Ranking every Premier League club by their wage bill in 2024/25: Man Utd in 2nd, Liverpool fall outside top four
Bruno Fernandes, Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard are all on big-money contracts
The Premier League is arguably the most lucrative division in world football and most of the clubs are able to pay huge salaries to their star players.
Wage bills have continued to rise in recent years and the highest-paid player in the Premier League now earns over £20million-per-year.
But it’s not just the ‘top six’ that spend a lot on wages as TV deals and sponsorship agreements ensure that clubs in the bottom half of the table can also offer lucrative contracts.
We’ve ranked every Premier League club in 2024/25 by their annual wage bill.
20. Ipswich Town – £32,916,000
Ipswich Town were playing League One football in 2021/22 but they’ve since won back-to-back promotions to reach the Premier League.
The Tractor Boys are operating on a smaller budget than anyone else in the top flight and Championship side Leeds United also have a bigger wage bill.
Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland earn a combined £40.3million-per-year, which is more than the entire Ipswich squad.
19. Brentford – £41,470,000
Thomas Frank has done a sensational job at Brentford, who continue to punch above their financial weight in the Premier League.
The average wage of a Brentford player is currently £1.43million-per-year and full-back Aaron Hickey is their top earner on £70,000-per-week.
18. Wolves – £53,222,000
Wolves have slashed their wage bill in the last couple of years as they look to stay within Premier League profit and sustainability rules.
It has dropped from £67.7million-per-year in the 2022/23 season to £53.2million-per-year in the current campaign.
17. Bournemouth – £54,704,000
Bournemouth are now owned by American billionaire Bill Foley, who would be in favour of the Premier League adopting a salary cap.
“In my view the lower table teams are really undervalued,” Foley said. “In the NHL [National Hockey League], we have a hard salary cap that you can’t go over, and that has brought quality to the league.
“I would like to see more control of our spending in the Premier League, because we can’t compete spending with a sovereign, but we can improve and play exciting football.”
A first Premier League goal for Evanilson 🇧🇷@afcbournemouth‘s Brazilian number 9️⃣ is up and running! pic.twitter.com/SondSZYirO
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 3, 2024
16. Southampton – £56,030,000
Southampton won the Championship play-off final last season and their payroll has since risen from £43.3million-per-year to £56million-per-year.
The highest-paid player at St Mary’s Stadium is now Aaron Ramsdale, who signed a £120,000-per-week contract in the summer.
15. Brighton – £60,658,000
Brighton’s reputation as one of the best-run clubs in Europe is supported by the fact that they are 15th in the Premier League’s wage bill table.
“It’s very difficult for clubs to be competitive and to do right by their clubs but, on the other hand, we’ve seen a lot of clubs spend a lot of money, not be sustainable, and put the clubs long-term viability on the line,” owner Tony Bloom said.
“Something like a wage cap will be talked about, but I see it very difficult to come to fruition.”
14. Nottingham Forest – £63,492,000
Nottingham Forest faced Premier League Profit and Sustainability (PSR) charges last season and they received a four-point deduction.
They tried to balance the books in the summer and their wage bill has gone from £73.7million-per-year to £63.4million-per-year.
13. Leicester City – £65,416,000
Leicester City had the biggest wage bill in the Championship in 2023/24 and they are now the 13th-highest spenders in the Premier League.
The average wage of a Leicester player is £2.33million-per-year and their top earner is Jamie Vardy, who has a £140,000-a-week contract.
Sometimes you just have to welly it 💥 pic.twitter.com/3g1apiNxzX
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 19, 2024
12. Fulham – £68,406,000
Fulham are currently paying their players a combined total of £68.4million-per-year in wages, which is a new club record.
They gave Joachim Andersen a £90,000-per-week contract in the summer and are also covering all of Reiss Nelson’s £100,000-per-week wages during his loan spell at Craven Cottage.
11. Everton – £69,342,000
Everton have had some well-publicised financial problems in recent years and they’ve had to offload some of their highest earners.
Their wage bill has dropped from £107.6million-per-year in the 2021/22 season to £69.3million-per-year in the current campaign.
10. Crystal Palace – £69,810,000
Palace are in the top 10 and their chairman has stated that talks are being held about the implementation of a strict salary cap in the Premier League.
“There are really positive conversations going on about it,” Steve Parish said. “We also have to be very careful because there are also unintended consequences. Hopefully, we will get somewhere that will be beneficial.
“Not just to the clubs in the Premier League but to the whole pyramid and their ability to compete. We are voting for our competitors to be able to do better and challenge us.”
9. West Ham – £90,220,000
West Ham have recently handed out some lucrative contracts and they will spend £90.2million on player wages in the 2024/25 season.
Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen are the joint-highest-paid players at the club as they are both earning £150,000-per-week.
8. Newcastle United – £98,592,000
Newcastle’s owners have invested significant sums into the squad and that is reflected in the wage bill as they are putting £98.5million each year into their squad’s respective bank accounts.
The average wage of a Newcastle player is £3.08million-per-year and their top earner is Bruno Guimaraes, who has a £160,000-a-week contract.
7. Tottenham – £103,506,000
Tottenham let a lot of players leave at the end of the 2023/24 season and their wage bill is now the lowest of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ clubs.
Spurs are spending nearly 10 per cent of their wage bill on club captain Son Heung-min, who pockets £9.88million-per-year.
6. Aston Villa – £104,676,000
Alongside the Premier League’s traditional ‘big six’, Aston Villa are the only club to break the £100million-per-year barrier on wage spend.
They now have a bigger wage bill than the likes of Juventus, AC Milan, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon.
5. Liverpool – £128,804,000
Liverpool are currently top of the Premier League table in 2024/25 but with an annual outlay of £128.8million they sit fifth in terms of wages.
Their wage bill could fall even further as Mohamed Salah (£18.2m-per-year), Virgil van Dijk (£11.4m-per-year) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£9.3m-per-year) are all out of contract at the end of the season.
Mo Salah’s iconic turn and finish to win it for @LFC against Man City 💫
Two years ago today… pic.twitter.com/TBCuqNIcM2
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 16, 2024
4. Chelsea – £171,210,000
While Chelsea owner Todd Boehly continues to spend a lot of money on transfers, their wage bill has been cut in the last two years.
They were paying the squad £226.5million-per-year in wages in the 2022/23 season but that has since dropped by £55.3million.
3. Arsenal – £172,146,000
Arsenal finished runners-up in 2022/23 and 2023/24 and their wage bill has risen sharply in recent years as players have been rewarded for their performances.
The likes of William Saliba, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu have all got pay rises in the last 18 months.
2. Manchester United – £185,580,000
United had the highest wage bill in the Premier League in 2023/24 but they’ve now dropped to second place after releasing Raphael Varane and Anthony Martial, who were earning a combined total of £30.6million.
Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is looking to save more money and has decided to end Sir Alex Ferguson’s £2million-a-year contract as an ambassador.
1. Manchester City – £201,864,000
City currently have the highest wage bill in the Premier League and the players justified their wages in the 2023/24 season by winning a record-breaking fourth title in a row.
They have four players earning more than £15million-a-year – Kevin De Bruyne (£20.8m-per-year), Erling Haaland (£19.5m-per-year), Bernardo Silva (£15.6m-per-year) and Jack Grealish (£15.6m-per-year).