kane's departure, Son is still one of the very best players in the league.

49. David Ginola

Premier League clubs: Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Everton
Position: Winger

Without doubt the most beautiful man on this list, David Ginola was also a pretty damn good footballer in his day too.

His PFA Players' Player of the Year award is proof of that.

As is the quite ridiculous goal he scored against Barnsley in 1999.

And the one he scored against Manchester United in 1996.

And the one he scored against Manchester City in 2000.

48. Ian Wright

Premier League clubs: Arsenal, West Ham United
Position: Forward

Ian Wright is one of the best natural goalscorers in Premier League history.

Arsenal's second highest goalscorer of all time, Wright managed a very impressive 113 goals in the Premier League despite only playing seven of his 17 seasons as a pro in the division. He'd be a lot higher in this list if his time at Crystal Palace and his career-best first season at Arsenal were in the Premier League and not the First Division.

He's also a pretty good pundit.

47. Edwin van der Sar

Premier League clubs: Manchester United, Fulham
Position: Goalkeeper

The first goalkeeper in the list, Edwin van der Sar is widely regarded as one of the greatest number ones in the division's history.

Van der Sar is the oldest player to ever win the Premier League - he won it four times in total - and holds the Guinness World Record for longest period without conceding a single goal, going an astonishing 1311 minutes without seeing his net bulge while at Man Utd.

46. Matt Le Tissier

Premier League club: Southampton
Position: Attacking midfielder

Way before he went down the conspiracy theories rabbit hole and started selling CBD gummies (code 'Tiss40' for 40% off at checkout, apparently), Matt Le Tissier was one of the most gifted footballers we'd ever seen in the Premier League.

The creative midfielder scored 100 Premier League goals during his time at Southampton - 90% of which were scored after he flicked the ball over two opposition players' heads - to keep them in the top flight almost single-handedly throughout his career.

His brace against Newcastle United in 1993 is perhaps the best summation of how good a footballer he was. He's Xavi Hernandez's favourite footballer of all time for good reason.

45. Teddy Sheringham

Premier League clubs: Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Portsmouth, West Ham United
Position: Forward

The fact Teddy Sheringham played his first top-flight game of football in 1988 and was still there 19 years later at the age of 40 in 2007 tells you all you really need to know about the former England international.

The outrageously gifted deep-lying forward was a key player at every Premier League club he turned out for - even when he was well into his 30s. To this day he remains the oldest player to ever win the PFA Player of the Year award at the age 35 in 2001.

44. Jamie Vardy

Premier League club: Leicester City
Position: Forward

The poster boy of the greatest underdog story in Premier League history.

Jamie Vardy enjoyed a remarkable rise from non-league footballer to Premier League champion between 2010 and 2016 and proved his 24-goal title-winning season wasn't a one-off after that.

In total, Vardy went on to score 136 goals in the English top flight - more than Dwight Yorke, Nicolas Anelka, Steven Gerrard and Ian Wright managed.

43. Cesc Fabregas

Premier League clubs: Arsenal, Chelsea
Position: Midfielder

In the few years prior to his dream move to Barcelona, despite the likes of Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes plying their trade in the Premier League, Cesc Fabregas was widely regarded as the best midfielder in the division - particularly during his 15 goal 2009/10 campaign.

When he returned from a three-year stint at Barca, he picked up where he left off from, bagging a remarkable 18 assists in a single Premier League season and winning two titles with Chelsea.

42. Sol Campbell

Premier League clubs: Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Newcastle United
Position: Defender

Look away now, Tottenham fans.

Sol Campbell is one of the greatest centre-backs England has ever produced. Throughout his time at Spurs and Arsenal in particular, Campbell was remarkably good.

He was so good, in fact, that he was named in the PFA Team of the Year on three occasions and won two Premier League titles.

41. Sadio Mane

Premier League clubs: Southampton, Liverpool
Position: Forward

A lot of people thought Liverpool overpaid when they forked out £36m to sign Sadio Mane from Southampton.

