Every Premier League club’s wage bill for the 2024/25 season has been revealed – and, unsurprisingly, there’s a gaping chasm between those at the top – namely the Manchester duo – and the lowest-paying teams such as Ipswich Town and Southampton – clubs that were promoted last season.

There is so much money involved in the world of football in the modern day that fans would be forgiven for thinking every top flight team has endless amounts of cash to pay their playing staff. While some clubs do spend huge amounts on their wage bill, others do have a much lower ceiling when it comes to finances.

Many of the figures in question are bordering on astronomical, and they are only set to rise further due to the growing influence and competition posed by the wealth of the Saudi Pro League. Top players in England are looking for a pay rise, or considering moves to the Middle East for the lucrative contracts being handed out in that part of the world.

With that being said, very little sympathy can be felt for Premier League clubs that have almost taken over Europe in terms of financial power. Clubs that are seen as historically and traditionally bigger, do find themselves towards the top of the list, while the sides to have become Premier League sides in the more recent past are somewhat struggling to keep up.

The wage bills for each club come via FBref, with estimates coming from Capology. In the case of some clubs also, there is limited data out there, meaning some of the figures given are estimates. We’ve taken a look at the annual wage bills of each Premier League club in order from lowest to highest.

20 Ipswich Town

Annual spend on wages: £37,856,000

Newly-promoted Ipswich Town face a gargantuan task of trying to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season. The Tractor Boys, under the stewardship of Kieran McKenna, are operating on a budget far smaller than anyone else in the top flight. Paying their squad a total of £37,856,000 throughout the year, Erling Haaland on his own is making just £10 million less at Manchester City. Ridiculous.

The club have been shrewd in their business, putting together a team they wholeheartedly feel is capable of avoiding relegation, but they’ve done so without breaking the bank. Their promotion provided them with plenty of cash to spend in the transfer windows gone by but, pre-Premier League, just one of their players was earning more than £1 million throughout the season – and that was Axel Tuanzebe.

19 Brentford

Annual spend on wages: £41,496,000

If anything truly highlights the excellent job that Thomas Frank and his recruitment team have done – and continue to do on a year by year basis – at Brentford, it’s that they have the lowest wage bill of any club to have played in the top tier last term, yet the Bees continue to operate above their pay grade and remain a solid, and competitive, side in the division.

With the departure of talismanic forward Ivan Toney, things are going to be a little trickier for the club going forwards as they attempt to hold onto their status as a top flight team. If they do, it’s only another testament to how impressive the job that Frank is doing at the club with how little they’re spending. Aaron Hickey and Ben Mee, two defenders, are the club’s highest-earning assets.

18 Southampton

Annual spend on wages: £48,906,000

Having just returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking, Southampton have the second-lowest payroll in the entire division. Ivan Juric’s side are paying a sizeable amount more than Ipswich and Brentford, but it’s still lower than plenty of teams in the top flight. Joe Aribo joined the side in 2022 and had a strong showing in the Championship last time out. He’s currently the Saints’ second highest-earner, raking in £3,640,000 on a yearly basis.

He’s behind glove bearer and £6,420,000-per-year earner, Aaron Ramsdale. Just below the aforementioned duo is Jan Bednarek, Jack Stephens and Lesley Ugochukwu, who are all also earning in the region of £3 million a year. It’s going to be a tough ask for Juric and his entourage to guide the side to avoid relegation this year and if he does, it will be a near-miracle considering how much he’s paying.

17 Bournemouth

Annual spend on wages: £49,764,000

It has been all change in the Bournemouth over the last few years. The arrival of Andoni Iraola in the summer of 2023 marked a real action of ambition from the club, and they exceeded expectations during his debut season in England. Complicating matters on the pitch, the club lost their star forward Dominic Solanke to Tottenham Hotspur this summer, but it did, in turn, slash a large chunk off of their wage bill.

