There’s a theory in football that the higher the wage bill, the more success you will have on the pitch. A number of different authorities on the sport have come to the conclusion that the more money that clubs shell out on wages, the better the players that they can attract… and the higher they finish in the league table.
According to some sources, the correlation between wages and points in football is 0.87 – suggesting that the relationship is a very, very strong one. There are always going to be anomalies to the rule, of course. Some clubs spent big on wages and get minimal return on their investment… as Manchester United fans can attest.
At the other end of the spectrum, the likes of Bournemouth and Brentford continue to overperform relative to their salary spending. The latest data, which pertains to base salary (no bonuses or add-ons) only for the 2024/25 season, helps to reveal the outliers and those clubs that are grossly underperforming relative to their wage bills.
#1 – Manchester City (£224 million)
The scale of Manchester City’s spending helps to reveal how catastrophic their 2024/25 campaign was. Yes, they ultimately qualified for next season’s Champions League by finishing in third place in the Premier League, but their failure to win a single trophy for the first time in eight years is a measure of their woes.
Pep Guardiola tried to play down any criticism, but the reality is that any other head coach at any other club would be fearful for their job had they spent £50 million more than any other Premier League side on wages. Erling Haaland’s remarkable £525,000 per week salary tops the bill, while Kevin de Bruyne’s annual £20.8 million wages are now off the books after he left the club.
#2 – Manchester United (£173.8 million)
Once again, Manchester United were condemned to a season of scarcely believable overspending on wages. They have leapfrogged Arsenal and Liverpool into second place in the 2024/25 data, and yet finished the Premier League campaign with just 42 points – one of their worst seasons of the EPL era.
The figures are eye-popping. Casemiro earned £18.2 million for the season – or £12,141 per Premier League minute played, while Mason Mount trousered £13 million for just 623 minutes of EPL action. All told, 16 Manchester United players earn £5 million or more a year.
#3 – Arsenal (£169.93 million)
The Gunners forked out £55 million less than Manchester City and still finished above them in the table, while comparisons with their old rivals United are beyond belief. In terms of value for money, William Saliba (£9.8 million) and Declan Rice (£12.4 million) were selected in both the OPTA and Premier League teams of the season.
#4 – Chelsea (£169.92 million)
Chelsea paid out £169.92 million in wages during the 2024/25 campaign despite their squad being the size of a small army. But they don’t have any players on ridiculous money, with Reece James their highest earner at £13 million, so they’ve been able to spread their total wage spend across their galaxy of players. In fact, you might argue that some of their stars – such as Cole Palmer (£6.76 million) – ought to be asking for a raise.
#5 – Liverpool (£148.8 million)
Liverpool won the Premier League title by a canter, which would suggest that their scouting and recruitment team can be very pleased with their work. Mo Salah served up 47 goal involvements in another outstanding season, so could actually be considered to be worth every penny at £20.8 million. Ryan Gravenberch (£7.8 million), another OPTA Team of the Year selection, is a shining example of Liverpool’s ability to pick up high-quality players for a relative snip of a wage.
#6 – Aston Villa (£130.7 million)
Qualifying for the Champions League, allied to continued success in the Premier League, has afforded Aston Villa the opportunity to be more lavish than is tradition in their wage spending. But there are no mega-earning individuals here, with Youri Tielemans, Emi Martinez and Boubacar Kamara the highest paid at £7.8 million each.
#7 – Tottenham (£116.1 million)
By hook or by crook, Tottenham have qualified for the Champions League in 2025/26. But that papers over the cracks of a cold, hard reality: despite the seventh largest wage bill in the Premier League, Spurs were the worst team in the division aside from the relegated trio. Heung-min Son, Cristian Romero and James Maddison are the three Tottenham players to earn in excess of £8 million per season at the club.
#8 – West Ham (£101.7 million)
It’s been a long time since West Ham can lay claim to having enjoyed value for money from their players. Only two of them – classy defender Aaron Wan Bissaka (£4.6 million) and 21 goal involvement star Jarrod Bowen (£7.8 million) can look back on the 2024/25 campaign with any fondness. Danny Ings (£6.5 million), meanwhile, cost the Hammers £22,000 per minute played in the Premier League, offering up just a single goal. Sorry for pointing that out, Danny.
#9 – Newcastle (£95.1 million)
A top-five finish and a first trophy in decades probably goes down as a good season for Newcastle United. The Magpies have condemned sceptics who thought they would simply buy their way to Premier League glory following their takeover by billionaire Saudi investors. Instead, they are slowly but surely upping their spending on wages, with the excellent Bruno Guimaraes leading the way on £8.3 million.
#10 – Everton (£73.7 million)
A legacy of years of over-spending means that Everton are still shelling out big money on players, despite consistent under-performance on the pitch and having a shiny new stadium to pay for. To suggest that the Toffees have been getting dire value for money from their well-paid stars would be an understatement, with as many as five individuals picking up more than £5 million per year. Top of the shop is Abdoulaye Doucoure, who takes home a handsome £6.7 million per season.