90 Premier League goals, a Golden Boot, four PFA Team of the Year nods and a first league title in three decades later, it's fair to say a lot of people were very, very wrong about Mane.

The wide forward was an utter joy to watch in Jurgen Klopp's thoroughly successful Reds team.

40. Robert Pires

Premier League clubs: Arsenal, Aston Villa
Position: Wide midfielder

As his utterly delightful chipped goal against Southampton attests, Robert Pires was a pretty exceptional footballer in his day.

At the peak of his powers at Arsenal, the ex-France international was a force to be reckoned with - chipping in with an average of 17 goal contributions a season during his time under Arsene Wenger.

39. Virgil van Dijk

Premier League clubs: Southampton, Liverpool
Position: Defender

The signing that pretty much changed everything for Klopp's Liverpool.

Purchased for an eyebrow-raising £75m from Southampton, Van Dijk proved to be the missing piece in the puzzle for Liverpool. After signing the defender, the Reds would go on to win their first Premier League title thanks in large part to the Dutch star's influence.

His performances were so good that season that he became the first defender in 14 years to win the PFA Player of the Year award.

38. Andy Cole

Premier League clubs: Newcastle United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Sunderland
Position: Forward

There are two things to know about Andy Cole; he played for a lot of clubs and scored a lot of goals.

The forward scored a quite remarkable 187 Premier League goals to be exact, the fourth-most in the division's history.

Impressive stuff.

37. Robbie Fowler

Premier League clubs: Liverpool, Leeds United, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers
Position: Forward

When your nickname is 'God', you must have been quite good at football. And that's exactly what Robbie Fowler was.

The Scouse legend's form between 1994 and 1997 is the stuff of legend at this point, bagging a ridiculous 71 goals in that three-year period alone. If injuries didn't rear their ugly head, Fowler may have been the greatest goalscorer England has ever produced.

36. Petr Cech

Premier League clubs: Chelsea, Arsenal
Position: Goalkeeper

Spoiler alert; there are only three goalkeepers on this list and Petr Cech is deservedly one of them.

With four league titles and a record four Premier League Golden Gloves to his name for his performances over the years at Chelsea and Arsenal, Cech is rightly considered one of the greatest goalies in the game's history.

35. Jaap Stam

Premier League club: Manchester United
Position: Defender

Jaap Stam spent three full seasons at Manchester United, during which he won three Premier League titles and was named in three PFA Team of the Years.

On the pitch, Stam barely put a foot wrong throughout his time in England.

34. Gareth Bale

Premier League club: Tottenham Hotspur
Position: Wide forward

Before he was scoring overhead kicks in UEFA Champions League finals for Real Madrid, Gareth Bale was winning PFA Player of the Year awards with Tottenham Hotspur.

The dynamic wide player racked up two PFA Player of the Year gongs during his first spell at Spurs. His 21-goal final season at the club, when he dragged a rather bad Tottenham side kicking and screaming to European qualification, is the stuff of legend as White Hart Lane.

33. Robin van Persie

Premier League clubs: Arsenal, Manchester United
Position: Forward

Peppered in between injury absences during his early years at Arsenal were goals so good that fans thought 'if Robin van Persie could stay fit he'd be the best player in the Premier League'.

And then it happened. Between 2010 and 2014, RVP stayed fit and became the best player in the Premier League.

His 86 goals in those four seasons - including 30 in his final season at Arsenal - earned him countless accolades during that times, but perhaps more impressive was the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson made Van Persie his last big signing to win one final league title before he retired in 2013.

32. Yaya Toure

Premier League club: Manchester City
Position: Midfielder

In 2013/14, Yaya Toure had the greatest season any midfielder has ever had in the Premier League. Better than any Steven Gerrard season, better than any Roy Keane season, better than Frank Lampard season.

His 20 goals fired Man City to the title that year and earned him a place on this list too - which is what really matters.

31. Luis Suarez

Premier League club: Liverpool
Position: Forward

If this list was taking into account players' full careers and not just their spells in the Premier League, Luis Suarez would probably be in the top ten.

