The 12 highest paid players in EFL League One | OneFootball

FLW looks at who the estimated highest-paid players in League One are currently

Year by year, more money is filtered down the divisions, and in League One, sides are given that financial boost to bring in players who are levels above on decent wages.

The third tier this year is proving to be incredibly competitive, with the likes of Cardiff City, Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town and Stockport County all being financially backed to aim for promotion.

Plus, Luton Town are still in receipt of parachute payments from their relegation from the Premier League less than two years ago.

Therefore, some teams are expected to be able to afford to pay decent wages to entice players across, and therefore, some of the highest-paid players are earning a lot more than the average mid-table player.

But who earns the most? Football League World, via Footy Stats' ESTIMATES, has had a look to see who tops the pile in terms of wages per year in the third tier.

12 ? ? Nathan Trott — Cardiff City (£669,719 per year)

With it being their first year in League One since the 2002/03 campaign, and with them having two Premier League seasons amongst that, too, it's no surprise that Cardiff players will dominate this list, starting with their goalkeeper, Nathan Trott.

Trott is currently on loan from Danish side Copenhagen. There's an option to buy at the end of the campaign, and given his performances thus far, there's every expectation that the Bluebirds will exercise that.

The 27-year-old will likely finish towards the top of the pile when it comes to clean sheets this season, and is proving himself to be one of the more valuable players in the third tier week by week.

11 ? ? Amario Cozier-Duberry - Bolton Wanderers (£669,719 per year)

FootyStats actually estimates a three-way tie for 10th place when it comes to the highest-paid players in League One. Alongside Trott, on just above £650,000 per year, is Brighton loanee, Amario Cozier-Duberry.

Loanees are also going to feature prominently on this list, as parent clubs in higher divisions can afford to hand out contracts worth around £10,000 to £12,000 per week to academy products with no real second guesses.

However, there's no doubt that Cozier-Duberry has shown why he earns that much during his loan spell with Bolton this year, scoring six and assisting eight this season, before going down with injury.

Trotters fans can't wait to see him return towards the end of March, as he could hold the keys to a late-season push for the top two.

10 ? ? George Saville - Luton Town (£669,719 per year)

The first actual contracted player on this list, and with George Saville being one of the most reliable midfielders in the Championship over the last decade, there's no shock that Luton let a wedge of their wage budget go on the 32-year-old.

With the Hatters having played in the Premier League as little as two seasons ago, they're clearly able to afford it, and the Northern Irishman has been a consistent factor in the Luton line-up this season, too.

Jack Wilshere may be rotating him more than Matt Bloomfield did, but there's a clear reason why Saville gets paid the 10th-most out of anyone in League One.

9 ? ? Alex Robertson - Cardiff City (£704,904 per year)

The second Cardiff player to appear on this list is Alex Robertson, who came through the Manchester City academy to sign professionally before signing with the Bluebirds ahead of the 2024/25 campaign for a fee that could rise to £3 million.

With that, and with Cardiff being a Championship side at the time, there'd be expectations that a decent contract would follow suit, and it's landed him ninth in the current League One rankings 18 months on.

The Australian international struggled with injury to begin the campaign, but since properly breaking into the side in December, he's been a big part of the ruthless, possession-hungry Bluebirds.

8 ? ? Alfie May - Huddersfield Town (£824,348 per year)

Backed by Kevin Nagle, Huddersfield boast one of the more impressive wage budgets across the entire league, and predicted to be at the top of it is Alfie May.

Evidently, his goalscoring prowess in recent seasons for the likes of Cheltenham Town, Charlton Athletic and, more recently, Birmingham City, has meant that the 32-year-old is priceless in this division.

Birmingham will have paid good money to take him to St Andrew's last season with the sole goal of helping them bounce back to the Championship, and Huddersfield expected to do the same this past summer.

It hasn't worked out as well as either party would have hoped for, but there's still time under Liam Manning for May to prove why he's one of the higher-paid players in the division.

7 ? ? David Turnbull - Cardiff City (£875,661 per year)

Given David Turnbull's extensive honours list during his time at Celtic, the 26-year-old was always going to be commanding a large wage when he made the switch from Scotland to the Welsh capital midway through the 2023/24 campaign.

Turnbull has won two Scottish Premierships, two Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups in his career, and before Celtic, he won numerous individual accolades at Motherwell.

A lengthy hamstring injury stopped him from really making an impact in his first full season last year, but so far this term, he's been one of the focal points of the Cardiff midfield.

6 ? ? Ben Osborn - Stockport County (£978,462 per year)

As we head into the top six in the list, we now have players with Premier League pedigree, and not just because they've joined on loan from a top-flight side as a young, exciting prospect.

Indeed, Ben Osborn was bought by Sheffield United upon their promotion to the Premier League in 2019 from Nottingham Forest, and made 61 top-flight appearances across three years with the Blades, before moving to Derby County last season.

The 31-year-old is on loan at Stockport from the Championship side, so is expected to be on second-tier level wages currently, which puts him towards the top of this ranking.

5 ? ? Callum Robinson - Cardiff City (£1,029,598 per year)

The first of five players expected to make over a million pounds each year in League One is Callum Robinson, another player with Premier League experience, and goals in the top flight too, for Sheffield United and West Brom.

Right now, the 31-year-old is a squad player at the Cardiff City Stadium, due mainly to Yousef Salech's presence, but even after the first-choice frontman got injured, there isn't a guarantee for Robinson to start games, with Omari Kellyman deputising up there at times, too.

Perhaps it could be said that Cardiff could better use the hefty chunk of their wage bill elsewhere, but Robinson's role as a veteran head to an incredibly young squad, while also being able to impact games when he is on the field, is irreplaceable.

4 ? ? Gabriel Osho - Cardiff City (£1,080,947 per year)

Considering Gabriel Osho was playing in the top flight in France last season and in the Premier League the year before for Luton, it was going to take some convincing for the 27-year-old to drop to League One upon his return to England.

The presence of Brian Barry-Murphy, who Osho played under at Rochdale way back when, would have helped, but also the fact that he'd be made the fourth-highest-paid player in the division may have swayed him, too.

Despite this, though, the Nigerian defender hasn't played much for Cardiff this season, due mainly to injury, but also the emergence of Dylan Lawlor as a young, viable centre-back option next to someone else who will feature higher up on this list.

The 27-year-old hasn't been able to showcase why he earns the big bucks so much, but there's still no doubting his quality when on the field.

3 ? ? Marcus Forss - Bolton Wanderers (£1,080,947 per year)

Marcuss Forss is currently on loan at Bolton from Middlesbrough, who are one of the richer, more Premier League-ready clubs in the Championship, so it would make sense that one of their fringe players immediately walks into the top three on this list.

The Finnish forward is also someone with previous reps in the Premier League, albeit not many, as he struggled to get into the Brentford side upon their 2021 promotion.

Forss may not be seen until the latter stages of the campaign due to a hamstring tear picked up in January, and if he does come back, Bolton fans will be desperate to see why he's on such a high contract, as just the two goals in League One this season don't stand out at all.