Revealed: Manchester United and Chelsea headline lead the Top 20 most expensive wage bills

Revealed: Manchester United and Chelsea headline lead the Top 20 most expensive wage bills in the Premier League.

PREMIER LEAGUE Revealed: Manchester United and Chelsea headline lead the Top 20 most expensive wage bills

David Ben 18:20 - 15.03.2023

A new study has revealed the Premier League clubs with the most expensive wage bills as well as which club would be at top of the table based on this criterion.

It is no secret a whole lot of money is involved in professional football.

However, in recent years it has become crystal clear that the amount of money invested in a team doesn’t directly equate directly its ranking.

The Premier League is arguably the most-watched football league in the world, and has over the years, attracted the brightest talents in the game to write their stories in English football.

The Premier League also boasts some of the wealthiest clubs in European football, with club transfer records smashed season in-season out.

The English Premier League Logo
The English Premier League Logo The English Premier League Logo

A new study has revealed which Premier League clubs spend the most on their players.

Online independent casino reviewer CasinoBonusCA compiled the annual salaries of the Premier League teams and ranked them from most expensive to least to find out how the table would stand if wages was the sole determining factor. 

Which Premier League team spends the most money on salaries?

Chelsea FC co-owner Todd Boehly

With a combined team wage total of just over £212 million, Chelsea spends the most money on salaries in the Premier League. But Manchester United are not far off as well.

In this article we will look at who the biggest salary spenders in the Premier League are and who would be at the top of the Premier League table if money was the determining factor.

Top 5 Premier League teams with the highest wage bill

1. Chelsea

Chelsea FC

Chelsea would be top of the Premier League if money was the determining factor. 

With a combined team wage total of just over £212m, Chelsea sits just a little above Manchester United.

2. Manchester United

Manchester United players celebrate thier Carabao Cup triumph in the Wembley dressing room // Man United Image

Manchester United’s total wage is £211,875,000 which keeps the current third place team in the top three.

Thanks to David de Gea who earns the most at Manchester United with £19.5m a year, his team is ahead of their local rivals Man City.

3. Manchester City

Man City qualified for the Champions League quarter final stages

Manchester City whose most expensive player is Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne who earns £20.8m annually. 

Despite its healthy total annual team salary of £182,640,000, Manchester City is the first team with a total annual wage below £200m. 

4. Liverpool 

Liverpool players celebrate after 7-0 win against Manchester United in the Premier League

The Merseyside Reds has the fourth highest total team wage with £185,558,880.

5. Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur players celebrate after defeating Manchester City in the Premier League

Spurs is the team with the fifth highest total annual salary with £110,438,000 and is the last team to have their total team salary over £100m.

Arsenal FC

The sixth and seventh teams are Arsenal and Aston Villa with total team salaries of £97,878,000 and £89,880,000, respectively.

Everton sits in eighth place with a total annual team salary of £80,707,000 in part thanks to their most expensive player, Abdoulaye Doucouré, who earns £6.24m annually, Everton comes in eighth.

Everton players celebrate after scoring against Leeds United in the Premier League

West Ham would finish ninth on the table, thanks to its team total of £80,060,000.

Tenth place according to expense would be Newcastle United. The Magpies are the first team to have a total annual salary below £80m, but can still boast an enviable £76,220,000.

Heading up the least expensive teams of the Premier League is Leicester City.  

Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City

Leicester City would be 11th due to its total team wage of £73,190,000.

Coming up next is Crystal Palace, with around £6m less at £67,624,000, placed in 12th place.

Next up are Nottingham Forest and Fulham whose total annual players’ salaries are £67,460,000 and £56,668,000, respectively.

(From L-R) Nottingham Forest stars Serge Aurier, Jesse Lingard and Taiwo Awoniyi

 Despite their proximity in this table, Fulham has managed to do relatively well all season while Nottingham Forest has middled for most of the season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers sits in 15th place as the most expensive team, whose total team wage is £52,702,000, closely followed by Southampton in 16th which has a total team wage of £51,496,000.

Leeds placed in 17th place spending a comparatively modest £48,100,000, with just under a tenth of it going on one player, Rodrigo, who earns £5.2m a year.

AFC Bournemouth.

AFC Bournemouth is the last team to earn above than £40m due to its £42,276,000 total, a tenth of which is paid to Jordan Zemura, the Cherries’ highest-paid player.

The last two teams are Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford, earning a total team salary of £35,685,000 and £30,170,000.

Top 20 Premier League teams with the highest wage bill

Here’s how the Premier League table would look like if wages was the sole determining factor this season.


Premier League Team 

Most expensive team (£) 

Chelsea 

212,090,000 

Manchester United 

211,875,000 

Manchester City 

182,640,000 

Liverpool 

158,788,000 

Tottenham Hotspur 

110,438,000 

Arsenal 

97,878,000 

Aston Villa 

89,880,000 

Everton 

80,707,000 

West Ham United 

80,060,000 

Newcastle United 

76,220,600 

Leicester City 

73,190,000 

Crystal Palace 

67,624,000 

Nottingham Forest 

67,460,000 

Fulham 

56,668,000 

Wolverhampton Wanderers 

52,702,000 

Southampton 

51,496,000 

Leeds United 

48,100,000 

AFC Bournemouth 

42,276,000 

Brighton and Hove Albion  

35,685,000 

Brentford 

30,170,000 

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