Suarez only pulled on the Liverpool jersey for three-and-a-half seasons but made quite the impression during that period. In his final two campaigns with the club, Suarez netted 23 goals in 33 games and then 31 in 33 to win one Golden Boot, one PFA Player of the Year, one FWA Footballer of the Year and one European Golden Shoe, but sadly never a Premier League title.

30. Gianfranco Zola

Premier League club: Chelsea
Position: Attacking midfielder

Before the Roman Abramovich money brought a huge swathe of international icons to Stamford Bridge, Gianfranco Zola was Chelsea's one and only superstar.

The number 10 dazzled Blues fans throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, scoring stunning free kicks, long-range rockets and even an audacious back-heel volley.

29. Tony Adams

Premier League club: Arsenal
Position: Defender

Arsenal's greatest-ever defender and captain, Tony Adams' career in north London is rightfully the stuff of legend.

After helping the Gunners dominate the domestic game during the First Division era under George Graham, Adams continued to be one of the best centre-backs in England throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s while Arsene Wenger was manager.

His two Premier League titles and three PFA Team of the Year nods were more than deserved.

28. Ruud van Nistelrooy

Premier League club: Manchester United
Position: Forward

The ultimate penalty box striker, Ruud van Nistelrooy scored one of his 150 Manchester United goals from outside of the area.

Van Nistelrooy, thanks to his movement and finishing ability, was utterly deadly in the 18-yard box for United. The striker scored at least 20 goals in each of his four full seasons at Old Trafford - he missed the majority of the 2004/05 campaign due to injury - to guide them to one Premier League title during his time at the club.

His goalscoring antics also earned him a PFA Player of the Year award and a Golden Boot too. Nice one.

27. Didier Drogba

Premier League club: Chelsea
Position: Forward

If you look up 'clutch' in the dictionary you'll probably read something like "a clutch is a mechanical device that allows the output shaft to be disconnected from the rotating input shaft" or "to grasp something tightly", but it should actually just read "Didier Drogba".

Drogba was the big-game player throughout his time at Stamford Bridge, rising to the big occasion to fire Chelsea to Premier League title after Premier League title after Premier League title.

His 104 league goals won Chelsea four titles in total and etched his name in the club's history as one of the Blues' greatest ever players.

26. Vincent Kompany

Premier League club: Manchester City
Position: Defender

Signed as a central midfielder from Hamburg for just £6m, Man City fans probably weren't expecting Vincent Kompany to be the centre-back they built their golden era around, and yet that's exactly what he became.

Four Premier League titles and a statue later, Kompany is widely regarded as one of the greatest centre-backs in Premier League history.

25. N'Golo Kante

Premier League clubs: Leicester City, Chelsea
Position: Midfielder

A player with such a cultural impact that RedBubble are still selling "70% of the earth is covered by water, the rest by N'Golo Kante" T-shirts (for just £13.52 if you're into low quality t-shirts which will turn to dust after one 30-degree wash), the holding midfielder left a big mark on the Premier League.

Between 2015 and 2017 in particular, Kante was a cheat code in midfield. The France international single-handedly won countless midfield battles to inspire both Leicester City and Chelsea to title triumphs.

24. Nemanja Vidic

Premier League club: Manchester United
Position: Defender

The best January signing of all time?

Judging by the fact Nemanja Vidic was signed for £7m and went on to win five Premier League titles, be named in four PFA Team of the Years and two FIFA FIFPro World XIs, he definitely is.

Vidic was utterly exceptional at Old Trafford.

23. Ashley Cole

Premier League clubs: Arsenal, Chelsea
Position: Full-back

Before there were flying full-backs who were essentially wingers and inverted full-backs who are essentially midfielders, there were two-way full-backs who could defend as well as they could attack, and there was no better two-way full-back than Ashley Cole.

The ex-England international was utterly exceptional during his time at both Arsenal and Chelsea, making four PFA Team of the Years while helping the London clubs to three Premier League titles.

