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Soccer Football - Champions League - Group H - Paris St Germain v Maccabi Haifa - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - October 25, 2022 Paris St Germain's Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe line up before the match

The 50 highest annual wage bills in Europe’s Big 5 leagues: PSG clear…

Football is the most popular sport in the world and Europe is home to most of the world’s biggest – and richest – clubs. But who is paying the most in player wages in Europe’s top five leagues?

Often known as the ‘Big five’, the top divisions in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are widely regarded as the most prestigious in world football.

And clubs from these nations normally dominate the Champions League and Europa League knockout rounds, creating a cycle where their efforts are rewarded financially and increases the gulf between teams in other countries.

But there’s one country that populates a list of the highest annual wage bills than any others – England. The Premier League is full of clubs that, due to lucrative television deals, can pay astronomical fees for players.

Even so, it’s still surprising to see that Aston Villa pay more on wages than AC Milan, West Ham spending more than Napoli and Crystal Palace shelling out bigger sums than Monaco and Valencia.

Towards the top of the list, PSG are miles out in front of everybody else – the wages of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar alone are worth more than many clubs – while Barcelona and Real Madrid also stand on the podium.

Manchester United are England’s highest-placed club, with their £233million wage bill ranking as the fifth highest in Europe’s top five leagues.

But what other surprises does the list contain? Take a look below for the full top 50 rankings. Note: all figures are in GBP. 

1. PSG – £348.1million
2. Barcelona – £285.6million
3. Real Madrid – £250.3million
4. Bayern Munich – £237.6million
5. Manchester United – £223million
6. Chelsea – £169.7million
7. Manchester City – £163.1million
8. Juventus – £143million
9. Atletico Madrid – £142.5million
10. Liverpool – £141.8million
11. Internazionale – £113.6million
12. Tottenham – £101.3million
13. Arsenal – £85.5million
14. Borussia Dortmund – £85.2million
15. Roma – £82million
16. Leicester City – £78.8million
17. Sevilla – £77.6million
18. Aston Villa – £75.2million
19. RB Leipzig – £73.6million
20. Villarreal – £73.2million
21. AC Milan – £72.7million
22. West Ham United – £70.2million
23. Lazio – £63.1million
24. Newcastle United – £62.6million
25. Napoli – £61.1million
26. Crystal Palace – £59.2million
27. Athletic Bilbao – £56.9million
28. Marseille – £46.5million
29. Fiorentina – £46.3million
30. Everton – £43.1million
31. Monaco – £41.4million
33. Bayer Leverkusen – £39.2million
33. Real Betis – £38.8million
34. Wolves – £38.3million
35. Valencia – £38.2million
36. Fulham – £37.6million
37. Atalanta – £35.9million
38. Southampton – £35.4million
39. Lyon – £35million
40. Borussia Monchengladbach – £33million
41. Wolfsburg – £32.7million
42. Bournemouth – £32million
43. Monza – £32million
44. Hoffenheim – £31.5million
45. Nottingham Forest – £28.6million
46. Brighton – £28.3million
47. Real Sociedad – £28.2million
48. Nice – £26.7million
49. Torino – £25.4million
50. Sassuolo – £24.5million

*Figures taken from FBref.


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