The 12 highest paid players in EFL League Two | OneFootball

There's good money to be made in the EFL's basement division, so here are twelve players who are doing very nicely from their time in League Two.

There's good money to be made in the EFL's basement division, and here are twelve players who are doing very nicely from their time in League Two.

With eight points separating the top six and just over a third of the season still left to play, things are starting to hot up at the top of League Two.

The January transfer window allowed a final opportunity for clubs to tweak their playing squads ahead of the race to come, and it remains as true as ever that the amount of money spent can make a real difference in terms of helping clubs climb towards the very top of the table.

And even in League Two, there can be good money to be made, even from playing in the EFL's basement division. There's nobody in this division getting paid £1 million a year or more, but plenty of players - including some on loan from clubs higher up football's food chain - are doing quite nicely for themselves. So, with all that in mind, here are the 12 - well 13, to be precise - best-paid players in League Two in the second half of the 2025-26 season.

Two different players are tied for the number 12 spot on this list, both on £236,000 per year.

Chesterfield midfielder Sammy Braybrooke is on loan from Leicester City, a new signing who joined the Spireites in the January transfer window after spending the first half of the season on loan at Newport County, for whom he scored the EFL League Two Goal of the Month for December. The 21-year-old has been capped by England at under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels.

Scott Hogan signed for MK Dons from Birmingham City in 2024. Now 33-years-old, Hogan has had an injury-affected career, and he's only played 11 League games for Milton Keynes this season. But he played in five out of six of their games in January, and he's likely to continue to feature for Chesterfield throughout the second half of the season.

Thanks to his integral role as part of the Wrexham team that went all the way from the National League to the Championship, Ollie Palmer is probably the best known player on this list. The striker, who's on an estimated £247,000 a year, signed for Swindon Town in the summer 2025 transfer window, is now 34 years of age, but has still scored six times in 24 League games for the Robins as Swindon push for a return to League One following an absence of five years.

10 ? ? Luke Southwood

Goalkeeper Luke Southwood, who's won a full senior cap for Northern Ireland, dropped a division to sign for Bristol Rovers in the summer of 2025 from Bolton Wanderers and reuniting with Darrell Clarke, with whom he previously worked at Cheltenham Town.

Still, though, he's on an estimated £257,300 a year at The Memorial Ground. But whether this has been the best investment or not is open to question. Bristol Rovers are in the lower reaches of the League Two table, and Southwood has only kept four clean sheets for them in 22 League appearances for them this season.

Gethin Jones is another player who agreed to drop a division from Bolton Wanderers during the summer of 2025, with the defender signing for MK Dons. Jones is another international player, having won six caps for Australia since 2024. With an income estimated at £267,600, though, he's still doing okay for himself in a financial sense.

Jones was capped at a youth level by Wales before making the switch to Australia when offered a chance, having been born in Perth. His quality as a player can be ascertained by the fact that he was originally a product of the Everton academy. He made almost 200 appearances for Bolton prior to his transfer to Milton Keynes.

8 ? ? Daniel Udoh

Udoh caught the eye playing in the National League North for AFC Telford United, where he scored 26 goals in the 2018-19 season. Transferred to their near neighbours Shrewsbury Town, staying with the Shrews for five years before moving on to Wycombe Wanderers in 2024.

He only stayed at Wycombe for a year before moving on to Salford City, who are paying him £280,000 a year to play for them, last summer. They've got decent value for money out of him, though, with seven goals and seven assists in 23 League appearances for the Ammies.

7 ? ? Daniel Crowley

The third Milton Keynes player already on this list - they spent a lot of money last year - Daniel Crowley signed from Crawley Town in the January 2025 transfer window.

Crowley hasn't, however, had an especially impressive season for them. He's made 18 appearances for them but of these twelve have come from the bench. The club are paying him £283,000 a year for this, but Crowley does come with a lot of experience, having playing in the Championship for Birmingham City and the Dutch Eredivisie for Willem II.

Rose is another player who's dropped a level this season. The Scottish defender started his career at Aberdeen, but made his name in England playing for Coventry City, where his first season ended with the Sky Blues winning the League One title.

He moved on to Stoke City in 2023, but dropped two divisions to sign for Salford in August 2025, moving to The Peninsula Stadium. Rose is getting well-renumerated at Salford, though, with an estimated income of £303,600-a-year. He's on a three-year contract with this latest club.

5 ? ? Tommi O'Reilly

The good news for Crewe Alexandra is that, although one of their players appears on this list, they're unlikely to be paying the full amount of his wage as he's on loan from his hometown club, Aston Villa.

O'Reilly can play in an AM position or on the right-wing, but he hasn't had the opportunity to do so for Villa yet. He's already been out on loan at Shrewsbury and MK Dons, and this season he's proved to be a valuable signing for them, with five goals and nine assists in 30 appearances in the League.

There's a bit of a jump up in terms of wages at this point. O'Reilly is on around £390,000 a year on his Villa contract.

4 ? ? Kane Wilson

When Kane Wilson joined MK Dons in the summer of 2025, he was setting himself up for the possibility of promotion from League Two for a second time, having already done so with Forest Green Rovers in 2022.

His performances for them earned him a move to Bristol City, but he moved on to Derby County, after a season and in 2023 he won promotion from League One with them.

He was released by Derby when his contract expired at the end of 2024-25 and opted to reunite with former manager the former Derby manager Paul Warne in Buckinghamshire. This transfer, however, hasn't gone according to plan. Wilson suffered a serious knee injury on his debut for them against Grimsby Town on the first Saturday in September and hasn't been able to play for them since. He's on an estimated £411,700 a year with his new club.

3 ? ? Nathaniel Mendez-Laing

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has proved to be another expensive player in the treatment room for MK Dons, although his circumstances were not quite as dramatic as those of Kane Wilson.

He'd had a good start for the club, following his signing from Derby County last year - another Paul Warne connection - with seven goals in his first 18 appearances for them, but he limped off the pitch during a match against Cambridge United in December and soon after confirmed that he would need surgery on his leg. There is no return date for him at this point; he's on £463,200 a year with his new club.