22. Peter Schmeichel

Premier League clubs: Manchester United, Aston Villa, Manchester City
Position: Goalkeeper

Peter Schmeichel is the best goalkeeper in Premier League history and, given he is 14 places higher than closest competitor Cech, it's not up for debate either.

The Dane was an intimidating shot-stopper and could even make a major impact in the opposite box whenever United needed a late goal.

21. Rio Ferdinand

Premier League clubs: West Ham United, Leeds United, Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers
Position: Defender

The centre-back role has changed a lot of the years. Way back in the day the position consisted of heading medicine balls clear of the penalty box, and now it mostly entails having the ball at your feet (a normal one, not a medicine ball) and retaining possession for your team.

Rio Ferdinand is one of the few centre-backs who would've thrived in either era. The former England international was as good on the ball as he was off it during his 15-year career in the Premier League - winning six Premier League titles and being named in six PFA Team of the Years as a result.

20. David Beckham

Premier League club: Manchester United
Position: Wide midfielder

The poster boy of the Premier League throughout the 1990s, David Beckham was a pretty face and a bloody brilliant footballer.

After breaking into the Man Utd team at 19 years old, Beckham became a household name with his outrageous halfway line goal against Wimbledon and was soon an icon after donning the number seven jersey and scoring free-kicks at will with his wand of a right foot.

Despite his Premier League career coming to an abrupt end at the age of 28 after falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson, Beckham still racked up six league titles, three Premier League Playmaker awards, a PFA Player of the Year award and four inclusions in PFA Teams of the Year.

19. David Silva

Premier League club: Manchester City
Position: Attacking midfielder

"He's an incredible legend. He's a huge competitor. In small spaces, in the pockets, I never saw a player like him." That's lofty praise coming from Pep Guardiola, the man who previously managed the greatest footballer of the time Lionel Messi, and it's more than justified.

David Silva was genuinely that good at Man City. Signed by the club as one of their first marquee players, Silva more than lived up to the billing with consistently fantastic performances during his ten seasons at the Etihad Stadium.

18. Sergio Aguero

Premier League club: Manchester City
Position: Striker

AGUERROOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Sorry, we had to.

Sergio Aguero provided football fans with the defining moment of the Premier League era with that title-winning goal against QPR in 2012. Had that been the only goal he ever scored in his life, he still would have made this list.

As it turned out, it was far from the only goal he ever scored. Aguero netted 183 others for Man City in the Premier League. In fact, out of anyone who has scored 100+ goals in the division, Aguero has the best minutes-per-goal record. Impressive stuff.

17. Patrick Vieira

Premier League clubs: Arsenal, Manchester City
Position: Midfielder

You know the player everyone thought Paul Pogba could be during his time at Manchester United? Well, that was exactly who Patrick Vieira was.

The France star was quite simply a perfect midfielder. As good on the ball as he was off of it, throughout his time at Arsenal, Vieira was consistently one of the best and most consistent performers in the Premier League.

His six PFA Team of the Year nods - the joint-second most ever - are proof of that, as are three league titles he won.

16. Harry Kane

Premier League club: Tottenham Hotspur
Position: Striker

Alan Shearer breathed possibly the biggest sigh of relief of all time when Harry Kane's move to Bayern Munich was confirmed, because the England captain was getting closer and closer to breaking his Premier League goalscoring record.

Tottenham's greatest-ever goalscorer left England's top flight with a quite incredible 213 league goals to his name - 47 behind Shearer - and three Premier League Golden Boots under his belt.

He didn't end up breaking Shearer's record as he was expected to, nor did he win a league title with a talented Spurs outfit, but he's almost certain to return at some point before he hangs up his boots.

15. Steven Gerrard

Premier League club: Liverpool
Position: Midfielder

For some of you (mainly Man Utd fans), this ranking is egregiously high. For others (Liverpool fans), this ranking is egregiously low.

Gerrard's naysayers point to 'The Slip' and his consistent failure to get over the line and win a Premier League title. Gerrard's supporters point to a record eight PFA Team of the Year nods.

