Have you ever wanted to know who the best players in the Premier League are, ranked on ability and talent alone? Well, wonder no more.

The best 50 footballers in the Premier League, ranked on overall ability, have been revealed by the latest football management simulation game from Sports Interactive, Football Manager 2021. In FM titles, every player is given a Current Ability rating out of 200, based on the strength of their individual attributes, which allows ranking of players based on ability alone.

The Football Manager database that is used within FM21 contains data on more than 800,000 individuals and 45,000 active clubs, with data sourced from their international on the ground scouting network which numbers roughly 1,000 people.

Among their ranks are some who are involved in football in professional capacities, including scouts and coaches. In addition, each annual iteration of Football Manager has built-in algorithms which check for outliers and data discrepancies.

* Click here to subscribe to Level up! The Esports and Gaming Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Spreaker.*

The list is full of Manchester City and Liverpool stars

Data accuracy is further ensured by input from contributors who are active within the professional game (players, agents etc.) who provide regular feedback.

Obviously, players from the traditional 'top six' in the Premier League dominate the list, but there are players from teams like Everton, Leeds United and Aston Villa included too.

Check out the full ranking of the top 50 players in the Premier League, according to FM21, below.

Harry Kane found himself high up on the list

The top 50 players in the Premier League ranked by FM21If you are new to the Football Manager series, each player in the FM database is given a value out of 200 for both Current Ability (how good they are now) and Potential Ability (how good they can become).

We have taken the top 50 players in the Premier League who have been given the highest Current Ability rating on FM21 and ranked them in order.

  1. Kevin De Bruyne (Man City) - Current Ability is 188/200

  2. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) - Current Ability is 182/200

  3. Sadio Mane (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 180/200

  4. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 180/200

  5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 179/200

  6. Sergio Aguero (Man City) - Current Ability is 178/200

  7. Alisson Becker (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 175/200

  8. Raheem Sterling (Man City) - Current Ability is 172/200

  9. Bernardo Silva (Man City) - Current Ability is 171/200

  10. Aymeric Laporte (Man City) - Current Ability is 170/200

  11. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 169/200

  12. Ederson (Man City) - Current Ability is 168/200

  13. Heung-Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur) - Current Ability is 167/200

  14. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) - Current Ability is 167/200

  15. N'Golo Kante (Chelsea) - Current Ability is 165/200

  16. Fernandinho (Man City) - Current Ability is 164/200

  17. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) - Current Ability is 164/200

  18. Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) - Current Ability is 163/200

  19. Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) - Current Ability is 162/200

  20. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) - Current Ability is 160/200

  21. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 160/200

  22. Fabinho (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 160/200

  23. Ilkay Gundogan (Man City) - Current Ability is 160/200

  24. Thiago (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 160/200

  25. Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 159/200

  26. Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) - Current Ability is 158/200

  27. Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 158/200

  28. Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) - Current Ability is 158/200

  29. Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 158/200

  30. Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea) - Current Ability is 158/200

  31. Joao Cancelo (Man City) - Current Ability is 157/200

  32. Rodri (Man City) - Current Ability is 157/200

  33. Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) - Current Ability is 157/200

  34. Anthony Martial (Manchester United) - Current Ability is 156/200

  35. Gabriel Jesus (Man City) - Current Ability is 156/200

  36. Timo Werner (Chelsea) - Current Ability is 156/200

  37. Thiago Silva (Chelsea) - Current Ability is 156/200

  38. Naby Keita (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 155/200

  39. Thomas Partey (Arsenal) - Current Ability is 155/200

  40. Riyad Mahrez (Man City) - Current Ability is 155/200

  41. Kyle Walker (Man City) - Current Ability is 155/200

  42. Willian (Arsenal) - Current Ability is 155/200

  43. David De Gea (Manchester United) - Current Ability is 155/200

  44. Ruben Dias (Man City) - Current Ability is 154/200

  45. Joe Gomez (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 154/200

  46. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 154/200

  47. Joel Matip (Liverpool) - Current Ability is 154/200

  48. Rodrigo (Leeds United) - Current Ability is 154/200

  49. Kai Havertz (Chelsea) - Current Ability is 153/200

  50. James Rodriguez (Everton) - Current Ability is 153/200

Pogba is the highest-rated Manchester United player on the list

James Milner (Liverpool), Allan (Everton) and Rui Patricio (Wolves) also boast a 153 out of 200 Current Ability on FM21, so just miss out on a place in this list, based on their potential ability being lower, as that was the only way to differentiate them.

Football Manager (FM) is the world’s leading football management simulation title.

The latest game to be released within the FM series, Football Manager 2021, is out now on PC, Mac, Mobile, Touch, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.

FM has grown to become more than just a game and has embedded itself in the football industry; the FM database is even used by several clubs to help shape their recruitment strategies and thousands of professional footballers and backroom staff members are committed fans of the game.