Regardless of what some people say, the Premier League is the best league in the world. It may not have the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but it is the most competitive of Europe’s top five leagues.
No team has retained the Premier League title since 2009 after Manchester United won it on three consecutive occasions. Ever since then, it has been a fight for success, with no side dominating the league.
Chelsea have won the league three times since then, as have Manchester City. Manchester United have won two titles, but none since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, while Leicester City were the shock champions of the 2015/16 season, with the Foxes defying odds of 5000/1 to win the title in extraordinary fashion.
The Premier League has also seen some brilliant players over the years. Thierry Henry really made a name for himself in England, where he was sensational for Arsenal before leaving for Barcelona.
10 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Van Dijk is probably the best defender in the Premier League right now. He had a tough 2017, which he missed much of due to injury, before handing in a transfer request at Southampton, which meant he was in an out of the team for the first half of the 2017/18 season. In January, he completed a long-awaited move to Liverpool for £75 million, making him the most expensive defender in history, and he hasn’t looked back since.
9 Christian Eriksen (Tottenham)
Eriksen is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League. After Gareth Bale made the move to Real Madrid back in the summer of 2013, Tottenham splashed the cash on a number of players from around Europe. This included the likes of Roberto Soldado and Paulinho, who flopped at White Hart Lane. Eriksen was one of the players bought to the club in that transfer window, and he was by far the best of the bunch.
8 David Silva (Manchester City)
Silva will go down as one of the Premier League’s greatest imports, has been a brilliant player for Manchester City since his move from Valencia in 2010. He was one of City’s first big money signings after their takeover, and even at £25 million, he looks like a bit of a bargain and has been worth every penny of that fee, and if anything, he keeps on getting better, even though he is now 32.
7 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Despite a short spell at Chelsea, Salah has only had one full season playing in the Premier League, and it was a record-breaking one. He failed to make an impact at Chelsea, but he certainly wasn’t the only one to struggle under Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, and he has gone on to prove his doubters wrong in the years since. He rebuilt his reputation in Serie A after leaving England and returned to the Premier League with Liverpool at the start of last season.
6 N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
The rise of N’Golo Kante in the last few years has been nothing short of remarkable. The midfielder was an unknown quantity when he joined Leicester City in 2015, but he is now among the best midfielders in the world, and everyone knows his name. The Frenchman’s ability to get around the park is almost unique in the game at the moment, and he has become a vital part of both the Chelsea and France side.
5 Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
It’s almost as if the Premier League takes Sergio Aguero for granted sometimes. The Argentine has been one of the best strikers in the league, if not the world, in the seven years since he left Atletico Madrid to move to Manchester City. His goal record at City is nothing short of sensational. He has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last four seasons and has scored an incredible 147 goals in 212 Premier League games.
4 David de Gea (Manchester United)
There is no doubting that de Gea is the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment. It has been a tough few years for United since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, but the one constant in these turbulent times has been de Gea, who has gone from strength to strength.
3 Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Not many people would have predicted it five years ago, but Harry Kane is now one of the top strikers in the world. It is perhaps a testament to his hard work and determination that he has made it this far. In his younger years, he spent a lot of time out on loan and spent time with four clubs before he broke through at Tottenham. Even in his time away on loan, he never really set the world alight.
However, in the last couple of years at Tottenham, he has been sensational and is unquestionably the best striker in the Premier League. His goal record over the last four seasons is excellent. He has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last four seasons.
2 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Another player on this list who has been sold by Jose Mourinho, and another man who got away from Chelsea. De Bruyne was another man who rebuilt his career abroad and had a successful spell with Wolfsburg before Manchester City paid £55 million to bring him back to England. He had a bit of a slow start to his City career, partly because of injury, but has only gotten better.
1 Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Hazard has become the best player in the Premier League over the last few years and continues to produce the goods for Chelsea on a regular basis. He is one of the best in the world and showed that off to everyone at the World Cup this summer, where he helped Belgium to third place. The 27-year-old has the ability to keep the ball under constant pressure and can go past a man with apparent ease.
He is more than capable of coming up with a moment that is genuinely world class, as he showed against Liverpool on Wednesday night. He has won two Premier League titles with Chelsea and has been a massive part of both, winning the Player of the Year award for the 2014/15 season