Leeds United's best paid player under 49ers Enterprises and whether Daniel Farke is getting value | OneFootball

FLW takes a look at Leeds United's best paid player and how is weekly wage compares to his performances.

Leeds United are one of the top clubs in the Championship and for that reason, they frequently hand out the highest figure when it comes to weekly wages.

This season they're targeting a return to the top-flight of English football and are locked in a four-way battle with Sheffield United, Burnley and Sunderland for those automatic spots.

Last year they missed out on a place in the Premier League as Ipswich Town and Leicester City pipped them in the final weeks of the playing season. This saw them enter the play-offs and despite comfortably defeating Norwich City in the semi-final, Russell Martin's Southampton had too much for them in 'the most expensive game in football'.

Entering this campaign with a very similar squad, the Whites still sit top of the pile for weekly outgoings on wages, with the only comparable teams being the Clarets and the Blades.

With this in mind, Football League World has opted to look at Leeds' highest paid player and just whether their income is good value for Daniel Farke.

NOTE: The figures provided are an estimate provided by Capology's system.

Patrick Bamford tops Leeds' wage list

According to Capology's estimates, it is Patrick Bamford who sits at the heavy height of first on Leeds' wage list.

The striker signed a new five-year contract at Elland Road in 2021, and it is understood that this earns him an average of £70,000 per week.

Across a full season, this amounts to £3,640,000 - a figure that far exceeds the earnings of most players in the squad, the majority of whom take home less than £50,000 per week.

It’s important to consider that this contract was signed when Leeds were in the Premier League, with the club likely having little expectation of a return to the Championship after securing a ninth-place finish.

Nevertheless, Bamford's weekly figure is the joint highest in the division and stands above new signings in the league, such as Enzo Le Fee and Ben Brereton Díaz.

Patrick Bamford is poor value for money

2025 saw Bamford enter his eighth year with Leeds after signing for the Whites from Middlesbrough in a deal worth £10 million back in 2018.

A player who has always divided opinion at Elland Road, his best years came during Leeds' 2019-20 promotion campaign and the remarkable season that followed in the top flight. In Leeds' first Premier League term since 2003-04, the former Chelsea striker netted an impressive 17 goals in 38 appearances as the Whites finished just outside the European places.

Unfortunately, since then, he has struggled to rekindle the same form and hasn't scored over ten goals in a campaign for three successive seasons.

This year has been particularly damning for the 31-year-old, with injuries and Farke's preference for Joel Piroe and Mateo Joseph seeing him limited to minimal appearances from the bench.

The January window did provide an opportunity for him to leave, with both Wrexham and Genoa interested in securing his services, according to TEAMtalk. Blackburn Rovers were also keen, but no move came to fruition.

While his current injury may have played a role, other factors were surely at play - most notably his substantial wages, which surely made a move to less affluent clubs more difficult to negotiate.

In truth, the £70,000 Leeds fork out every seven days for Bamford's services isn't justified anymore. While you can see the appeal on the back of his 17-goal season, it is a long time since he was producing those numbers and their £3,640,000 annual outlay is a damning number to the club.