Revealed: Top 5 highest paid teenagers in the Premier League including Arsenal and Chelsea stars

With Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s reign as the two best footballers in the world seemingly coming to an end, talk has turned to who will replace the pair as the world’s best. 

Kylian Mbappe and Erling Braut Haaland are two of the names being touted as the next big thing, with both players impressing both domestically and on the European stage.

However, Manchester City youngster Phil Foden has staked his claim in recent months, and the Englishman came out on top as his City side faced Mbappe’s Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final.

With 10 major trophies to his name already, the 20-year-old is being touted as a future Ballon d’Or winner.

With Foden now on the verge of the ‘world class’ conversation, attention turns to the next crop of players who are shaping up to one day follow in his footsteps.

With dozens of teenagers starting regularly in the Premier League each week, the future seems to be in safe hands.

But which starlets lead the way when it comes to wages? Here is a list of the 5 highest paid teenagers in the league.

5. Ki-Jana Hoever (Wolves) – £2.1 million per year

The 19-year-old broke into Liverpool’s injury-stricken first team in January 2019, becoming the club’s third youngest player of all time in doing so. After playing a bit-part role in Liverpool’s Premier League title winning season, the Dutch youth international made a £9 million move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 2020. Despite moving to Wolves in search of regular game time, the teenager has still struggled to maintain a starting spot and has made just ten league appearances this term.

4. Billy Gilmour (Chelsea) – £2.25 million per year

The young Scot made the move south of the border from Rangers in 2017 and broke into the first team under Frank Lampard in 2019. Having impressed with a man of the match display against Liverpool in the FA Cup in 2020, Gilmour appeared to be cementing a starting spot before the pandemic caused football to be paused. Since the arrival of Tuchel, the midfielder has struggled for game time, with the game against Fulham on Saturday his first start of the season in the league.

3. Mason Greenwood (Manchester United) – £3.9 million per year

Since scoring on his senior debut at the end of the 2018/19 season, Greenwood has become a regular starter at Old Trafford and also made his England debut last year. The forward became United’s youngest ever scorer in Europe after netting against Khazakhstani side Astana in 2019, and has since gone on to score 27 goals and contribute a further ten assists in his 99 games for the club.

2. Fabio Silva (Wolves) – £4.1 million per year

The football world was stunned when Wolves shelled out a club record £35 million for 18-year-old Silva in 2020. A relative unknown outside of his native Portugal, the forward arrived in the Premier League with huge pressure on his shoulders. The forward has scored six goals so far in his first season in English football, but Wolves fans will be hoping he can realise his huge potential over the next few years.

1. Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal) – £4.68 million

Brazilian forward Martinelli joined the Gunners in July 2019 and made his league debut just over a month later. His first (and second) senior goals for the club came in an EFL Cup match against Nottingham Forest, and the Brazil under-23 international then announced himself to English football the following January with a brilliant individual effort in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea. That goal made him the first teenager to score 10+ goals for Arsenal since Nicolas Anelka. After signing a new deal in July 2020, to make him the highest paid teenager in the league, Martinelli was ruled out for the remainder of the season and he has struggled for fitness and game time this term.