The Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world and that means millions of people around the world want to watch it, making it one of the richest too. But the teams that spend the most don’t always come out on top in the table.
English clubs have long spent big money on wages to tempt the best players to come and play for them which, in turn, increases the popularity of the league, bringing in even more money.
It means that the wage bills of Premier League clubs are often millions of pounds more than their foreign competitors, with the wages of the ‘big six’ especially eye-watering.
Discussion on footballers’ wages seems to be a regular occurrence, with much discontent about the amount of money some of the top footballers earn.
Last summer saw one of the world’s most notable football players return to England when Cristiano Ronaldo re-signed for Manchester United while Romelu Lukaku also made the same journey from Serie A to the Premier League.
It can be argued that neither transfer paid off.
Manchester United have long topped the Premier League’s wage bill table and have one of the biggest payrolls in world football, but they have struggled to perform in recent years while other clubs have spent less money on wages but got better results.
We’ve taken a look at the wages of all the Premier League clubs and compared their position on the list of highest salaries to their current position in the league to find out.
Note: the figures come from sports finance outlet Spotrac and league positions are correct as of April 26, 2022.
1. Manchester United
League Position: 6th
Total wage bill: £208million
2. Chelsea
League Position: 3rd
Total wage bill: £162million
3. Manchester City
League Position: 1st
Total wage bill: £143million
4. Liverpool
League Position: 2nd
Total wage bill: £134million
5. Arsenal
League Position: 4th
Total wage bill: £81million
6. Everton
League Position: 18th
Total wage bill: £71million
7. West Ham
League Position: 7th
Total wage bill: £60million
8. Spurs
League Position: 5th
Total wage bill: £55million
9. Leicester City
League Position: 10th
Total wage bill: £55million
10. Crystal Palace
League Position: 14th
Total wage bill: £52million
11. Newcastle United
League Position: 9th
Total wage bill: £47million
12. Aston Villa
League Position: 15th
Total wage bill: £45million
13. Southampton
League Position: 13th
Total wage bill: £44million
14. Wolves
League Position: 8th
Total wage bill: £43million
15. Brighton
League Position: 11th
Total wage bill: £33million
16. Burnley
League Position: 17th
Total wage bill: £33million
17. Watford
League position: 19th
Total wage bill: £30million
18. Norwich
League position: 20th
Total wage bill: £23million
19. Leeds
League position: 16th
Total wage bill: £17million
20. Brentford
League position: 12th
Total wage bill: £12million