Ultimately, any sentient being who watched the Premier League in the 2000s is well aware of just how brilliant Stevie G was. The Liverpool captain was the closest to a living Roy of the Rovers fans will probably ever see in the division.

14. Ryan Giggs

Premier League club: Manchester United
Position: Wide midfielder

There are plenty of reasons why Ryan Giggs is widely regarded as one of the best footballers in Premier League history.

Man Utd hadn't won a league title for over 20 years prior to Giggs breaking into the first team and then proceeded to win 13 during his playing career. They haven't won another since he retired.

Simply put, Giggs was a winner.

13. Eden Hazard

Premier League club: Chelsea
Position: Winger

While tricky winger Eden Hazard's move to Real Madrid will go down as one of the worst of all time, that doesn't detract from the fact that he was an utter joy to watch at Chelsea.

The Belgian was the perfect modern wide player during his time at Stamford Bridge, combining goal threat with an ability to set up his teammates and a flair for the utter sublime.

He netted double figures in five of his seven league campaigns, assisted 54 goals during his Premier League career and scored an all-timer with his stunning effort against Arsenal.

12. Paul Scholes

Premier League club: Manchester United
Position: Midfielder

Hailed as the "best central midfielder of the last 20 years" by Xavi Hernandez and "the best I've played with" by Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes was quite the footballer in his day.

A member of the famed Class of '92, Scholes played a key role in a golden era for Manchester United throughout the 1990s and the 2000s. His metronomic presence in the middle of the park was the catalyst for the Red Devils dominating opposition week in, week out for the best part of two decades.

11. John Terry

Premier League clubs: Chelsea
Position: Defender

Spoiler alert; John Terry is the highest ranked defender in our top 50.

And for very good reason.

The former England and Chelsea captain was the perfect central defender. Brave in the tackle, good on the ball and able to marshal a backline at will, it's very easy to see why Terry made the PFA Team of the Years four times and was named UEFA Club Defender of the Year on three occasions.

Without his influence at the back, it's hard to imagine Chelsea winning as many titles as they have during the 21st century.

10. Eric Cantona

Premier League clubs: Leeds United, Manchester United
Position: Forward

"When Eric came, he was the messiah. He transformed us," is what Sir Alex Ferguson said when asked to describe Eric Cantona's impact at Manchester United.

That one quote from the greatest manager of all time says everything one needs to know about just how good Cantona was.

His confidence - which any man willing to pop a collar on a football jersey needs to have - and astonishing knack to rise to the occasion time and time again paved the way for United's two decades of dominance in the Premier League.

A true icon of the English game.

9. Dennis Bergkamp

Premier League club: Arsenal
Position: Forward

27 August 1997. Approximately 21:45. Filbert Street, Leicester.

David Platt lofts a ball over the top of Leicester City's defence and on to the outstretched right foot of Dennis Bergkamp. After deftly tapping the ball up to himself with his first right-footed touch, the Dutch star uses his second to delicately flick past Matt Elliott with his left before curling into the top corner of the net.

If you've seen this goal, you'll know exactly why Bergkamp is one of the top ten greatest players in Premier League history.

8. Frank Lampard

Premier League clubs: Chelsea, Manchester City
Position: Midfielder

While Bergkamp was a player you had to watch to understand his brilliance, Frank Lampard's greatness can be gauged via cold hard numbers.

Chelsea's all-time top goalscorer, Lampard is the highest-scoring midfielder in Premier League history (177) thanks to the ten seasons in which he hit double figures. Lamps also bagged the fifth-most assists in the division's history with 102.

All those goals and assists helped Chelsea to three Premier League titles and himself to one PFA Player of the Year award and two PFA Team of the Year nods.

The numbers don't lie; Lampard was truly outstanding.

7. Roy Keane

Premier League clubs: Nottingham Forest, Manchester United
Position: Midfielder

His "old man shouts at cloud" TV persona has fed into the belief that Roy Keane was little more than a typical hard man during his playing days.

