Football
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.
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.
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.
Club: Chelsea
Years active: 2012-2019
At his best it was almost impossible to stop the Belgian during his seven years in the Premier League, which he won twice as he made the PFA Team of the Year four times.
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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