Every club in Europe ranked by their 2026-27 wage bill: Real Madrid & Man City top two…
Heavyweights such as PSG, Arsenal and Real Madrid invest hundreds of millions in player wages – but which club in Europe’s top five leagues spends the most?
When it comes to money spent on player wages, European football is dominated by a select group of clubs. The Premier League is particularly well-represented at the top table.
English clubs account for six of the top 10 spending clubs in Europe’s top five leagues – with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea all towards the top end.
But it’s Real Madrid who top the charts for outlay on wages, spending a colossal €295million a year according to industry estimates.
With the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham on their books, it’s no surprise that Madrid have the highest wage bill, €44million more than second-placed Manchester City.
Barcelona are fifth and €87million behind Madrid, but their wage bill has fallen slightly over the past year.
Newly-promoted Coventry have the lowest wage bill in the Premier League at an estimated €18million a year, but that’s still more than several other clubs across Europe’s five major leagues.
The Sky Blues squad are believed to be on almost six times as much in wages as Ligue 1 minnows Le Mans.
Here’s every club from Europe’s five major leagues ranked in order of their wage bill. The figures come from FBref, via Capology:
1. Real Madrid – €295,120,000
2. Manchester City – €251,878,546 (£215,124,000)
3. Bayern Munich – €236,330,000
4. Arsenal – €223,749,980 (£191,100,000)
5. Barcelona – €208,250,000
6. Liverpool – €208,224,469 (£177,863,355)
7. PSG – €188,790,000
8. Manchester United – €181,526,685 (£155,038,000)
9. Chelsea – €167,766,825 (£143,286,000)
10. Tottenham – €153,976,516 (£131,508,000)
11. Juventus – €147,840,000
12. Atletico Madrid – €146,580,000
13. Inter Milan – €16,470,000
14. Aston Villa – €134,559,409 (£114,920,000)
15. AC Milan – €128,150,000
16. Napoli – €121,780,000
17. Newcastle United – €103,412,065 (£88,322,000)
18. Borussia Dortmund – €101,900,000
19. Roma – €98,470,000
20. Nottingham Forest – €92,574,649 (£79,066,000)
21. Athletic Bilbao – €90,470,000
22. Bayer Leverkusen – €90,030,000
23. Brighton – €83,137,575 (£71,006,000)
24. Crystal Palace – €80,763,086 (£68,978,000)
25. RB Leipzig – €75,600,000
26. Sunderland – €71,052,000 (£60,684,000)
27. Fulham – €70,625,843 (£60,320,000)
28. Bournemouth – €70,047,744 (£59,826,000)
29. Everton – €69,055,029 (£58,978,400)
30. Leeds United – €69,012,407 (£58,942,000)
31. Atalanta – €68,050,000
32. Marseille – €67,850,000
33. Lazio – €66,330,000
34. Real Betis – €62,850,000
35. Lyon – €61,220,000
36. Fiorentina – €61,050,000
37. Brentford – €59,544,889 (£50,856,000)
38. Como – €58,340,000
39. Real Sociedad – €57,420,000
40. Stuttgart – €57,060,000
41. Villarreal – €56,970,000
42. Rennes – €56,890,000
43. Eintracht Frankfurt – €54,760,000
44. Hoffenheim – €53,210,000
45. Freiburg – €50,100,000
46. Sevilla – €46,0130,000
47. Monaco – €45,780,000
48. Borussia Monchengladbach – €45,560,000
49. Valencia – €45,190,000
50. Lille – €41,340,000
51. Bolonga – €39,390,000
52. Nice – €39,310,000
53. Mainz – €39,140,000
54. Torino – €37,250,000
55. Sassuolo – €37,230,000
56. Paris FC – €35,200,000
57. Ipswich – €35,008,500 (£29,900,000)
58. Celta Vigo – €34,540,000
59. Augsburg – €34,420,000
60. Werder Bremen – €33,740,000
61. FC Koln – €31,830,000
62. Union Berlin – €28,740,000
63. Rayo Vallecano – €28,700,000
64. Getafe – €28,240,000
65. Strasbourg – €27,620,000
66. Lens – €27,430,000
67. Udinese – €27,320,000
68. Osasuna – €26,570,000
69. Cagliari – €24,800,000
70. Venezia – €23,990,000
71. Monza – €23,980,000
72. Alaves – €23,520,000
73. Hamburg – €32,320,000
74. Genoa – €22,560,000
75. Espanyol – €22,370,000
76. Hull – €21,580,453 (£18,431,000)
77. Brest – €21,300,000
78. Parma – €20,370,000
79. Coventry – €18,477,960 (£15,756,000)
80. Auxerre – €17,590,000
81. Schalke – €17,320,000
82. Toulouse – €16,560,000
83. Lecce – €16,310,000
84. Lorient – €16,260,000
85. Elche – €15,890,000
86. Levante – €14,750,000
87. Angers – €14,200,000
88. Le Harve – €12,120,000
89. Elversberg – €8,910,000
90. Deportivo – €8,613,000
91. Troyes – €7,540,000
92. Frosinone – €7,000,000
93. Paderborn – €6,910,000
94. Racing Santander – €6,670,000
95. Malaga – €5,979,000
96. Le Mans – €3,175,000
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