Ranking every Premier League club by their wage bill in 2026-27: Arsenal 2nd, Leeds 16th… | OneFootball

Premier League clubs continue to splash the cash on player wages going into the 2026-27 season, with the traditional ‘big six’ clubs – Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham – dominating the top end of the wage bill table once again.

But which of the big clubs are paying the biggest wages, and which clubs are punching above their weight? There is a pretty obvious relationship between wages and success in the Premier League. The clubs at the top of the wage table tend to be the clubs at the top of the actual table, although there are usually a few exceptions.

Manchester City lead the way by a comfortable distance, with a weekly wage bill of £4.4million. That is more than half a million clear of the reigning champions Arsenal, and underlines the sheer financial muscle that new boss Enzo Maresca is blessed to have at his disposal.

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are second on £3.68m per week, having slowly but surely assembled one of the most expensive squads in Europe. After years of rebuilding, the Gunners are now paying accordingly for a group expected to – and able to – compete at the very top end.

Liverpool sit third at £3.27million, but there isn’t a great deal between the squad inherited by Andoni Iraola and Manchester United, Chelsea and Spurs. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see that order shift in the coming weeks as more players are bought and sold before the transfer window closes.

Meanwhile, Manchester United remain among the biggest spenders in English football despite it being over a decade since their last genuine title challenge. Their £2.98million weekly outlay is a reminder that enormous financial resources doesn’t always correlate with on-pitch success – although with Michael Carrick leading them back into the Champions League, they’re at least now back somewhere around where they feel they ought to be.

Chelsea surprisingly sit as low as fifth, despite some of the bumper contracts dished out in the BlueCo reign, while Tottenham round off the traditional six after their summer trolley dash.

Aston Villa’s £2.31million weekly wage bill puts them seventh, which feels like another indication of how far the club has come under Unai Emery. Their wage spending is at a level befitting a club in the Champions League, in stark contrast to their transfer outlay.

Newcastle complete the top eight at £1.70m per week. That is a sizeable drop from Villa, which reflects a summer in which three of their top earners departed the club, but the injection of cash from Saudi Arabia nevertheless puts them on a footing unrecognisable to the Mike Ashley era.

Then there are the clubs attempting to punch above their financial weight. Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Brighton all sit in the £1.3-1.6million bracket, while Bournemouth are down in 15th. Leeds are 16th on £1.11m, ahead of only Brentford among established Premier League clubs, and will hope their excellent recruitment can compensate for the gap in wage spending.

At the bottom end, Brentford’s weekly wage bill of less than £1million is another reflection of the club’s famously prudent approach, while the three promoted sides unsurprisingly occupy the bottom three spots. To put the disparity into perspective, Coventry City would need more than three months to rack up the same wage bill Manchester City does in a single week.

Here’s the full breakdown of the Premier League’s wage bill table for the upcoming 2026-27 campaign.

Figures are taken from FBref, who source their data from Capology. 

1. Manchester City — £4,419,500 (€5,177,373, $5,887,784) 2. Arsenal — £3,675,000 (€4,305,203, $4,895,940) 3. Liverpool — £3,265,000 (€3,824,895, $4,349,726) 4. Manchester United — £2,981,500 (€3,492,779, $3,972,039) 5. Chelsea — £2,945,500 (€3,450,606, $3,924,079) 6. Tottenham — £2,899,000 (€3,396,132, $3,862,130) 7. Aston Villa — £2,305,000 (€2,700,270, $3,070,787) 8. Newcastle United — £1,698,500 (€1,989,765, $2,262,790) 9. Nottingham Forest — £1,570,500 (€1,839,815, $2,092,265) 10. Crystal Palace — £1,361,500 (€1,594,975, $1,813,829) 11. Brighton — £1,340,500 (€1,570,374, $1,785,852) 12. Everton — £1,279,200 (€1,498,562, $1,704,187) 13. Fulham — £1,223,000 (€1,432,725, $1,629,315) 14. Sunderland — £1,187,000 (€1,390,551, $1,581,355) 15. Bournemouth — £1,150,500 (€1,347,792, $1,532,729) 16. Leeds United — £1,113,500 (€1,304,447, $1,483,436) 17. Brentford — £983,000 (€1,151,569, $1,309,581) 18. Ipswich Town — £575,000 (€673,603, $766,031) 19. Hull City — £354,450 (€415,232, $472,208) 20. Coventry City — £303,000 (€354,960, $403,665)