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The English Premier League is the most-watched football league in the world. It also happens to be the wealthiest football league on the planet. Last season, as many as six clubs in the Premier League had players whose annual salaries exceeded $5 million.
To put that number into perspective, only six other clubs in Europe's top 5 leagues, which includes Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, had heftier player wages.
Five most overrated players in the Premier League
Considering the popularity of the Premier League, some of the finest players to have graced the sport have played in the competition. However, some players' performances haven't justified their high wages.
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On that note, let us have a look at five such players who can be deemed the most overrated in the Premier League at the moment.
#5 Paul Pogba
2018 FIFA World Cup winner Paul Pogba has recently found himself in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Since his £89 million transfer from Juventus in the summer of 2016, the French midfielder has done very little to justify his enormous payout at Old Trafford. In 174 games in all competitions for Manchester United during this period, Pogba has had a measly return of just 33 goals and 35 assists.
In fact, for all the hype and talk about his talent, Pogba has netted only twice in his last 33 games for the club. Last weekend, the Frenchman conceded a penalty from which Arsenal scored to record their first Premier League win at Old Trafford in 14 years.
Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has even labelled the World Cup winner as "not world-class in any shape or form", a perception not many would disagree, considering the player's recent returns.
In other words, Pogba has simply failed to put the stage on fire and has largely underwhelmed during his time at Old Trafford. Nevertheless, he remains an integral player for the Premier League team's manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
#4 Nicolas Pepe
Nicolas Pepe became Arsenal's most expensive acquisition when the Gunners splashed out £72 million last summer to acquire his services.
However, the transition from Ligue 1 to the Premier League has been far from smooth for the much-touted French winger, who has failed to hit the ground running, perhaps expectedly.
In 52 appearances in all competitions for the club since his arrival, Pepe has made 21 goal contributions (10 goals and 11 assists) - 12 of them coming in the Premier League - which isn't terrible by any stretch of imagination, but is nowhere near enough to justify his enormous price.
Pepe is renowned for his dribbling prowess, ability to run behind defenses, score goals and also create them. However, during his short stint at Arsenal so far, the player has only provided fleeting glimpses of his ability, perhaps because he may be trying too hard.
Nevertheless, Pepe has the full support of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who has alluded to the fact that the player's hefty price tag hasn't helped him deliver his best in a new environment.
“The price that we paid for him puts him in a difficult position straight away because he’s going to be compared to players of that calibre. He was in France and was one of the biggest stars in the league. He had an incredible year. Now he comes here, and a lot of people didn’t even know him and you paid that price tag. So for him to put his brain into this picture and solve all this is not easy,” said Arteta.
#3 Jordan Pickford
Since his heroics in England's penalty shootout win in the 2018 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals in Russia, Jordan Pickford's stock has been steadily on the decline, especially in the Premier League.
Everton have made one of their best ever starts to a Premier League season by winning four of their first five games, but Pickford has been anything but one of their standout performers.
The goalkeeper has kept just one clean sheet in six Premier League games this season, conceding as many as seven goals in this period, which leaves Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti with a decision to make regarding his first-choice keeper.
In a recent podcast, former goalkeeper David Preece has said that Pickford has not just made mistakes, but several aspects of his game are awry as well.
"It’s not just the mistakes. His decision-making is off, and that leads to hesitancy and bad positioning."
His horror tackle on Virgil Van Dijk, that led to the Liverpool defender getting severely injured and probably out for the season, has added to the clamor against the England goalkeeper.
#2 Delle Alli
After making his name under former manager Mauricio Pochettino, Dele Alli has found the going tough under new Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho.
Beset by injuries and a loss of form, the midfielder is no longer an automatic starter in the Spurs' first team. Since scoring eight times in 25 games in the Premier League last season, Alli has only appeared in six games in various competitions this campaign.
Considering his diminishing goal contributions, transfer rumors in the off-season had regularly linked the player, who has scored over 50 Premier League goals, with a move away from Spurs, but that did not happen. However, former players have opined that Alli could struggle to break into a top team any time soon.
“Dele Alli needs to find his form. You can’t say he’s not done great things because he’s scored over 50 Premier League goals. He can be a brilliant player for Spurs. He’s been very average lately, but I still think there’s something there they need to find and motivate him to get the best out of him," said ex-Tottenham midfielder Jamie O' Hara.
#1 Harry Maguire
Ever since his big-money move to Manchester United last summer that made him the world's most expensive defender, Harry Maguire has struggled to live up to his hefty price tag and silence his growing army of critics and naysayers.
Recently, the centre-back was in the news for all the wrong reasons when he was found guilty by a court during a brawl while on vacation in the Greek island of Mykonos. His indiscretion cost him a place in England's UEFA Nations League squad against Iceland and Denmark.
Critics have often criticized Maguire for his lack of pace, with the player's struggles in the left side of the central defence not helping his cause. Maguire and the Manchester United defense came in for heavy criticism after a 1-6 Premier League defeat at home against Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the season.
