Ranking every Premier League club by their wage bill in 2024-25

Premier League champions Manchester City spend more on wages than Liverpool and Newcastle United combined – according to industry estimates – while Manchester United have fallen to third in the Premier League wage bill table for 2024-25.

The 2024-25 Premier League campaign is almost upon us, and while there’s a lot of focus on the transfer market and money spent on new signings, wage bills are often the best marker of where sides ought to be expected to finish.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City juggernaut are gunning for a fifth successive Premier League title, with their lofty ambitions matching their outgoings on players – they’re the only club in the Premier League to break the £200million barrier when it comes to their annual wage bill.

Their city rivals Manchester United topped this list last season.

The structure at Old Trafford is changing amid their new ownership, while offloading the likes of Donny van de Beek, Raphael Varane and Anthony Martial has seen them fall to third in the wage bill table, spending almost £50million less a year on wages than the Premier League champions.

Chelsea are up in second, which ought to be no great surprise given the sheer size of Enzo Maresca’s squad, while Arsenal are in fourth – but paying considerably more in player wages than their ‘big six’ rivals Liverpool and Tottenham.

Alongside the Premier League’s traditional ‘big six’, Aston Villa are the only club to break the £100million barrier on annual wage spend – which tallies with their status as a Champions League club.

Still, when you look at these numbers it can only be considered punching above their weight for them to be challenging for a place in the Premier League’s top four.

Further down, Newcastle United sit eighth in the wages table, just below the £100million barrier – although this could well change should they land another high-profile addition, such as Marc Guehi, before the transfer window shuts.

Elsewhere, Everton have made big strides in recent years to try and streamline their squad and cut their wage bill, but Sean Dyche’s squad still take more home in wages than the likes of Bournemouth, Brighton, Fulham and Wolves – all of whom finished above them last term.

At the bottom end of the table, the newly-promoted clubs predictably make up three of the bottom four – although Leicester City still spend more on wages than Brentford following their one-year sojourn to the Championship.

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There are two things worth keeping in mind when it comes to these figures, though.

The first is that these are only industry estimates and are unlikely to be 100% accurate, although the numbers and placings in the table ought to give us a broadly correct picture.

The second is that things are still subject to change considerably in the coming weeks as squads as shaped with further incomings and outgoings, as well as contracts for high-profile top earners to be renegotiated and signed as the season progresses.

We’ll be keeping this table updated throughout the 2024-25 campaign, so keep checking back for the latest figures.

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Here’s the full rundown of how much each Premier League club pays in wages for the upcoming 2024-25 season, with estimates via Capology.

1. Manchester City – £218,660,000
2. Chelsea – £190,710,000
3. Manchester United – £173,750,000
4. Arsenal – £164,476,000
5. Liverpool – £125,580,000
6. Tottenham – £111,826,000
7. Aston Villa – £101,400,000
8. Newcastle United – £98,800,000
9. West Ham United – £81,380,000
10. Crystal Palace – £66,560,000
11. Everton – £64,142,000
12. Nottingham Forest – £62,580,000
13. Fulham – £59,696,000
14. Bournemouth – £56,758,000
15. Brighton – £55,982,000
16. Wolves – £54,386,000
17. Leicester City – £52,806,000
18. Brentford – £41,470,000
19. Southampton – £32,942,000
20. Ipswich Town – £8,008,000