Premier League salary bill climbs 6.2% to £1.9bn

Where does your Premier League club rank in the team salary table?

Research by Alliance Fund, the sport investment fund, reveals which Premier League football clubs have the most expensive team payroll, and which have increased the most in the past year. And it’s yet more bad news for Chelsea.

Alliance Fund has analysed the estimated salary payroll for all 20 Premier League clubs to find out which pays the highest wage bill, and which have given the biggest annual boost to their club salaries in the hope of securing top flight success.

All clubs combined, the total Premier League salary bill in 2022-23 is £1.9 billion. This is a 6.2% increase from the previous year.

A woeful season for Chelsea doesn’t look any better when it’s revealed that the club has the biggest wage bill in the league at £215.6 million. This accounts for 11.2% of all Premier League wage expenditure.

At £213.3 million, Manchester United’s salary payout accounts for 11.1% of the league total, while recently crowned league champions Manchester City account for 9.7% of league salaries with a bill of £186.1 million.

In the past year, some clubs have significantly increased their salary payments, none more so than Nottingham Forest.

After gaining promotion to the top flight, Forest increased its wage bill by 230.4% to total £74.1 million; an investment that has paid off now that the club has more or less secured another year of Premier League football.

Leeds United increased their salary spend by 51% while Bournemouth upped their bill by 30.1%

Meanwhile, Everton’s salary total in 2022/23 was -26% lower than in the previous year, while Brighton & Hove Albion’s spend fell by -16.2%.

Manchester United’s total salary spend fell by -10.7% on the year as Erik ten Hag kicked out some of the team’s highest earning under-achievers to try and reset the club culture.

Despite this significant reduction, Man Utd still has the second-largest salary bill of all Premier League sides.

CEO of Alliance Fund, Iain Crawford, commented:

“The cumulative wealth of the Premier League is astounding. Each club of the Big 6 pays its squad more than £100 million a year, and that’s how they stay at the very top of the game.

But, as we see with Chelsea who pay their team more than any other club, collecting big money talent isn’t always enough to avoid a dismal match day performance. The likes of Man City and Arsenal are also spending huge amounts, but are clearly ticking other vital boxes as well, such as team chemistry, tactics, and mentality coaching.

Immense admiration should also be paid to Brighton who, with the second lowest squad spend, have still managed to secure European football next season. In a league where there is no cap on how much clubs can pay their squad, this is a truly remarkable achievement for the Seagulls.”