Jude Bellingham tops Retained List’s ranking of the highest-paid English footballers, with a reported wage of £400,577 a week. The list is nationality-based and covers players across leagues, not just the Premier League. Its figures are wage estimates, not verified disclosures of individual contracts or a complete measure of players’ income.
Top 30 highest-paid English footballers in 2026
The table reproduces Retained List’s ordering and club labels on a page marked “Verified September 2026.” Weekly amounts are reported estimates. Players shown with the same amount are tied at that reported figure; the order within those ties reflects the source’s displayed sequence, not a proven pay difference.
| Rank | Player | Club listed | Position | Reported weekly wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jude Bellingham | Real Madrid | Midfielder | £400,577 |
| 2 | Marcus Rashford | Manchester United | Forward | £325,000 |
| 3 | Trent Alexander-Arnold | Real Madrid | Defender | £319,000 |
| 4 | Declan Rice | Arsenal | Midfielder | £250,000 |
| 5 | John Stones | Inter Milan | Defender | £250,000 |
| 6 | Mason Mount | Manchester United | Midfielder | £250,000 |
| 7 | Reece James | Chelsea | Defender | £250,000 |
| 8 | Phil Foden | Manchester City | Midfielder | £200,000 |
| 9 | Bukayo Saka | Arsenal | Midfielder | £195,000 |
| 10 | Harry Maguire | Manchester United | Defender | £190,000 |
| 11 | James Maddison | Tottenham Hotspur | Midfielder | £170,000 |
| 12 | Kalvin Phillips | Manchester City | Midfielder | £150,000 |
| 13 | Luke Shaw | Manchester United | Defender | £150,000 |
| 14 | Dominic Solanke | Tottenham Hotspur | Forward | £140,000 |
| 15 | Eberechi Eze | Arsenal | Midfielder | £140,000 |
| 16 | Tammy Abraham | Aston Villa | Forward | £140,000 |
| 17 | Cole Palmer | Chelsea | Midfielder | £130,000 |
| 18 | Aaron Ramsdale | Southampton | Goalkeeper | £120,000 |
| 19 | Ben White | Arsenal | Defender | £120,000 |
| 20 | Jarrad Branthwaite | Everton | Defender | £120,000 |
| 21 | Jordan Pickford | Everton | Goalkeeper | £110,000 |
| 22 | Jamie Gittens | Chelsea | Forward | £108,000 |
| 23 | Emile Smith Rowe | Fulham | Midfielder | £105,000 |
| 24 | Dean Henderson | Crystal Palace | Goalkeeper | £100,000 |
| 25 | James Ward-Prowse | West Ham United | Midfielder | £100,000 |
| 26 | Levi Colwill | Chelsea | Defender | £100,000 |
| 27 | Tyrone Mings | Aston Villa | Defender | £100,000 |
| 28 | Joe Gomez | Liverpool | Defender | £95,000 |
| 29 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka | West Ham United | Defender | £90,000 |
| 30 | Harry Winks | Leicester City | Midfielder | £90,000 |
What the ranking measures—and what it does not
Retained List says it tracks 308 English footballers across covered leagues, making this a nationality-filtered list rather than a ranking limited to English Premier League players. It marks the figures verified in September 2026, but that label does not make each player’s contract publicly confirmed. Wage databases can use estimates that may later be revised or become stale.
“Highest-paid” here means the highest listed weekly wage. It should not be read as total earnings: the ranking does not establish whether bonuses, image rights, endorsements, tax treatment or other income are included. Sporting News, describing its Capology-based Premier League figures, specifically says those figures exclude signing bonuses and potential add-on incentives. That is a separate source and definition, not a basis for assuming every wage database handles compensation identically.
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How to compare football salary figures
- Match the population. A list of English nationals across leagues cannot be directly compared with a list of Premier League players of any nationality. Retained List, FootyStats and Sporting News cover different populations.
- Match the period and currency. The ranking reports pounds per week. Other tables may show annual salaries in euros; those values cannot be ranked together without aligning currency, pay period and scope. Multiplying a weekly wage by 52 gives a simple annualized equivalent, not a separately published annual salary or proof of how a contract pays out.
- Check the date attached to the data. Retained List marks its list verified September 2026. FBref says its 2025/26 wage data comes from Capology and labels some estimates unverified. FootyStats displays 2026/27 tables but notes its salary data was last verified for 2025/26. A table’s displayed season may therefore differ from the last verification date.
- Distinguish wages from broader compensation. Sources do not share one established definition of “earnings.” A wage estimate is not automatically salary plus bonuses, endorsements or image-rights income.
Other salary totals reported by databases
Retained List reports approximately £11,961,663 in combined weekly wages for its 308 tracked English footballers. This is an aggregate of its listed estimates, not an official league wage bill.
FootyStats reports an average annual salary of €5,252,209 among 513 players with recorded salaries and a league total of €2,694,383,385; it notes that its salary data was last verified for 2025/26. These figures use a different competition scope and currency, so they do not extend or validate the English-nationality ranking above.
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