They still have several high earners in the squad, though, such as the in-form goalscoring revelation of Justin Kluivert, Kepa Arrizabalaga, who arrived on loan from Chelsea shortly before the summer transfer window shut, Ryan Christie, Luis Sinisterra and Tyler Adams.

16 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Annual spend on wages: £54,782,000

Despite being tipped for a season of struggle last year, Gary O’Neil and Wolverhampton Wanderers enjoyed a more than solid campaign. Whether they’ll repeat their impressive performances this time around remains to be seen, but if they do, it will be with one of the lowest payrolls in the entirety of the Premier League. For refernece: their best player and one of the best strikers in the league, Matheus Cunha, pockets £60,000 a week.

Pablo Sarabia stands tall as their highest-earning star on £4,680,000-per-year, while the likes of Goncalo Guedes, Nelson Semedo, Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha are all hot on his heels to earn that status. With Vitor Pereira now in charge of the Old Gold, fans and players alike will be hoping that the above players will end their season on a high by staying in the Premier League again.

15 Brighton & Hove Albion

Annual spend on wages: £57,746,000

As is the case with Brentford, all credit has to go to Brighton & Hove Albion – and in particular, their recruitment genius – for the enviable manner in which the football club has been run from top to bottom over the years. With brand-new boss Fabian Hurzeler at the helm, the 2024/25 campaign started very promisingly, but there have been some bumps in the road along the way.

With a very young squad in general, the Seagulls do not have many high earners on the books in comparison to other sides. Top of their list is new boy Ferdi Kadioglu. The Turkish midfielder joined from Fenerbahce this summer and immediately became the highest earner. Other top earners in the team include Kaoru Mitoma, Lewis Dunk, Danny Welbeck and former Leeds United talisman Georginio Rutter, who earns £3,900,000 on an annual basis.

14 Leicester City

Annual spend on wages: £62,816,000

Eight years after winning the Premier League, Leicester City have returned to it following a brief stint in the Championship. They’ve come back with one of the lowest payrolls in the division too. Aside from Jamie Vardy, who is earning an astonishing £140,000-a-week despite being 38 years of age, no one else in the team is making more than £100,000 on a weekly basis.

Odsonne Edouard, who joined the Foxes on loan from Crystal Palace last summer, and former Tottenham Hotspur man Harry Winks are the joint second highest-earners in Steve Cooper’s team. Boubakary Soumare and Ricardo Pereira aren’t too far behind on £4,160,000 each. Whether their reluctance – or in fact, inability – to compete with other teams in the top division is a detriment remains unknown.

13 Nottingham Forest

Annual spend on wages: £63,492,000

Nottingham Forest secured promotion back to the Premier League in 2022 after over two decades away from the division and didn’t hold back when recruiting players they thought would give them the best chance at remaining in the top flight. The club have signed a ridiculous number of stars over the last couple of years, and they haven’t been afraid to offer their new talent sizeable salaries either.

In 2024/25, they’ve taken the Premier League by storm, but with the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood earning decent figures at the City Ground, they’re clearly prepared to pay top wages to keep them battling at the summit of England’s top tier. Whether it’s sustainable, however, does remain to be seen. Nikola Milenkovic, one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs right now, is the club’s highest earner at £5,460,000 per year.

12 Crystal Palace

Annual spend on wages: £67,210,000

A resurgent Crystal Palace side turned their form around last season following Oliver Glasner’s arrival, with Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze being the main catalysts behind their turnaround. The former was one of the side’s highest earners, but his move to Bayern Munich this summer has shaken the apple cart.

The forward was the side’s highest earner before his exit, but that slot has now been filled by brand-new signing Daichi Kamada. The 28-year-old spent one year with Lazio before moving to Selhurst Park this summer, and he was handed the highest salary at Palace. Eze – viewed as the club’s most likeable player – and goalkeeper Dean Henderson are also earning substantial wages, with £100,000 entering their bank accounts every week.

