When every Premier League club will face their Salah panic over highest earner

Matt Stead
Manchester United midfielder Casemiro, Liverpool forward Mo Salah and Chelsea defender Reece James
How wise of Manchester United to avoid their own Mo Salah problem

Only Newcastle and West Ham get more minutes out of their best-paid player than Liverpool, whose Mo Salah panic is overshadowing problems at six other clubs.

Salah is not the only highest earner on a deal expiring imminently. He is not even the only one in his 30s based on Merseyside.

 

Arsenal – Kai Havertz
It is not as if there is a pressing need at the Emirates to extend the commitment of a player who joined on a long-term deal only 18 months ago, nor to renew his already handsome terms. Havertz is entitled to pick up a reported £280,000 per week and be told on a fortnightly basis Arsenal have to replace him until 2028

Percentage of Arsenal minutes played by Havertz this season: 87.8%

 

Aston Villa – Emi Martinez, Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara
“I still think that we can win a trophy here. I will have a go in the next five years and see if we can achieve that,” said Martinez back in August after signing an extension until 2029.

Neither Tielemans nor Kamara have signed extensions to the contracts they signed when they joined, both of which run to 2027.

Percentage of Aston Villa minutes played by Martinez this season: 88%
Percentage of Aston Villa minutes played by Tielemans this season: 87%
Percentage of Aston Villa minutes played by Kamara this season: 13.8%

 

Bournemouth – Evanilson
As happy as his new employers can be with the acclimatisation and output of their perennially offside record signing, there is little pressure to tie him down any longer. 2029 is plenty long enough.

Percentage of Bournemouth minutes played by Evanilson this season: 72.5%

 

Brentford – Aaron Hickey
It seems vanishingly unlikely that Hickey is actually the highest-paid player at Brentford but until they grow up and publish a full breakdown of their entire wage bill, he will have to do. Hamstring issues which restricted the right-back to 11 appearances and ruled him out of the Euros last season have already wreaked havoc this campaign and placed pressure on a full recovery being made before his deal expires in 2026.

Percentage of Brentford minutes played by Hickey this season: 0%

 

Brighton – Ferdi Kadioglu
By the time Kadioglu’s contract expires in 2028 there is a strong chance Brighton have used the Turkish James Milner in every possible position.

Percentage of Brighton minutes played by Kadioglu this season: 40.7%

 

Chelsea – Reece James
“I cannot wait to see what the future holds, and I am sure we will have the chance of winning many trophies,” said James when he signed his latest deal two years, four permanent managers, 17 Premier League starts and zero trophies ago. Enzo Maresca has already declared that the defender’s “body cannot play twice a week” but all parties might honestly settle for any sort of consistent run before 2028. It really does feel like they maybe should have sold him.

Percentage of Chelsea minutes played by James this season: 14.1%

 

Crystal Palace – Daichi Kamada
A difficult start to Premier League life for Kamada suggests offering a deal only until 2026 for a well-remunerated free agent was justified.

Percentage of Crystal Palace minutes played by Kamada this season: 63.2%

 

Everton – Abdoulaye Doucoure
A club on Merseyside whose highest earner is well into their 30s on a contract which expires in 2025, is it? The similarities end there: most supporters seem to agree that Everton should move Doucoure on; plenty reckon it was a mistake in the first place to trigger the one-year extension clause in the summer.

Percentage of Everton minutes played by Doucoure this season: 63.8%

 

Fulham – Bernd Leno
Rarely has £8m been spent so shrewdly, as reflected when Fulham waited barely 18 months after signing Leno to extend his deal to 2027, with the option of a further year when he’ll presumably be at his 37-year-old peak.

Percentage of Fulham minutes played by Leno this season: 85.7%

 

Ipswich – Axel Tuanzebe
Kalvin Phillips earns more than three times as much but Manchester City are at least covering a portion of his wages. To be fair, his terms with Ipswich expire at the same time as Tuanzebe, who had a one-year contract extension triggered in the summer to 2025.

