How Blackburn Rovers' wage bill compares to the rest of the Championship | OneFootball

A look at what the Ewood Park playing squad is being paid this season

Blackburn Rovers had a busy summer in the transfer market, with plenty of changes to the first-team squad.

In total, nine new players were added to the first-team squad at Ewood Park, while seven more would depart, either permanently or on loan.

There were some experienced players such as Andi Weimann, Lewis Baker and Dany Batth added to the side, as well as the marquee signing of Todd Cantwell from Rangers.

However, some of the top earners at Blackburn were also moved on, such as Sammie Szmodics and Sam Gallagher, who were sold to Ipswich Town and Stoke City respectively.

But what have those changes done to the wage bill that the club are now paying to their first-team squad this season?

Wage bill has gone up at Ewood Park this season

According to estimates from Capology, last season saw the Lancashire outfit paying a total salary of £202,000 per week to their first-team squad.

That worked out an average weekly wage of £5,941 per player, which equates to an overall wage bill of £10.504 million, or £308,941 per player.

However, that eventful window over the course of this summer, looks to have seen Blackburn take on a greater financial commitment when it comes to paying their squad.

As per the latest figures from Capology, Rovers' wage bill has climbed to £234,000 per week for this season, with each player paid an average of £8,667.

Consequently, the club's annual wage bill has now risen to £12.168 million, which works out at an average of £450,667 per player over the course of a year.

Indeed, it does seem as though the club's business in the transfer window during the summer, had an impact on that.

Currently, it is thought that Blackburn's three highest-paid players are all summer signings, in the form of Cantwell (£30,000 per week), Baker (£20,000 per week), and Weimann (£17,500 per week).

Despite that increase though, the club are still behind a number of their Championship rivals, when it comes to how much they are paying their players.

Blackburn among the lower payers in the Championship

While their wage bill may have gone up this season, there are plenty of clubs in the Championship who are seemingly paying their squad more than the Ewood Park outfit.

According to Capology, Rovers' weekly wage bill of £234,000 is just the 17th highest among the 24 teams in the second-tier of English football this season.

That, of course, means there are 16 clubs they are competing with this season who are paying their players more than Blackburn are.

Indeed, two clubs, Leeds United and local rivals Burnley, are thought to have a wage bill that is over twice as much as the squad at Ewood Park.

In turn, that does perhaps show there is something of a challenge for the club to overcome if they are to claim a top-half finish, even with their initially positive start to this season.

Meanwhile, the seven teams who are believed to be paying a lower wage bill than Rovers this season are Millwall, Swansea, Coventry, Oxford, QPR, Plymouth, and Portsmouth.

With that in mind, it will be intriguing to see just what Blackburn can get out of the wages they have invested in their squad, over the remainder of the campaign.