11 Fulham

Annual spend on wages: £68,406,000

Having lost their talisman, Aleksander Mitrovic, to the riches of the Saudi Pro League last summer, Fulham still managed to outperform their pre-season expectations and finish comfortably in the middle of the Premier League. Marco Silva has put together a solid squad capable of avoiding any form of relegation battle, and he’s done so with one of the lowest payrolls in the division.

Former Arsenal man Bernd Leno is the top earner at Craven Cottage by some distance, but Reiss Nelson, Raul Jimenez, Alex Iwobi and Joachim Andersen also all take him quite a pretty penny. With three of their top earners being former Arsenal players, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Emile Smith Rowe was also taking home a large wage every week too.

10 Everton

Annual spend on wages: £72,462,000

While Brighton and Brentford are often praised for being very well-run clubs that punch well above their weight from a financial standpoint, Everton are almost the complete opposite. This has at least been the case in recent years, but they’ve slowly started to trim their payroll with players such as Amadou Onana and Andre Gomes, who were on huge wages, leaving them in the summer.

Their high wage expenditure hasn’t translated to success on the pitch in recent years, though. The club have been dragged into relegation battles for several straight seasons now. Jordan Pickford and Abdoulaye Doucoure earn £6,500,000 and £6,760,000, respectively, making them the two highest earners on the blue half of Merseyside.

9 Newcastle United

Annual spend on wages: £93,132,000

Ever since their well-documented takeover in October 2021, Newcastle United have been able to spend a lot more money than they had done under the previous regime – and the on-pitch results proved that an influx of cash has paid dividends. Eddie Howe has been trusted to bring in many players to build his ideal side for their pursuit of regular European football.

One of the club’s best signings since the big money takeover, Bruno Guimaraes is rather fittingly the highest earner at St. James’ Park. Anthony Gordon’s red-hot form saw him awarded a contract extension in October 2022 with the English winger now earning £7,800,000 a year – the same figure as Joelinton. Alexander Isak and Sandro Tonali are also taking home pretty big pay cheques too.

8 West Ham United

Annual spend on wages: £100,100,000

West Ham United have seen their ambition reach new heights following the sale of Declan Rice in the summer of 2023. The Hammers received a substantial fee for the midfielder and they’ve used the money to recruit well, paying whatever was necessary to sign the players they wanted, while also offering those said stars decent wages in the process.

After an impressive outing last year, superstar Jarrod Bowen was rewarded with a new contract and, these days, he’s the club’s joint highest earner, taking home £7,800,000 every year alongside Lucas Paqueta. Danny Ings, Alphonse Areola and James Ward-Prowse are all also making at least £100,000-a-week.

7 Tottenham Hotspur

Annual spend on wages: £110,656,000

The first of the Premier League’s big six to feature on this list, Tottenham Hotspur have the lowest payroll out of those sides considered the top dogs in English football. Ange Postecoglou’s side is a well-mixed squad in terms of salaries because, while there are some high-earning players like Son Heung-min and James Maddison, there are also plenty of younger players earning more moderate figures per week. It is the South Korean that still takes the crown as Spurs’ highest-earning player, with him taking home £9,880,000 per annum.

Timo Werner, whose loan was extended at the north London club this summer, is the third-highest earner, taking home £8,580,000 on a yearly basis. He’s tied with Cristian Romero who earns the exact same amount, while Dejan Kulusevski – regarded as one of the best footballers born in 2000 – is also one of the club’s richest players.

6 Aston Villa

Annual spend on wages: £119,964,000

After making history and qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in decades last season, it’s no surprise to see Aston Villa shelling out so much on an annual basis in terms of player wages. The club are paying Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara and Emiliano Martinez £7,800,000 every year each, making them some of the club’s highest-earning assets as things stand.

