Every Championship club ranked by their wage bill in 2024-25: Where do Leeds rank?
Relegated clubs Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town predictably make up three of the top five biggest Championship wage bills for 2024-25, but they’re all beaten to the top spot.
Leeds United, the bookmakers’ hot favourites for promotion, pay out more in wages than any other club – despite selling star players like Crysencio Summerville Archie Gray and Georginio Rutter.
Daniel Farke’s squad are estimated to be paid a total of £37.2million a year collectively, which is marginally more than Burnley and more than double Sunderland’s wage bill.
Having missed out on promotion after reaching a 90-point tally, losing to Southampton in the play-off final, Leeds’ squad now boasts five of the top eight earners in the division.
There are usually exceptions to the rule, with notable underachievers and overachievers – just look at Ipswich Town last season – but wage bills are usually a pretty good benchmark for what ought to be expected of each team, more often than not tallying pretty closely with the final standings in the league table.
Looking at each club’s outgoings, it would be hard to argue against Luton Town being the biggest underachiever in the division. Despite having the fifth-highest wage bill in the league, the club currently sit 23rd in the table and are in danger of being relegated.
Beyond Leeds and the three relegated sides, Norwich City, West Brom, Cardiff City and Watford are all shelving out wages more at the top end of the scale.
At the other end, Portsmouth, Plymouth Argyle and Oxford United make up the three lowest wage bills in the league.
Here’s how the Championship annual wages for the upcoming break down for the 2024-25 campaign. The numbers are via Capology and it’s worth remembering that they’re only industry estimates.
It’s also worth noting that with a few days remaining in the January window, these wage bills could still change dramatically after incomings and outgoings.
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1. Leeds United – £37,206,000
2. Burnley – £32,032,000
3. Sheffield United – £24,128,000
4. West Bromwich Albion – £21,642,000
5. Luton Town – £21,294,000
6. Cardiff City – £20,412,000
7. Norwich City – £19,110,000
8. Watford – £18,800,000
9. Middlesbrough – £16,346,000
10. Sunderland – £16,134,000
11. Sheffield Wednesday – £15,466,000
12. Hull City – £14,828,000
13. Stoke City – £14,352,000
14. Bristol City – £13,576,000
15. Preston North End – £12,466,000
16. Swansea City – £12,284,000
17. Derby County – £12,264,000
18. Blackburn Rovers – £12,090,000
19. Millwall – £12,052,000
20. Queens Park Rangers – £11,620,000
21. Coventry City – £11,336,000
22. Oxford United – £10,962,000
23. Plymouth Argyle – £8,933,600
24. Portsmouth – £7,202,000