The Premier League is widely considered to be the greatest league on earth, and the 2025/26 installment promises to be an absolute thriller.
Liverpool head into the campaign as the reigning champions after upsetting both Arsenal and Manchester City to claim the title last term. And the Reds don’t seem to be willing to give up their crown without a fight.
This summer, the Merseysiders have already forked out well over £200m on four new additions, additions headlined by German international Florian Wirtz.
The 22-year-old playmaker has been a staple of Bayer Leverkusen’s attack for the last five years, even helping Die Werkself claim a first-ever Bundesliga crown under former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso in 2024. Now he heads to Anfield for a British record fee of £116m, and online sportsbooks have duly responded.
Last season, Liverpool were a distant third favorite for the title. Next season, things are much different. The latest odds from the popular Thunderpick sportsbook currently price the reigning champions as the 2/1 outright frontrunner to claim the title, with Arsenal and City just behind at 5/2 and 13/5 respectively.
But while Wirtz may well command the biggest transfer fee any British club has ever paid for a player, he certainly isn’t the Premier League’s only valuable asset. Here are the three most valuable players in the top flight, according to the highly reputable TransferMarkt.
Erling Haaland
With an eye-watering valuation of £155m, Manchester City talisman Erling Haaland is comfortably the Premier League’s most valuable player.
The Norwegian powerhouse has been a superstar ever since he burst onto the scene with Red Bull Salzburg as a teenager six years ago.
A two-and-a-half-year stint with Borussia Dortmund increased his stock no end, while his blistering form since joining the Blues has seen his value rocket even further.
In his maiden campaign at the Etihad Stadium three years ago, Haaland led City to a famous treble. He scored a whopping 52 goals in 53 games in all competitions as the club won the Premier League, FA Cup, and famously the UEFA Champions League for the first time.
The following year, he was on song once again, netting 27 times in the league alone to help the Blues claim a record-breaking fourth straight league title.
Last season, however, Pep Guardiola’s side struggled for the first time throughout the maverick Spaniard’s nine-year reign, and Haaland in turn suffered as well.
While his 22 league goals were enough to win the Golden Boot award for a third straight season, it marked a significant downturn in attacking output, something that both the team and the player himself will be looking to put right next season.
Bukayo Saka
Coming in second with a valuation of £130m is Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. The young English winger feels like he has been around forever, but he doesn’t turn 24 until September, and he has many more years left at the very top of the Premier League.
Saka was Arsenal’s shining light during the dark days under Unai Emery and the first of Mikel Arteta’s campaigns in charge.
Back-to-back Player of the Season awards in 2021 and 2022 saw the tricky wideman go on to become a starring player both for his club and his country.
He has been Arsenal’s main man in recent years as the North London outfit has gunned for its first Premier League title since The Invincibles of 2004, and he will be hoping that next season finally bears fruit.
For the national team, Saka has been a revelation. He was manager Gareth Southgate’s surprising first-choice right winger in the run to the European Championships final in 2021, despite being just 19 years of age.
Fast forward to last summer, and he was the first name on the teamsheet as the Three Lions were beaten in the final once again.
The next 12 months will be huge for the Gunners academy product as he looks to help his club to a first piece of major silverware in five years before leading England out in the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Florian Wirtz
With a valuation of £120m, it appears that Liverpool was bang on the money with the £116m transfer fee they offered to Bayer Leverkusen to secure his services. Now, the pressure is on the young German to deliver.
Upon his arrival at Anfield, the attacking midfielder stated that he wants to “win everything, every year.” That is quite the statement, especially because both Arsenal and Manchester City are also hungry for silverware.
Still, if his exploits at the BayArena are anything to go by, it would certainly take a brave critic to write both Wirtz and Liverpool off.
The German international shot to prominence at just 17 years of age as he broke into the Bayer Leverkusen first team, scoring seven goals in his first full campaign.
Since then, he has gone from strength to strength, helping the club win a first-ever Bundesliga title just over a year ago, as well as lifting the DFB Pokal.
He has won the Bundesliga Player of the Year award in each of the previous two campaigns, and Reds supporters will be hoping that he continues in a similar vein during his first year on Merseyside.