Revealed: The Premier League's biggest wage bills

Chelsea's financial challenges have been laid bare after their wage bill soared beyond the £400million mark last season.

The Stamford Bridge club were second only to Manchester City last season when it came to paying players and staff - but didn't come close to replicating the success.

While City's £422.9m wage bill included many bonuses because they won the Treble, Chelsea spent vast sums on their bloated squad while finishing 12th in the Premier League table.

With a transfer market spend of over £1billion since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital arrived in 2022, the club's latest financial figures showed a loss of £89.9m for 2022-23.

This figure would have been significantly higher but for the £76.5m sale of two hotels at Stamford Bridge to a subsidiary of Chelsea's holding company.

This deal will help Chelsea meet the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and avoid sanctions such as points deductions but the club's wage bill continued to rise.

The £404m figure puts Chelsea's wages-to-turnover ratio at 79.2 per cent, one of the highest figures in the Premier League.

That sum is, however, believed to include substantial pay-offs for sacked managers Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter last season.

Chelsea's highest-earning players include Raheem Sterling, believed to be on £325,000-per-week, and Enzo Fernandez on £315,000-a-week.

City and Chelsea are the only English clubs to have surpassed the £400m wage bill mark but City's wages-to-turnover ratio is a much more sustainable 59 per cent.

Chelsea leaped above Liverpool (£373m) and Manchester United (£331.4m) in the Premier League wages table for 2022-23, according to the latest sets of financial accounts published.

Liverpool's total showed a £7m rise for 2022-23, largely as a result of Mohamed Salah's improved deal.

Man United's was down by £52.8m for 2022-23 because they weren't playing in the Champions League, which triggers a wage cut for the players, while high-earner Cristiano Ronaldo departed mid-way through the season.

With United's revenues rising 11 per cent to £648m, their wage bill only amounted for a little over half - a healthy position to be in.

Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have a similarly sustainable percentage of around half on their respective wage bills of £251m and £234.7m. Spurs did see their salary costs overtake Arsenal in the latest figures, however.

By contrast, Everton's wages-to-turnover ratio was an alarming 92 per cent after a reduction in turnover to £172.2m and a rise in wages to £159m.

Only Nottingham Forest of last season's top-flight clubs had a higher percentage (94) and maybe it comes as no surprise this has caught up with the two clubs in terms of points deductions this term.

Everton have been deducted eight points overall for breaches of PSR rules - they were originally docked 10, which was reduced to six on appeal, before being deducted a further two.

Forest had four points knocked off their tally, a decision which is currently under appeal.

The three teams promoted into the Premier League last season unsurprisingly have the three smallest wage bills.

Burnley at £53.6m, itself a reduction after they were relegated in 2021-22, Sheffield United at £48.6m and Luton on £24.3m.

Luton's wages-to-turnover ratio soared as a result of bonuses paid following their unexpected promotion but the Hatters should make back any deficit as a result of a Premier League cash boost this season.