De Bruyne, Reece James Top List of Highest Paid Premier League Captains

• Five of the Premier League's traditional top six have new captains this season
• Reece James took over as captain after the departure of Cesar Azpilicueta
• Arsenal are the only one not changing their captains as Martin Odegaard retains

The Premier League's traditional top six have had a change of captains this season, except Arsenal, who have continued with Norwegian attacker Martin Odegaard as their skipper.

The reason for the changes was the departures of their previous leaders, mostly due to contract expiration. Reece James is Chelsea's new captain and is the league's youngest captain as well as being one of the highest-paid.

Sports Brief looks at the highest-paid Premier League captains as first analysed by Planet Football.

1. Kevin De Bruyne

The Belgian creator took over after the departure of treble-winning captain Ilkay Gundogan, who moved to FC Barcelona at the expiration of his contract. He is currently on £400,000 per week. KDB could miss four months of action after limping off with a hamstring tear in the season opener against Burnley.

Pochettino leaks Chelsea XI and drops another hint ahead of season opener against Liverpool

Football

2. Reece James

Reece James was named the new Chelsea captain by Mauricio Pochettino ahead of their season opener against Liverpool. He succeeds Cesar Azpilicueta, whose position he also took on the pitch. He signed a new six years contract last year with an improved salary of £250,000.

3. Bruno Fernandes

His captaincy at Manchester United was made official before the new season after Harry Maguire was stripped, even though he wore the armband for most of last season with Maguire on the bench. According to Capology, he earns £240,000 per week after signing a new contract last year.

4. Virgil van Dijk

The Dutch defender has transformed Liverpool's defence since he joined in 2019. After the departures of Jordan Henderson and James Milner, he was handed the captain's armband while academy star Trent Alexander-Arnold was named vice. He earns a reported £220,000 per week at Merseyside.

5 Arsenal star who could replace injured Gabriel Jesus ahead of Man City tie

Football

5. Heung-min Son

As reported by The Athletic, following the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich. The South Korean international was named the new captain and assisted by Cuti Romero and James Maddison. He is on £190,000 weekly wage and turned down a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia.

Arsenal captain Odegaard comes in at number 8 with £115,000 per week wages, behind West Ham's Kurt Zouma and Aston Villa's John McGinn.

Maguire reacts to losing captaincy

Sports Brief reported that Maguire expressed his disappointment after he lost the armband, as contained in a statement on his social media before the club confirmed officially.

The England defender claimed the decision was reached after a conversation with the manager. However, he promised to help the club on and off the pitch regardless of the situation.