Ranking every Premier League club by their wage bill in 2023/24 season

Manchester United's wage bill is over 35 times higher than Luton Town's in a stark reminder of quite how stratified the Premier League will be in the 2023-24 season.

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne, the league's top-paid player, earns almost four times as much alone than Luton's entire squad, but Man City does not have the highest Premier League wage bill.

There are few surprises when it comes to the breakdown of Premier League wages for the upcoming season. Manchester United boast the highest in the league, having added the likes of Andre Onana, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund onto their wage bill this summer, having previously agreed a bumper new deal for key man Marcus Rashford.

However, as things currently stand, Manchester United's 2023-24 wage bill has actually been reduced since last season of the Premier League, having waved goodbye to their previous top earners Cristiano Ronaldo and David de Gea.

It's no surprise that reigning Premier League champions Manchester City aren't too far behind. The treble winners' annual wage bill breaks the £200million-a-year barrier, with De Bruyne and Erling Haaland commanding a hefty proportion of that bounty.

Arsenal are steadily creeping up, now third in the wage bill chart, having made a series of ambitious moves in this summer's transfer market after qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 2016 of Premier League.

Chelsea won't be competing in European competition whatsoever in 2023-24, making their £160million-a-year wage bill look a little bloated.

Todd Boehly's Blues continue to recruit new players for new Premier League season, but they have reduced their wage bill considerably after offloading – deep breath – N'Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and long-serving club captain Cesar Azpilicueta.

There are debates to be had about how aggressive Liverpool have been in the transfer market, but in recent years Jurgen Klopp was always backed with a squad of some of the league's top earners.

The likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk still command hefty wage packets, but their overall spend has deflated considerably after this summer's exodus.

The departures of Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino have seen Liverpool fall to fifth in the Premier League wage bill ranking, in line with where they finished last term.

Tottenham complete the 'big six' breakdown of wages, but Newcastle United and Aston Villa are each closing the gap, having broken the £100million-a-year barrier.

Everton are still paying a mind-bogglingly high amount on wages, with the ninth-highest wage bill in the Premier League, while Nottingham Forest's outlay also catches the eye, given last season was their first back in the big time.

Brighton, sixth last Premier League season, and Brentford, ninth, are arguably the Premier League's biggest overachievers. They spend just £46million and £34million annually on wages, respectively.

Lower down, the newly-promoted trio comprise the bottom three wage bills, but Vincent Kompany's Burnley spend almost quadruple the play-off winners Burnley.

Here's the full rundown of how much each Premier League club pays in wages – via FBref, with estimates from Capology. It's worth bearing in mind that these wage bills are liable to change considerably over the remainder of this summer's transfer window.

1. Manchester United – £ 209,680,000

2. Manchester City – £ 201,422,000

3. Arsenal – £179,400,000

4. Chelsea – £160,394,000

5. Liverpool – £144,560,000

6. Tottenham – £120,276,000

7. Aston Villa – £104,520,000

8. Newcastle United – £101,816,000

9. Everton – £84,152,000

10. West Ham United – £81,640,000

11. Nottingham Forest – £59,140,000

12. Fulham – £57,174,000

13. Wolves – £54,050,000

14. Crystal Palace – £53,086,000

15. Brighton – £46,934,000

16. Bournemouth – £43,394,000

17. Brentford – £34,346,000

18. Burnley – £22,958,000

19. Sheffield United – £14,162,800

20. Luton Town – £5,836,000

With that, we end our list of Ranking every Premier League club by their wage bill in 2023/24 season. Follow Sportz Point.