Championship wage bill ranking highlights how Leicester City face financial oblivion | OneFootball

Leicester City now find themselves in the Championship relegation zone and risk going into financial oblivion with their current wage bill.

The Foxes have endured a tough campaign so far and, following a six-point deduction, now find themselves 22nd in the table, two points adrift of safety.

It’s no secret that Leicester have been walking a financial tight-rope for quite some time and the current state of their wage bill emphasises how much trouble they could be in if they are relegated to League One.

Unlike most Premier League clubs, which insert relegation wage clauses into their contracts, the Foxes didn’t include them in the contracts of some of their highest-earning players.

It therefore means that Leicester now have a Premier League-level wage bill in the Championship, with several players earning over £50,000 per week.

Of the 10 highest-paid Championship players (not including loanees), seven of them currently play for Leicester.

“Everybody assumed that they would be a top-eight club,” Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport when discussing Leicester City and the financial gambles they have taken.

“They effectively budgeted for that and didn’t take into consideration the potential downside.

“They had one bad season and they had no comeback in terms of relegation clauses and relegation avoidance clauses.

“It does seem that these contracts were awarded in such a way that they ignored the existential risk of relegation.

As of writing, it looks like Gary Rowett will be taking over until the end of the season in a bid to keep the Foxes in the Championship.

They’re currently on a four-game losing streak in the Championship and haven’t kept a clean sheet in the league since Coventry.

According to figures from Capology, Leicester City’s yearly current wage bill is the highest in the Championship by over £10million.

Unsurprisingly, the rest of the top four is made up of clubs receiving parachute payments, with Sheffield United, Southampton and Ipswich not far behind.

Impressively, league leaders Coventry are all the way down in 15th with a reported yearly wage bill of £15.6million, which is less than half of Leicester’s.

According to figures from Capology, here is the full breakdown of each Championship club’s basic yearly wage bill, not including bonuses or staff costs.

1. Leicester City – £42,770,000 2. Sheffield United – £31,551,000 3. Southampton – £31,538,000 4. Ipswich Town – £29,614,000 5. Norwich – £24,898,000 6. Birmingham – £22,932,000 7. Middlesbrough – £20,840,000 8. Hull City – £20,563,400 9. West Brom – £19,448,000 10. Stoke City – £19,162,000 11. Watford – £18,905,000 12. Wrexham – £17,526,600 13. Millwall – £15,769,000 14. Derby – £15,730,000 15. Coventry – £15,600,000 16. Preston – £15,340,000 17. Blackburn – £15,056,000 18. Bristol City – £14,834,800 19. Swansea – £14,248,000 20. Oxford United – £14,008,000 21. QPR – £13,146,000 22. Portsmouth – £12,506,000 23. Sheffield Wednesday – £12,300,600 24. Charlton – £11,861,200