How Cardiff City's wage bill compares to the rest of the Championship | OneFootball

FLW compares Cardiff City's estimated wage bill to the rest of the Championship

Although the financial purse-strings have been tightened considerably in terms of investment via transfer fees at Cardiff City in recent years, it would appear as though Vincent Tan is still paying a pretty penny in player wages.

Given the proven parallels between wage bill and league position, Cardiff's annual payroll according to estimated figures on Capology are sure to come as a surprise.

The Bluebirds have endured five turbulent years following their relegation back to the Championship from the Premier League in 2019, but returning to the promised land remains the dream and, with the amount of money they're estimated to be forking out on player salaries, they should really be in contention for promotion.

With that said, Football League World takes a look at Cardiff's estimated wage bill and how it compares to the rest of the Championship as per Capology, which is where all listed figures here are sourced from.

Across a year, this figure translates to an annual wage bill of £20,412,000, which makes it one of the higher payrolls across the entire Championship.

Cardiff City's estimated wage bill compared to the rest of the Championship

Admittedly, Cardiff's estimated wage bill measured against the rest of the division is surprising. It ranks as one of the highest in the division, trailing predominantly to clubs poised to compete for promotion this season.

The highest wage bill in the Championship belongs to Leeds United, who are spending an estimated figure of £36,816,000 on player salaries annually. Of course, though, numerous high earners are on loan away from Elland Road and Leeds are still in receipt of parachute payments, which hands them some form of financial security.

Overall, Cardiff have the Championship's seventh-highest wage bill behind Leeds, Burnley, West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United, Luton Town, and Norwich City. All of those clubs, perhaps with the exception of Luton - who were in the Premier League only last year - are good value to try their respective hands at promotion, but you feel that's one step too far for Cardiff.

With that in mind, you've got to question whether Cardiff are simply forking out too much on player wages.

Cardiff City's highest earners

Going off Capology's estimated figures, the Bluebirds have some serious earners on their books.

The heavy lifting is chiefly done by former Arsenal duo Aaron Ramsey and Callum Chambers, who are estimated to be earning weekly pay packets of £50,000 and £45,000 respectively. Those salaries see them both rank up there among the higher earners in the Championship, and they're miles above the rest at Cardiff in terms of earnings.

It's probably not too much of a surprise that they're the two leading earners at the club given their pedigree. After Ramsey and Chambers, though, the next highest earners are Anwar El Ghazi, Joe Ralls, Callum Robinson, David Turnbull and Joe Ralls, who are all tied on an estimated weekly wage of £20,000.

With three of those players currently set to become free agents next summer - namely El Ghazi, Ralls, and Robinson - it'll be interesting to observe what direction Cardiff look to go in and whether renewals would equate to respective increases, thus potentially bumping their wage bill up even higher than most of their second-tier counterparts.