Percentage of Ipswich minutes played by Tuanzebe this season: 59.4%

 

Leicester – Jamie Vardy
The prospect of Vardy and Leicester staying together on a perpetually rolling one-year contract until he finally completes his takeover of Red Bull is very real. When his current deal runs out in 2025 the 15th highest scorer in Premier League history will hope to have caught Robin van Persie, who is four goals ahead.

Percentage of Leicester minutes played by Vardy this season: 68.6%

 

Liverpool – Mo Salah
No idea when his contract expires; it’s not been mentioned.

Percentage of Liverpool minutes played by Salah this season: 88.8%

MORE ON SALAH’S SITUATION FROM F365
👉 Carragher slams ‘selfish’ Salah as ‘Liverpool will move on’ after contract bombshell
👉 Romano quashes Salah contract claim as ‘talks took place’ with Liverpool superstar

 

Manchester City – Kevin de Bruyne
“There’s not been a lot of talks. I just want to play good football again. Talks will come. If no talks come, then it’s my last year, so I don’t know,” said De Bruyne upon his latest return, with the Belgian taking a similar stance to Salah and Manchester City handling it all much like Liverpool ahead of crunch talks through 2025.

Percentage of Manchester City minutes played by De Bruyne this season: 25.8%

 

Manchester United – Casemiro
It’s still quite funny that Manchester United committed up to £70m on a 30-year-old midfielder on a four-year deal which has thus far panned out entirely predictably. It will be funnier still when they let it run before triggering a 12-month extension to 2027 in a mild panic on the pretence it protects the value of a player they cannot hope to find a market for.

Percentage of Manchester United minutes played by Casemiro this season: 68.2%

 

Newcastle – Bruno Guimaraes
“The fans have made me feel at home since my first day here and I feel so loved in my life,” said Guimaraes just over a year ago when signing himself over to Newcastle until 2028. Transfer rumours persist but any potential suitors face a hefty fee to make anything happen.

Percentage of Newcastle minutes played by Guimaraes this season: 89.9%

 

Nottingham Forest – Nikola Milenkovic
It would take a brave individual to tell Milenkovic to his face that he isn’t worthy of being Nottingham Forest’s highest earner on a contract until 2029. Maybe don’t open with it.

Percentage of Nottingham Forest minutes played by Milenkovic this season: 87.2%

 

Southampton – Aaron Ramsdale
The general consensus certainly seems to be that Southampton are punching in this relationship – that looked the case against Liverpool and Russell Martin said the club was “lucky” and “surprised” Ramsdale joined them – but the wages until 2028 are at least worth another probable relegation.

Percentage of Southampton minutes played by Ramsdale this season: 83.3%

 

Tottenham – Heung-min Son
The captain was said not to be too pleased at plans to trigger a one-year contract extension earlier this season instead of engaging in talks over a more long-term arrangement. As things stand he is another 32-year-old vital to his team’s fortunes while playing on a deal which expires in 2025.

Percentage of Tottenham minutes played by Son this season: 53.8%

READ MORETrent, Son, Amad and 16 other Premier League players out of contract in 2025

 

West Ham – Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta
Bowen stressed a desire to “stay here for the rest of my career” when signing a contract until 2030, by which time he will be 33 and probably still playing alongside Michail Antonio.

Paqueta remains on the deal he initially signed when joining West Ham, who might wait for certain investigations to be carried out before discussing a stay beyond 2027.

Percentage of West Ham minutes played by Bowen this season: 97.4%
Percentage of West Ham minutes played by Paqueta this season: 76.7%

 

Wolves – Pablo Sarabia and Goncalo Guedes
That is a revealing snapshot into the operation at Wolves, who are hardly getting value for money on signings made in a different era. Guedes is contracted until 2027 but Sarabia’s deal is set to expire in 2025, at which point his entire earnings should probably just be chucked in front of Matheus Cunha.

Percentage of Wolves minutes played by Sarabia this season: 24.2%
Percentage of Wolves minutes played by Guedes this season: 22.2%