Sure, he was a bit of a hard nut - as his seven red cards in the Premier League attests - but that's not all he was.

At the peak of his powers, Keane was one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world and would regularly burst forward to drill the ball into the bottom corner in his pomp.

The Republic of Ireland international was the driving force at the heart of the greatest Manchester United team of all time, leading the Red Devils to seven league titles during his storied career.

6. Mohamed Salah

Premier League clubs: Chelsea, Liverpool
Position: Wide forward

It's rather remarkable that, despite still being in the prime of his career, Mohamed Salah has already done enough to be considered the sixth best player in Premier League history.

But that's how remarkable a footballer Salah is.

Having flopped at Chelsea, Salah returned from a stint in Serie A with Fiorentina and AS Roma as a completely different footballer. The wide forward returned as an almost unstoppable marksman with an astonishing ability to cut in from the right flank and bend the ball into the top left corner at will.

And while that sounds like an exaggeration, the 'Egyptian King' has three Premier League Golden Boots to his name which proves it's not.

Along with scoring goals, Salah has also been able to tee up his teammates consistently too. In his six full seasons at the club he's averaged a quite incredible 34 goal contributions per campaign.

5. Kevin De Bruyne

Premier League clubs: Chelsea, Manchester City
Position: Midfielder

During an era which has seen previously unheard of amounts of money and talent come into the English game, it says quite a lot that Kevin De Bruyne has been the undisputed best footballer in the country for such an extended period of time.

The Belgian superstar has been Man City's key man during the club's most trophy-laden period, becoming one of just three players to ever win back-to-back PFA Player of the Year awards as his club lifted five league titles.

Expect him to win quite a few more titles before he hangs up his boots too.

4. Alan Shearer

Premier League clubs: Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United
Position: Forward

There's one stat which has defined Alan Shearer's legacy; he is the all-time top goalscorer in Premier League history.

His 260 goals for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United are rightfully the stuff of legend at this point, as is the season in which he scored 34 goals and bagged 13 assists to guide the former to a remarkable league title triumph.

3. Wayne Rooney

Premier League clubs: Everton, Manchester United
Position: Forward

It says a lot about Wayne Rooney's talent that, after he hung up his boots as both Man Utd and England's all-time top scorer, there was an air of "what could've been?" about his career.

When he burst onto the scene with a stunning goal against Arsenal, it was abundantly clear that Rooney was going to be a generationally good footballer. And, despite not guiding England's 'golden generation' to a World Cup as he was expected to, one can't deny that Rooney achieved an astonishing amount during his playing days.

Rooney was a model of consistency during his time in the Premier League, reaching double figure goals in a record number of seasons (12).

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

Premier League club: Manchester United
Position: Forward

If we were making a list of the greatest players to have ever played in the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo would undoubtedly be top of the list. As literally the top goalscorer in footballing history, CR7 is rightfully considered to be one of the GOATs of the game.

Although he achieved that 'one of the GOATs' status thanks to his outrageous tenure at Real Madrid in which he won four Ballons d'Or, Ronaldo also managed to collect a shiny gold ball during his time at Manchester United too.

He did so in 2008 after ascending from a pretty damn good Premier League footballer to the best player in the world. During that 2007/08 campaign - in which he scored 31 goals - Ronaldo played football to a level fans simply hadn't seen in England's top flight before or since.

1. Thierry Henry

Premier League club: Arsenal
Position: Forward

Ronaldo is the 'greatest player to ever play in the Premier League', but Thierry Henry is the 'greatest Premier League player of all time'.

The syntax matters there because, although Ronaldo had the better career overall, one can't debate that in the Premier League, Henry was the best.

Watching Henry glide past hapless defenders to score stunning goal after stunning goal week in, week out throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s was a formative experience for many football fans. Henry was proof that genuinely magical things could happen on a football pitch.

The Arsenal legend cemented his name in English footballing folklore with five straight 20-goal seasons, four Golden Boots, two European Golden Shoes and the ability to guide his team to an unprecedented unbeaten title-winning season.

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