playRyan O’HanlonOct 16, 2026, 07:13 AM ETCloseRyan O’Hanlon is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He’s also the author of “Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game’s Analytics Revolution.”Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsLet’s dig into the big question that’s on everybody’s mind: Who, uh, is the best player in the Premier League?While we wait for the league to issue its punishment to Manchester City for breaking 114 rules and cheating their way to a spend of $1 billion more than regulations allowed, the games still go on.Did you know Jordan Henderson scored twice last week? For Chelsea? Also: None of the promoted teams are in the relegation zone!
Hull City are tied for seventh! Everton … are tied for fourth?To take stock of what has suddenly become — and will continue to be — the weirdest Premier League season of all time, we’ve decided to roll out the second edition of ESPN’s Premier League Top 50, with our first coming before the season began.We’ll ask it again: Who is the best player in the Premier League? And now we’ll answer it.How we rank the players and who missed outAs we’ve done for the past two years, the rankings are meant to be a combination of true talent, how much value a player has actually provided and how much better that player is than the average players at his position.The list is still tilted toward goal-producing-and-creating players on the best teams in England, but it opens up space for defenders and midfielders and goalkeepers from a bunch of different places up and down the table.Injured players are ineligible, so you won’t see the likes of Arsenal’s William Saliba, Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike or Bournemouth’s Alex Scott on the list.You also won’t see Liverpool’s Bradley Barcola, who I’d expect to be on the list by the end of the season, but who has had almost no impact on any of the Premier League matches he has played thus far. A couple of other new signings — Barcola’s club and country teammate Jérémy Jacquet and Aston Villa’s record signing Johan Manzambi — have already broken into the top 50 with impressive starts to their Premier League careers.Unless otherwise noted, most of the data you’ll see throughout the piece comes from the stats app Futi.
OK, let’s get to the top 50…50. Thierno Barry, striker, EvertonThere’s a great new book by David Epstein called “Inside the Box.” It’s, essentially, about how we tend to be at our best — whether on our own or as groups — where we’re forced into constraints.There are infinitely more options at our disposal today compared with 30 years ago; constraints help with that problem. But they also seem to make us more creative, more productive and happier.See: Everton Football Club. Last summer they signed a promising young striker from Villarreal with a nice track record of getting lots of high-quality shots.
But he was mostly a backup behind the veteran Beto, who left this offseason.Everton tried to sign U.S. men’s national team standout Folarin Balogun on the final day of the transfer window — only for it to fall apart because of issues Everton had with Balogun’s medical clearance exam.So, without any other options, David Moyes was forced to play Thierno Barry. Through six matches, he has scored three times and ranks second in non-penalty expected goals.49. Anton Stach, central midfielder, Leeds United48. Sávio, winger, Tottenham Hotspur47.
Florian Wirtz, attacking midfielder, LiverpoolWhat if I told you there was a player who was second on Liverpool in expected goals, third in expected assists, second in passes into the penalty area, first in through balls, first in progressive passes received, first in carries into the penalty area and first in balls won by pressing high?You might not be screaming “$150-MILLION PLAYER” — but you also probably wouldn’t be spending every weekend talking about how he’s not good enough to play for Liverpool. And yet, that’s pretty much where the discussion lands every time Florian Wirtz plays a game.Wirtz still hasn’t produced enough in front of goal to match the record fee Liverpool paid to acquire him, but there’s a long way between that and not being good enough to play.The promise of Wirtz was someone who did all the little things that helped you win and gave you 20 goals+assists at the same time. The latter hasn’t been there; the former still has. Per Futi’s possession-value ratings, he has been Liverpool’s fourth-most valuable player this season.46.
Johan Manzambi, attacking midfielder, Aston Villa45. Matheus Cunha, forward, Manchester United44. Kai Havertz, striker, Arsenalplay1:44Arteta praises ‘extremely intelligent’ Havertz ahead of Sunderland trip43. Morgan Rogers, attacking midfielder, Chelsea42.
Jérémy Jacquet, center back, Liverpool41. Daniel Muñoz, right back, Nottingham Forest40. Pedro Neto, winger, Chelsea39. Ryan Gravenberch, defensive midfielder, Liverpool38.
Diogo Dalot, right back, Manchester United37. Matheus Nunes, right back, Manchester CityBoth Diogo Dalot and Matheus Nunes are simply very good fullbacks — somewhat improbably.Dalot, unlike his countryman and city-mate, has always been a fullback, and he’s one of the few ever-presents for Manchester United over the past half-decade of volatility at the club. He might be the least spectacular player in the league, which I think makes him interesting to talk about.When a player doesn’t have a standout skill, it’s usually used as a reason for why he won’t hack it at the top level. Dalot has never really had a standout skill, but all his skills slowly improved and now he’s above-average at everything.
He’s the same exact kind of player he always was — just better in every way.Nunes is the opposite: Coaches loved him for what they thought they could mold his athleticism into, but he just wasn’t good enough on the ball in tight spaces to do anything consistently in the midfield, first for Wolves then for Man City. Then Pep Guardiola moved him to fullback, and after a year or so of growing pains, he’s one of the best right backs in the league.Two totally different players, arriving at the same point, right around the same time.36. Bart Verbruggen, goalkeeper, Brighton35. Emiliano Martínez, goalkeeper, Chelsea34.
David Raya, goalkeeper, ArsenalThese above players were my top three goalkeepers coming into the season, and nothing has changed my opinion on that.Per Gradient Sports, they’re three of the only four keepers who have received a positive shot-stopping grade on at least 30% of the shots they’ve faced. On top of that, none one of them have received a single negative shot-stopping grade, which essentially means that none have made a mistake when facing a shot.Past research from Gradient found that avoiding shot-stopping mistakes is the most repeatable goalkeeper skill. What makes great keepers great for more than a single season, in other words, is their ability to consistently save the savable shots rather than their ability to tip away the ball that’s bound for the upper corner.Raya, in particular, stands out in this way. While he doesn’t have any seasons where he has conceded 10 goals fewer than an expected-goals model might suggest — something we’ve seen from the likes of Jan Oblak, Thibaut Courtois, David de Gea, and Alisson Becker over the past generation — he has made just six shot-stopping errors, per Gradient, over the past three seasons combined.33.
Lisandro Martínez, center back, Manchester United32. Ezri Konsa, center back, Arsenal31. Adam Wharton, central midfielder, Crystal Palace30. Cody Gakpo, winger, Liverpool29.
Youri Tielemans, central midfielder, Manchester United28. Alexander Isak, striker, Liverpool27. Pascal Gross, central midfielder, BrightonHere’s a chart comparing everyone that Futi classifies as a midfielder across the two main attacking statistics: expected goals and expected assists.You’ll notice three players in the upper right: Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard, former Premier League Player of the Year Phil Foden and … 35-year-old
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