January addition Marcus Rashford has joined on a temporary basis – but thanks to coming from a free-spending Manchester United, he has become their highest earner. The winger pockets a handsome £11,700,000 every year, while midfielder Amadou Onana earns £7,280,000 a year. If Villa manage to repeat last season’s triumph and even find some success in the Champions League, it wouldn’t be too shocking if their payroll rose even more as they recruit even better talent.

5 Liverpool

Annual spend on wages: £128,804,000

Mohamed Salah‘s new contract in 2022 saw the Egyptian marksman, who has been nothing short of a revelation since he joined, become the highest-paid player at Anfield by quite a significant margin. He brings home a basic salary of £350,000 each week, while club captain – Virgil van Dijk – earns £220,000-per-week.

The success of Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp has led to bigger contracts being earned by the players that have continuously put in performances on the pitch – and that will continue to be the case with them looking to add to their trophy collection in the post-Klopp era. The likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Alisson also make the top five earners at the club. With the arrival of Arne Slot, the club are entering a brand-new period, and it remains to be seen whether this one will be even half as fruitful as the last.

4 Chelsea

Annual spend on wages: £160,680,000

There is, bafflingly, still three other club in the English top flight that have a higher wage bill than Chelsea – even after the Blues have spent well over £1 billion in the Todd Boehly era on reinforcing their already-bloated squad. Two separate £100 million+ signings have been made in that time with a plethora lucrative contracts also being handed out.

The departures of Kai Havertz, Mason Mount and Antonio Rudiger in recent years have helped keep the annual wages lower than expected, although they still splurge in excess of the £150,000,000-per-year mark. The loan departure of Raheem Sterling has helped the payroll a little, but Reece James, Wesley Fofana and Cristopher Nkunku are all still making plenty.

3 Manchester United

Annual spend on wages: £171,210,000

While they topped the list last season, Manchester United have actually fallen to third this year, with the departure of Raphael Varane saving a pretty penny. That doesn’t prevent them from still having the third-highest payroll in the Premier League, though. With the amount of money brought into the club through various channels, there have always been big contracts on offer to play at Old Trafford and that is shown by the fact that a chunk of players in the side are making over £10m every year.

Former Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro leads the way with an eye-watering wage of £350,000-per-week, while skipper Bruno Fernandes isn’t too far behind as he earns £300,000-a-week. The departures, albeit on loan, of Marcus Rashford, Antony and Jadon Sancho have eased the pressure on their wage bill this season. Mason Mount is also one of the highest earners at Old Trafford, proving that they haven’t always spent their money wisely.

2 Arsenal

Annual spend on wages: £172,146,000

Arsenal came very close to pushing Manchester City all the way in the title race in both 2022/23 and 2023/24, but Mikel Arteta’s men fell short each time. The decision to push on from that was made and a lot of money has been spent only to add to the existing wage bill that includes big money for players such as Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard.

The wages of Kai Havertz and Declan Rice, widely regarded as one of the best Premier League midfielders right now, exceed £200,000-per-week each, taking their overall wage spend to a simply eye-catching £172,146,000. It’s unfathomable that the north London-based outfit aren’t even the most affluent spenders – from a wages’ perspective – with that amount being spent on an annual basis.

1 Manchester City

Annual spend on wages: £215,540,000

The current champions of the division – the super wealthy Manchester City – are also the highest spenders when it comes to wages. Just north of £200,000,000 annually is nearly twice as much as Aston Villa, in eighth place, pay their squad. Midfield magician Kevin De Bruyne earns more than the entire Ipswich Town squad do altogether as the Belgian’s contract is worth £400,000 weekly.

As does Erling Haaland, who recently put pen to paper on a nine-and-a-half year contract worth £27,300,000 a year. With big spending comes a big reward, however, as Pep Guardiola has all but stamped his authority on arguably the biggest league in the world, winning countless Premier League trophies, while securing a treble-winning season two seasons ago.

All wage information per Capology – correct as of 08/02/25