Latest: See the list of 30 best EPL players of the decade

30. Steven Gerrard

Club: Liverpool

Years active: 2010-2015

The Liverpool icon’s best days were certainly in the 2000s, but he was still a force of nature in this decade and was the Premier League top assist provider in 2013/14, when he made the PFA Team of the Year for a Premier League record eighth time.

29. Romelu Lukaku

Clubs: Chelsea, West Brom (loan), Everton (initial loan), Manchester United

Years active: 2011-2019

The Belgian never got much of a chance at Chelsea despite impressive loans at West Brom and Everton, who he eventually moved to permanently. His 25 goals in 37 games in 2016/17 was his best return, and earned him a move to Manchester United.

28. Mesut Ozi

Club: Arsenal

Years active: 2013-present

A player who has often promised so much, Ozil chalked up the most assists in the 2015/16 season with a total of 19 in 35 games.

27. Frank Lampard

Clubs: Chelsea, Manchester City

Years active: 2010-2015

As with others on this list you can’t doubt Lampard’s quality in the 2000s, and his 2010s impact was felt in his stunning 2009/10 campaign when he helped Chelsea to the title with 22 goals and 14 assists. 

26. Roberto Firmino

Club: Liverpool

Years active: 2015-present

A Brendan Rodgers signing, the Brazilian has developed into the perfect Jurgen Klopp player as he’s become one of the first names on Liverpool’s team sheet.

25. Cesc Fabregas

Clubs: Arsenal, Chelsea

Years active: 2010-2011, 2014-2019

The Spaniard’s last year and a half at Arsenal earned him a move back to Barcelona, from where he returned to London with Chelsea in 2014 and picked up two league titles. 

24. Virgil van Dijk

Clubs: Southampton, Liverpool

Years active: 2015-present

Imperious displays at Southampton developed the Dutchman’s reputation as one of the very best defenders in the division, before Liverpool bought him in January 2018 and turned him into one of the best in the world.

23. Sadio Mane

Clubs: Southampton, Liverpool

Years active: 2014-present

Two years at Southampton featured a Premier League hat-trick at record pace, and then the forward’s move to Liverpool has brought the Golden Boot and two PFA Team of the Year inclusions.

22. Diego Costa

Club: Chelsea

Years active: 2014-2017

The fearsome forward’s light burned briefly but brightly at Stamford Bridge, and his 52 goals across three seasons helped yield two league titles.

 21. Fernandinho

Club: Manchester City

Years active: 2013-present

The calming, metronomic presence in the Manchester City midfield, the Brazilian has three Premier League titles to his name and was in the PFA Team of the Year last season.

 20. Kevin De Bruyne

Clubs: Chelsea, Manchester City

Years active: 2012-2014, 2015-present

After being underused at Chelsea, the Belgian has gone on to prove his often outrageous qualities at Manchester City, where he won the inaugural Playmaker of the Season award for his 16 assists in 2017/18.

 19. Wayne Rooney

Clubs: Manchester United, Everton

Years active: 2010-2018

The forward’s best years were in the late 2000s, but his 26 goals almost helped Manchester United to the title in 2009/10 and he struck 27 when they narrowly missed out again two years later. He did win the league twice in the decade though

 18. Robin van Persie

Clubs: Arsenal, Manchester United

Years active: 2010-2015

Winning back-to-back Golden Boots with different clubs marks the Dutchman out as a modern day top-flight legend, with his arrival the catalyst for Manchester United’s 2012/13 title win.

17. Peter Cech

Clubs: Chelsea, Arsenal

Years active: 2010-2019

With two Premier League titles the previous decade, the Czech’s 2010s haul of two more and three Golden Glove awards mark him out as one of the best.

 16. Mo’ Salah

Clubs: Chelsea, Liverpool

Years active: 2014-2015, 2017-present

Nobody in 38-games-a-season Premier League history has scored more goals than the 32 that the Egyptian notched in his first season with Liverpool, when he picked up the first of back-to-back Golden Boots.

 15. Jamie Vardy

Clubs: Leicester

Years active: 2012-present

The Premier League Player of the Season in the 2015/16 campaign when Leicester shocked the world, the forward has started this season looking as though he could beat his top-flight record of 24 goals in a campaign.

 14. Riyad Mahrez

Clubs: Leicester, Manchester City

Years active: 2014-present

Mesmeric when Leicester won the league, it is astonishing to think that the Foxes signed the 2015/16 PFA Player of the Year for just £450,000 back in January 2014. Four-and-a-half years on, they sold him for £60million.

13. John Terry

Club: Chelsea

Years active: 2010-2017

Picking up the league title three times in the decade, the centre-back was able to carry on his form from the 2000s to lead Chelsea to repeated success.

 12. N’Golo Kante

Clubs: Leicester, Chelsea

Years active: 2015-present

Little known in England when he arrived, the diminutive Frenchman snapped up back-to-back league titles with Leicester and Chelsea, picking up the PFA Player of the Year award with the latter in 2016/17.

 11. Raheem Sterling

Clubs: Liverpool, Manchester City

Years active: 2012-present

After being slowly introduced to the Liverpool team as a teenager the Englishman had a stellar 2013/14 as the Reds were just pipped to the title by Manchester City, who he joined in 2015, from where he’s never.

 10. Luis Suarez

Clubs: Liverpool

Years active: 2011-2014

The Uruguayan wasn’t in the Premier League for long, but the impact he made over two-and-a-half years with Liverpool certainly was a lasting one, and he was top scorer and PFA Player of the Year in 2013/14.

 9. Gareth Bale

Clubs: Tottenham

Years active: 2010-2013

The PFA Player of the Year in 2010/11 and 2012/13 – adding the Young Player award in the latter – the Welshman was an unstoppable Premier League force for a while, earning him a move to Real Madrid

8. James Milner

Clubs: Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool

Years active: 2010-present

Incredibly, the Yorkshireman was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2009/10 season, and he’s still going strong 10 years later. He was Young Player of the Year in the same season, and after two league titles with Manchester City he’s going for another one with Liverpool.

7. Harry Kane

Clubs: Tottenham, Norwich (loan)

Years active: 2012-present

Tottenham’s reliable goal-getter can boast a staggering record of 130 Premier League strikes in 185 games, earning him two Golden Boots and four spots in the PFA Team of the Year.

 6. Yaya Toure

Club: Manchester City

Years active: 2010-2018

The relentless driving force in the Manchester City midfield, the Ivorian’s 20 goals in 2013/14 were one of the key reasons City beat Liverpool to the title that season, his second of three successes with the club.

 5. David De Gea

Club: Manchester United

Years active: 2011-present

After initial struggles as a young goalkeeper, there have been times when it has seemed to be impossible for attackers to beat Manchester United’s Spanish last line of defence, who helped his side to the title in 2012/13.

 4. Eden Hazard

 3. Vicent Kompany  

Club: Manchester City

Years active: 2010-2019

Manchester City’s inspirational leader got his hands on the Premier League trophy four times in the 2010s, and scored that unforgettable strike against Leicester that effectively clinched glory last season.

2. David Villa

Club: Manchester City

Years active: 2010-present

One of the most graceful players ever to play in the division, the Spaniard will leave City at the end of the season having already picked up four league titles and a place in Premier League folklore.

 1. Sergio Aguero

Club: Manchester City

Years active: 2011-present

The scorer of a record 172 Premier League goals across the last 10 years, the Argentinean is certainly responsible for the most dramatic moment of the era as he clinched the first of four league titles for Manchester City in the decade.

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