The 10 highest-paid Championship players in 2024-25: Leeds stars dominate…

The 2024-25 Championship season is almost underway and hot favourites Leeds United dominate when it comes to the division’s top earners.

It’s often the relegated clubs that dominate in terms of wages, and players from Sheffield United and Burnley do feature – but not nearly as prominent as Leeds.

We’ve had a look through Capology and compiled this top 10 of the top earners in the second tier in 2023-24. As ever, these are industry estimates and may not be strictly accurate. It’s worth taking them with a pinch of salt.

=9. Sander Berge – £40,000 p/w

The Norwegian is evidently well thought of in the game, having been signed by both Sheffield United and Burnley while they were in the Premier League. But he’s now been relegated with them both.

However, he was a prominent part of the Blades side that went back up in 2022-23 and he’ll be looking to achieve the same with Burnley this season.

=9.  Jay Rodriguez – £40,000 p/w

The veteran forward recently signed a one-year contract extension with boyhood club Burnley.

Either we question Capology’s sourcing for this one, or we question the wisdom of Burnley shelling out such wages for a 35-year-old that scored just two goals last season. One way or the other, something seems off there.

=7.  Josh Brownhill – £45,000 p/w

There’s been a lot of churn at Turf Moor over the past few seasons as Burnley went from playing Dycheball to Vincent Kompany’s possession-focused approach.

Gearing up for his fifth season with the Clarets, Brownhill can be considered one of the senior voices in Scott Parker’s dressing room. He played a key role in their last promotion and will have ambitions of repeating the trick this time around.

However, he’s now into the final year of the five-year deal he originally signed after joining from Bristol City back in 2020. It wouldn’t be a major shock to see him move on before the end of the window.

=7. Brenden Aaronson – £45,000 p/w

As with the other doomed signings of the short-lived Jesse Marsch era, USA international Aaronson immediately sought an escape route following Leeds’ relegation in 2023.

Former club captain Liam Cooper reportedly told the players “‘if you don’t want to be here then f*ck off” and the likes of Marc Roca, Rasmus Kristensen and Tyler Adams duly obliged.

Unlike the others, after a so-so loan away to Union Berlin last term, Aaronsen has returned and is expected to play a role in Farke’s squad. His current wages are thought to be considerably less than he was on in the Premier League.

=4. Aaron Ramsey – £50,000 p/w

Arguably the most high-profile individual in the second tier, the former Arsenal and Juventus midfielder is back where it all began at Cardiff City.

Surprisingly enough, he’s still only 33. The experienced Wales international enjoyed a solid campaign back home last term and remains vital to their hopes of a play-off push in 2024-25.

Ramsey’s reported £50,000-a-week salary is thought to be more than double any of his Bluebirds’ team-mates. Cardiff’s wage bill is estimated to be the seventh highest in the Championship.

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=4. Pascal Struijk – £50,000 p/w

As with Illan Meslier and Crysensio Summerville, Struijk was recruited by Victor Orta as a little-known youngster that bolstered Leeds’ youth ranks before growing into a key first-team player.

The Dutch centre-back signed his current lucrative deal in December 2022, following his breakthrough.

A groin injury kept him sidelined for the latter half of last season but pre-season suggests he’s nailed down his spot alongside summer signing Joe Rodon in the heart of Leeds’ backline.

=4. Daniel James – £50,000 p/w

Manchester United have famously failed to shift their unwanted players in recent years, but James was an exception, sold to Leeds for a profit in the summer of 2021.

The Wales international never quite demonstrated why Marcelo Bielsa had such faith in him as he struggled, often out of position, in his debut season.

A forgettable loan to Fulham followed but he did well on his return to his parent club, notching 13 goals and seven assists as Daniel Farke’s side narrowly missed out on promotion last year.

Like so many others who struggled for Leeds in the Premier League, he’s since found his feet in the Championship to make himself useful.

3. Junior Firpo – £60,000 p/w

The left-back became a bit of a joke figure during his first couple of seasons at Elland Road.

Exorbitant wages were commensurate with arriving from Barcelona, which always felt like a mystery as he’d invariably have one good game followed by two horror shows followed by four games on the treatment table.

Whisper it but Firpo proved himself pretty useful in Leeds’ doomed promotion push last season. He finally enjoyed a consistently decent run in the team, proving himself one of the best-attacking full-backs in the Championship.

=1. Patrick Bamford – £70,000 p/w

Ah, Bamford.

The Leeds United striker signed a bumper five-year contract extension back in the summer of 2021, following the season of his life – 17 Premier League goals as newly-promoted Leeds finished ninth, just two points behind Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. How times change.

A short while later he was rewarded with a well-deserved, long-awaited England debut. A second cap has not been forthcoming and will surely never arrive following struggles with form and fitness.

Bamford still has his uses – his Puskas contender last season offered a reminder of his quality on his day – but over the past three seasons combined he’s scored fewer league goals than he did in that unforgettable 2020-21 campaign.

His current Championship-topping wages are after a reported 50% reduction following Leeds’ relegation last year. Oof.

READ: The 10 most expensive players signed from the Championship – & how they fared

=1. Georginio Rutter – £70,000 p/w

Rounding off our all-Leeds top five is the most expensive player in the Championship.

The enigmatic Frenchman was signed from Hoffenheim for a reported club-record fee in January 2023 but barely played a role as Leeds flailed between managers in their battle against the drop. It makes sense that his wages reportedly tally up with the fee.

“I started to feel the pressure. I heard he’s not worth £40 million, he doesn’t score a goal,” Rutter reflected on that time in a recently released, self-recorded YouTube video.

“It’s hard because I was 20, I went to another country, it was my dream and I was criticised for the price I cost. And it made me feel bad because I couldn’t think of anything else.”

But last season Leeds fans got to see what they paid so much money for. There were still rough edges and questions over his finishing, but he was wildly entertaining and adept at creating chances as he showcased a level of talent seldom seen in the second tier.

Leeds have already sold star academy gem Archie Gray and last season’s standout player Crysencio Summerville but there’s hope this season that Rutter can step up a promotion-firing talisman worthy of the club’s financial outlay.