Top 10 Premier League clubs who spent the most on wages

A new report has highlighted the incredible amount of money Premier League teams have paid their players. Flourish, a data analysis company, has published a bar graph that shows which English teams forked up the most money. The interactive graphic begins in 1992 and extends to the present season.

The modern Premier League was founded in 1992 after top flight teams decided to break away from the English Football League. This decision was mostly made for financial reasons. The previous ‘First Division’ fell behind other leagues such as Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s LaLiga in revenue. Several key English players also decided to move to other European leagues as well.

Liverpool lead spending chart in 1992

At the start of the newly formed-formed Premier League, Liverpool actually topped the player wages chart. The Reds had a combined salary bill of about $9.5 million. Comparing to today’s astronomical numbers, the club’s current goalkeeper, Alisson, makes slightly more annually by himself.

Fast forward to the start of the 21st century, Manchester United jumped Liverpool for the top spot. The Red Devils had paid their players a combined $221 million between 1992 and 2000. Up to this point, Liverpool and Arsenal rounded out the top three salary spenders during this timeframe. Manchester City ranked 21st of all Premier League teams in player wages between these dates.

Chelsea, City jump into top 3 of list

However, things would obviously change for the blue side of Manchester, as well as with Chelsea. City began to receive a massive increase in investment following the club’s purchase by UAE vice president Sheikh Mansour in 2008. As a result player wages soon skyrocketed. Chelsea experienced a similar effect when Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought the Blues in 2003.

Today, both City and Chelsea have managed to jump near to the top of the list of cumulative Premier League player wages. Unsurprisingly, every ‘Big Six’ club is included in the top six of the chart.

Specifically speaking, The top individual salaries in the Premier League are Kevin de Bruyne, Erling Haaland, David de Gea, Jadon Sancho and Mohamed Salah.

Top 10 Premier League clubs in wages from start of EPL era

1. Manchester United – $5.13 billion
2. Chelsea – $5.12 billion
3. Manchester City – $4.51 billion
4. Liverpool – $4.45 billion
5. Arsenal $3.99 billion
6. Spurs $2.70 billion
7. Everton $2.24 billion
8. Newcastle $1.95 billion
9. West Ham $1.86 billion
10. Aston Villa $1.68 billion

PHOTO: IMAGO / Pressinphoto