Even though Arsenal are at the top of the table, they don’t have any of the best-paid players in the English Premier League. Nor do Tottenham or Newcastle United, a new team.

We looked at the Premier League wages table on FBref and put together this XI with the top earners at each position, set up in a 4-3-3 formation:

GK: David de Gea

The 32-year-11 old’s years of work at Old Trafford have earned him a good salary. De Gea signed his last contract extension in 2019, making him the best-paid goalkeeper in England.

He was once the highest-paid player in the Premier League, but now, with a reported salary of £375,000 per week, he is only second.

Some thought that De Gea’s time at Manchester United was limited under Erik ten Hag because he wasn’t sure if he could play out from the back. Also, his four-year contract was up this summer.

But the goalkeeper has changed well and has been close to his best so far in 2022-23. He has fought off a challenge from Martin Dubravka, who was recalled by his parent club Newcastle. Now, it seems more like a question of when, not if, United use the one-year extension option in his current contract, even though the situation is still going on.

RB: Reece James

James is the only player in this team who came up through Chelsea’s academy. He has become one of the best right backs in the world, let alone the Premier League.

James makes more money than his England rivals Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben White, and Kieran Trippier. According to reports, his weekly salary is £250,000. In September, the 23-year-old signed a huge six-year deal that will last until 2028. So far in 2022-23, his injuries have caused the Blues a lot of trouble.

CB: Raphael Varane

Manchester United has shown that they are able and willing to give big contracts to proven winners who want to make the most money of their careers.

United wasn’t able to sign Sergio Ramos back in the day, but Raphael Varane, a four-time winner of the Champions League, left the Bernabeu for Old Trafford, following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro. The French player reportedly came to the team in the summer of 2021 for a fee of £41 million. He agreed to a four-year deal that will last until 2025 and pay him £340,000 per week. No center back in the Premier League makes more money.

CB: Kalidou Koulibaly

Rudiger and Andreas Christensen left Stamford Bridge for free in the summer, so Chelsea’s new owner Todd Boehly decided to spend a lot of money to improve the defense.

In the last few years, Koulibaly had proven himself at Napoli to be one of the best defenders in Europe. But it’s still not clear if spending £33 million on a 31-year-old player with a four-year contract and weekly wages thought to be £295,000 was a good use of money. During his first season with Chelsea, Koulibaly hasn’t been at his best.

LB: Ben Chilwell

Joao Cancelo is the Premier League left back who makes the most money. Who at Bayern Munich is out on loan? A little strange, that.

So, to go with a player who actually plays in the Premier League, the other great fullback for Chelsea makes the list. People sαy that Chilwell makes £190,000 a week. The England player is still under the five-year contract he signed when he joined the team in 2020.

If he doesn’t get hurt, you can bet that the club will soon meet with Chilwell’s agent to talk about keeping him at Stamford Bridge past 2025.

DM: Casemiro

Just like Varane, the Brazilian had nothing left to prove at the Bernabeu, so he moved to Old Trafford in search of a new challenge and the kind of big contract that Florentino Perez wasn’t willing to give to a 30-year-old.

From what we can tell so far, Madrid’s loss seems to be United’s gain. Ten Hag was patient with Casemiro and gave him time to get used to the team. Now, he looks like a great and important part of the United first team. Well worth the £300,000 he gets paid every week.

CM: Thiago

We could have gone with a few different players here—N’Golo Kante from Chelsea, Bruno Fernandes from Manchester United, and Rodri from Manchester City all reportedly make more—but we thought Thiago was the best fit for this XI.

Liverpool’s star player is only the 26th highest-paid player in the English Premier League, making £200,000 per week. However, he is the best central midfielder we can imagine playing with Casemiro and the highest-paid player in the league.

AMC: Kevin De Bruyne

It’s hard to αrgue that De Bruyne shouldn’t be the highest-paid player in the Premier League. After Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract at Manchester United ended, he took over as the best player in the world.

In the last five years, the Belgian has been Manchester City’s best player and helped them win the league title four times. No player has ever or anywhere played more games under Pep Guardiola. The 31-year-current old’s contract runs until 2025, so we expect to see him cutting through Premier League defenses for a few more years.

RW: Mohamed Salah

When Liverpool gave Salah a new contract in the summer, he was already 30 years old. This was a change from the buy-low-sell-high strategy we’re used to seeing from Liverpool under FSG.

But since there were no obvious suitors willing to pay a big transfer fee for their Egyptian King, it made sense for the club to give him a lucrative new deal, making him their highest-paid player. At £350,000 a week, he has the sixth-highest salary in the Premier League.

Fairly, Salah couldn’t have done much more to deserve it. Last season, he scored more than 150 goals for the Reds and won his third Premier League Golden Boot.

Even though the Reds have been struggling this season, he still has 23 goals and 11 assists in all competitions. Even when he’s not at his best, Salah is still a very good football player.

ST: Erling Haaland

Only €51 million seems like a low price to pay for the best goal scorer in the world.

But Haaland is expensive. Man City is said to pay him £375,000 a week, but Sportsmail sαys that the reαl number might be a lot higher when “substantial bonuses” are taken into account.

No matter what the reαl number is, the Norwegian is without a doubt the best-paid No. 9 in the Premier League. He has scored a lot of goals, so no one can sαy he doesn’t do what he’s paid to do.

LW: Jadon Sancho

Since signing with Manchester United in the summer of 2021, things haven’t quite gone as planned for young Sancho.

He didn’t do nearly as well in the Premier League as he did in the Bundesliga. He also didn’t make England’s World Cup team and fell out of favor with Red Devils manager Ten Hag.

Given that he makes £350,000 a week and cost £73 million, it’s hard to αrgue that the forward has been a good deal. But he definitely has a lot of potential and is only 22 years old. Ten Hag has been patient with his development, and there are signs that he can still live up to United’s confidence in him.