Mohamed Salah? Vincent Kompany? Harry Kane? Who makes it into The National's Premier League team of the decade

Steve Luckings picks his best XI and manager since 2010

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  Goalkeeper: David de Gea (Manchester United 2011 - present) – Not much competition for the Spaniard in goal. His shop-stopping abilities have earned him a Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League in United colours as well as the club’s player of the year on three occasions. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

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  Right-back: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea 2008-2017) – The Serb was both an outstanding defender and potent attacker during his nine years at Stamford Bridge. Tough as teak, he scored important goals too, none more so than the headed winner in the 2013 Europa League final. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

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  Centre-back: Virgil van Dijk (Southampton 2015-2018; Liverpool 2018 to present) – While Liverpool’s fab front three are rightly lauded, it was the addition of the dominant Dutchman that turned the Reds from losing finalists to kings of Europe in the space of 12 months. The £75 million paid to Southampton in January 2018 looks like the deal of the decade. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

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  Centre-back: Vincent Kompany (Manchester City 2008-2019) – Few defined an era like the Belgian did at Manchester City. Signed before the Abu Dhabi takeover, Kompany was the defensive stalwart that saw City become English football’s dominant force for the decade. With Kompany leading, City won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and four League cups. A colossus. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)

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  Left-back: Ashley Cole (Chelsea 2006-2014) - Arguably the Premier League’s greatest ever left-back, Cole is that rarity among English footballers in that he actually fulfilled his potential. His acceleration and ability to support helped spur the most successful period in Chelsea’s history, helping the Blues win a clean sweep of Premier League, four FA Cups, the League Cup, Champions League and Europa League during his time at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

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  Midfield: Yaya Toure (Manchester City 2010-2018) – The all-action Ivorian was the complete package: brains and brawn, destroyer and dashing. How he wasn’t named player of the year in 2014, with 20 goals as City romped to the Premier League title, still defies logic. A club legend. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS / AFP)

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  Midfield: David Silva (Manchester City 2010 – present) – Rightly regarded as the club’s greatest ever signing. For nine years and counting City have marched to the tune of the Spanish maestro. His ability to unlock defences should be made a crime. The former Valencia player will leave the club at the end of this campaign, so expect a fitting send-off for a decade of service. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

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  Midfield: N’Golo Kante (Leicester City 2015-2016; Chelsea 2016 – present) – Few had heard of the tiny Frenchman when Leicester paid Caen £5.6 million in 2015 weeks after the club had narrowly avoided relegation. It didn’t take long for Kante to come to prominence though, propelling the Foxes to the most improbable title win. He then became the first and only player of the decade to win back-to-back titles with two clubs when he joined Chelsea a year later. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

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  Striker: Harry Kane (Tottenham 2009 – present) – Kane’s scoring record ranks alongside the very best in the Premier League and in Europe. In five-and-a-half seasons as a first-team regular, Kane has banged in an incredible 134 Premier League goals and 179 in all competitions to sit third on the club’s all-time scoring list. And to think, he used to go an entire month (August) without scoring! AFP

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  Striker: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City 2011 – to present) – The Argentine is a goals guarantor. In nine seasons at City, Aguero’s lowest goals tally is 17 while he has passed 30 strikes five times. His goal with the final kick of the season to clinch the Premier League in 2012 was without a doubt the defining moment of the decade. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

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  Striker: Eden Hazard (Chelsea 2012-2019) – Before Liverpool fans pelt us with eggs for not including either Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mane, hear us out. While those two are decent shouts for inclusion in any team of any decade, Hazard set the standard for how an outside winger can be transformed to devastating inside forward. His importance to Chelsea cannot be overstated either, with the Belgian helping the club win two Premier Leagues, an FA Cup, League Cup and two Europa Leagues during his seven years in West London. Reuters

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  Manager: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City 2016 – present) – Transformed a very good team into a great one. While City have the financial backing to attract the best players, it was the Catalan’s assessment that the area where City most needed reinforcements after finishing fourth in 2017 was at full-back saw them go on to set a host of Premier League records in 2018 before winning a second successive title in 2019. Action Images via Reuters

As a new year approaches, it's hard to look beyond a Liverpool team building up a head of steam that could see the Reds sweep all before them to become only the second Premier League club this century to go an entire campaign unbeaten.

Jurgen Klopp's European and world champions are sitting pretty 10 points clear at the top with their best chance of ending a 30-year wait for an English title. They enter 2020 as the team to beat.

But before the clock strikes midnight on December 31 there is plenty of football to cram in over the Christmas period.

When it does, it will bring down the curtain on one of the most memorable decades in English football.

From Alex Ferguson signing off with the last of his 13 titles in 2013, Leicester City, the ultimate underdogs, putting together a fairy-tale run to the 2016 championship, and Manchester City becoming the dominant force in English football, culminating in becoming the first English top-flight team to amass 100 points in 2018.

Of course, none of those achievements are even possible without the exceptional talents of the players who lit up the English top flight from 2010-2019.

With that in mind, above is a photo gallery of our Premier League team of the decade, using a 4-3-3 system plus a manager.

To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or thumbnails, or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.