Wolves' 7 highest paid players as EFL Championship looms | OneFootball

Wanderers' first Championship campaign for eight years is looming large

After spending eight years as a Premier League club, Wolverhampton Wanderers and their supporters will be swiftly turning their focus to the upcoming 46-game Championship schedule in 2026/27.

Having initially done well to reconsolidate their position in the top-flight under Nuno Espírito Santo, which included a run to the UEFA Europa League quarter-final stage in 2019/20, Wolves have since regressed under a plethora of managers and head coaches, and it is Rob Edwards' task to conduct a successful rebuilding job in his first full campaign in charge at Molineux.

The Old Gold and Black are the 43-year-old's fourth club at Championship level, having previously overseen such duties at Watford, Luton Town and Middlesbrough, exiting the Teesside club last November in rather controversial circumstances.

As is often the case once a side has been relegated from the Premier League into the EFL, there are several question marks as to which pre-existing squad members Edwards will be able to retain, as well as recruit, although a recent four-year extension to Andre's contract in WV1 certainly caught the eye of many.

With that being said, Football League World have looked at which seven members of Wolves' squad are the highest earners at Molineux as the second tier season looms large.

7 ? ? Jackson Tchatchoua

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Kickstarting this list of Wanderers' seven highest-paid players is Cameroonian full-back, Jackson Tchatchoua, who was acquired for a reported £10.8m on a five-year contract from Serie A side, Hellas Verona, last August.

At 24 years of age, the right-back will hope to eventually fully showcase why such a long contract was put on the table in Vitor Pereira's final transfer window at Molineux, before he was duly replaced by Edwards.

The 15-time international was named as an unused substitute in all the club's final four Premier League games, and could see his chances of regular minutes impacted by the 'verbal agreement' in place for Wolves to sign Kieran Trippier on a free transfer.

That said, the Belgian-born man is one of two players ESTIMATED to be earning £65,000 per week on the club's payroll at present, although relegation means said figure is likely to officially drop for next season.

6 ? ? Adam Armstrong

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The other man earning the same ESTIMATED wage is Adam Armstrong, who is returning to the Championship just months after completing a £7m switch from Southampton.

After scoring 11 goals in 29 league games for the South Coast side under Will Still and Tonda Eckert in his final months at St Mary's, the 29-year-old moved to the Black Country and has performed admirably, despite Wolves' relegation being somewhat of a formality for the entirety of his opening period at Molineux.

However, he will hope to build on a record of two goals and as many assists in his first 14 league games for the club.

5 ? ? Hee-Chan Hwang

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Another forward is next on the list, with Hee-chan Hwang earning an ESTIMATED figure of £70,000 per week, although the 30-year-old has already been the subject of exit talk following relegation to the Championship.

Hwang was initially signed on loan under Bruno Lage in the summer of 2021, before the Midlands outfit triggered a reported £14m option-to-buy clause just months later.

However, after netting 13 times in 31 games back in 2023/24, the South Korean has only managed to net five more times in his last 56 appearances in all competitions.

4 ? ? Tolu Arokodare

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Yet another forward is positioned as Wolves' fourth-highest earner, with Tolu Arokodare collecting an ESTIMATED weekly pay packet of £75,000.

Tolu appeared to be a marquee signing by the club last summer, moving from Belgian Pro League outfit, KRC Genk for a reported £24m.

However, as has been the case with several of Wolves' signings in recent times, supporters are still waiting for said fee to be justifiable through a respectable goal record, although that could come in the Championship if he gets off and running in the campaign's early weeks.

3 ? ? Jean-Ricner Bellegarde

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Jean-Ricner Bellegarde will be featuring for Haiti at this summer's FIFA World Cup, and it could potentially pave the way for an exit, which Wolves could look to sanction due to his ESTIMATED £75,000 per week wage at Molineux.

The 27-year-old was brought to the Premier League for £12.8m in the summer of 2023 from RC Strasbourg under Gary O'Neil, who, ironically, is now in charge of the Alsace-based outfit.

As well as suffering the unwanted feat of relegation, Bellegarde's personal frustrations in recent months were added to by a hamstring injury between December and January, which quashed transfer interest from Turkish Süper Lig side, Besiktas.

2 ? ? Toti Gomes

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The second-highest earner on Nathan Shi's payroll is said to be Portuguese international and club captain, Toti Gomes, on an ESTIMATED weekly wage of £80,000.

Despite Wolves' regression in recent seasons, the development of the 27-year-old has been one major plus-point since his arrival from Estoril in 2020, with his most recent contract extension being signed in February 2024, which would keep him at the club until the summer of 2029.

Remarkably, there has been no suggestion that the defender has attracted any transfer interest after relegation just yet, with his contract situation leaving the newly-relegated outfit still with a strong sense of bargaining power.

1 ? ? Joao Gomes

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However, the outright highest earner at Molineux is Brazilian ace, Joao Gomes, on an ESTIMATED weekly wage of £105,000.

The midfielder was signed in January 2023 as a 21-year-old for a reported £15m from Flamengo, and after still being a bright spark during the club's dismal relegation campaign, Wanderers are set to land a major profit on his services.

Indeed, it has been widely reported that, although he has missed out on a spot in Carlo Ancelotti's World Cup squad, Gomes has been the subject of a £39m deal with La Liga giants, Atlético Madrid, as final details are still in the process of being completed before his pending exit is confirmed.