Player Value for Money – Who cost the most per minute played in the EPL?

Player Value For Money

Taking the top earners from the 2018/19 season last season, we look at which player cost the most per minute.

2018/2019 Season Data

The Results

£18,849 per minute – Alexis Sanchez, Manchester United

Both Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer struggled to find a place for the Chile forward who managed just 869 minutes in 20 appearances, scoring once and providing three assists and playing a full 90 minutes just once against Leicester in the season opener. With an annual salary of £16.3m his days are no doubt numbered at Old Trafford this season, and at a cost of £18,849 per minute tops our table.

£17,235 per minute – Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester City

With an annual salary of £16.6m the de Bruyne tops tha annual wages chart. The Belgium international missed half of Manchester City‘s title defence because of injuries to his knee and hamstring and amassed 968 minutes in 19 matches so can be excused. But he did manage two goals and two assists while he was on the pitch.

£8,069 per minute – Mezut Ozil, Arsenal

Hindered by back and knee injuries, Ozil’s season was another stop/start campaign with a run of nine successive games the longest run he managed in the Gunners’ side. For the £42m Arsenal paid Real Madrid for him in 2013, fans are right to expect more from him as well his whopping £13.9m annual salary.

£6,480 per minute – Juan Mata, Manchester United

United are keen to keep the 30-year-old, but if the midfielder is to stay at Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer will want him to force his way into the first team more often after playing just 1,284 minutes last season with three goals and four assists to show in the 22 matches he featured in.

£6,393 per minute – Vincent Kompany, Manchester City

The man who lifted the Premier League title for the second year running is to discuss his future at the Etihad and scoring that goal in a 1-0 win over Leicester to keep their title defence on track will help his negotiations. His next deal may not earn him £7.8 million a year, but his performances at the end of last season demonstrates he still has a future at City.

£4,917 per minute – Paul Pogba, Manchester United

United fans who hoped Paul Pogba would bring the form he showed for France when winning last summer’s World Cup were left frustrated as Pogba laboured his way through the season. A run of eight goals and five assists in nine games shows he can impress when he wants to. His manager needs to get him playing like that for the full campaign next season. The Frenchman did play an energy sapping 3009 minutes of Premier League football, perhaps justifying his £15m annual salary but fans are expecting more from the World Cup winner.

£4,765 per minute – Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Arsenal

Arsenal fans have benefited more from the transfer with Alexis Sanchez that brought Mkhitaryan to the Emirates and the Armenian seems to be improving the more he plays under Unai Emery and after suffering a metatarsal injury midway through the season, he will want to kick on next season after contributing 10 league goals last season.

£4,656 per minute – Sergio Aguero, Manchester City

When it comes to value for money, look no further than Sergio Aguero. Earning £4,656 per minute on the pitch, the Argentine scored 21 league goals which equates to £544,762 per goal for Manchester City’s all-time leading goalscorer’s £11.4m yearly salary. Definite value for money.

£4,402 per minute – Romelu Lukaku, Manchester United

The Belgium international finished the season with 12 league goals – four short of his total at the end of his first season at Old Trafford. He failed to score in his last six league games and for United to be considered as serious challengers to their neighbours, Lukaku needs to deliver more.

£4,292 per minute – Harry Kane, Tottenham

Another ankle injury meant the England captain was not able to finish the season for Spurs, who reached the final of the Champions League final without him. When he’s fit, Kane delivers goals for his club on a regular basis proving his worth to the team and why he is paid £10.4 million a year.

£4,010 per minute – Eden Hazard, Chelsea

If last season was to be Eden Hazard’s last at Stamford Bridge, he certainly did all he could to make it a successful one for the Blues. He was the undoubted star for Maurizio Sarri’s side who finished third in the league and reached the final of the Carabao Cup and the Europa League. Finding a replacement for the Belgium star will not be easy and might cost more than the £4,010 per minute Hazard played last term.

£3,791 per minute – Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal

Lacazette cost Arsenal £46.5 million in the summer of 2017 when he joined from Lyon, but he has repaid them with 19 goals in all competitions last season including 13 in the league. His partnership with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will give Gunners fans hope that they can mount a challenge for the Premier League title in the not too distant future.

£3,453 per minute – David Silva, Manchester City

The imperious David Silva once again looks value for money having played almost 2,500 minutes of Premier League football last season and guiding Manchester City to a successive league title. His salary of just over £8m a year looks excellent value, and as he approaches almost 10 years at the Etihad, his transfer fee of £25.8m from Valencia in 2010 looks one one of the deals of the decade.

£3,384 per minute – Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool

Virgil van Dijk answered Liverpool‘s SOS call for a centre-half to make them a force domestically and in Europe. His price tag of £75 million in January 2018 raised a few eyebrows, but his consistent performances are making it look like one of the best pieces of business done by any Premier League club in recent years.

£3,196 per minute – Mohamed Salah, Liverpool

The Egyptian collected his second successive Golden Boot award after finishing the season with 22 goals. Salah has proved he is no one-season wonder and if Liverpool are to go one better than runners-up next season, Salah is going to have to deliver the goods once again. Costing just over £3,000 a minute, his salary of £10.4m looks plenty of value for the Reds.

£3,041 per minute – David de Gea, Manchester United

The once reliable goalkeeper ended the season with a crisis of confidence with many costly errors ending up in goals. De Gea last kept a clean sheet in United’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool at Old Trafford on February 24 and was beaten three times in United’s final two games of the season against relegated pair Huddersfield and Cardiff.

£3,009 per minute – Luke Shaw, Manchester Utd

The Manchester Utd left back endured a torrid time at time at Old Trafford under the leadership of Jose Mourinho but is now enjoying a new lease of life under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, putting in some stellar performances down the left side, however the ex Southampton man is still looking to justify his £33.75m price tag Utd paid the Saints in 2014.

£3,009 per minute – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal

Ever since joining the Gunners in January 2018, the Gabon international has made an immediate impact with 41 goals in 64 matches. He ended the season in great form netting five goals in his last five league games to be one of three recipients of the Premier League’s Golden Boot award.

£2,816 per minute – Raheem Sterling, Manchester City

The England forward enjoyed his best ever season last season with 29 goals in all competitions with 17 of them coming in the league to help his side become the first side to successfully defend their title since Manchester United won three in a row from 2006 to 2009. With a cost of only £2,816 per minute played and putting in a huge 2776 minutes on the pitch this season the ex Liverpool youngster is definitely justifying his £7.8m annual salary.

£2,670 per minute – Jamie Vardy, Leicester

Jamie Vardy’s decision to retire from international football to concentrate on playing for Leicester paid dividends for the Foxes as he finished the campaign as the Englishman with the most league goals. His 18 league goals came at an average of one every 1.88 matches.

£2,292 per minute – Kepa Arrizabalaga, Chelsea

The Chelsea goalkeeper played a whopping 3,403 minutes in the Premier League last season, securing the number 1 shirt at Stamford Bridge. The £18m Chelsea payed Athletic Bilboa looks like one of the bargains of the season, with the Spaniard costing only £2,292 a minute played.