How Leeds United’s 2019/20 wage bill compared to the rest of the Championship - Kiko Casilla was the big earner | OneFootball

Comparing Leeds United's 2019/20 title winning wage bill to the rest of the division that season

Leeds United ended a 16-year wait to return to the Premier League by winning the 2020 Championship title.

The Whites had come close in 2019, losing in the play-offs to Derby County in dramatic fashion, but went one step further 12 months later.

Marcelo Bielsa earned a lot of praise for his role in transforming the team, which had come 13th in the table prior to his arrival in 2018.

Leeds went on to enjoy three seasons back in the top flight before suffering relegation to the second tier, with their sights firmly set on returning under Daniel Farke.

Here we look at how the club’s wage bill in 2019/20 compared to the rest of the Championship at the time…

Leeds United’s 2019/20 wage bill

Using estimated figures from Capology, Leeds had the eighth-highest wage bill in the Championship during their promotion year.

The Yorkshire outfit had a total weekly wage bill worth £402,438, with an average weekly salary of £13,877.

This was significantly lower than the biggest wage structure in the division at the time, which was a position held by Stoke City.

The Potters were paying a total of £683,385 per week to their squad, which earned a 15th for their trouble, an incredibly underwhelming finish for the money spent.

Stoke were 14 points adrift of the play-offs, only eight ahead of the bottom three, with the club struggling to compete at this level after their 2018 relegation from the Premier League.

Fulham and Cardiff City completed the top three, with a wage bill worth £589,823 and £481,538 per week, respectively.

The Cottagers finished fourth in the table and earned promotion through the play-offs, while the Welsh outfit lost to them in the semi-final stages of the post-season competition after coming fifth.

Leeds United’s highest earner in the 2019/20 campaign was Kiko CasillaThe best paid permanent player in the Leeds squad under Bielsa that season was goalkeeper Kiko Casilla.

The Spaniard started the campaign as their first-choice between the sticks, but was ousted by Illan Meslier in the closing stages.

Casilla had a salary of £40,000 per week, with Patrick Bamford second on the list with a £35,000-a-week salary.

The forward was crucial to their promotion, scoring 16 times in the league, their top scorer by some distance.

The top five earners also included Helder Costa, Kalvin Phillips and Adam Forshaw, with the trio earning £32,500, £30,000 and £20,000 per week, respectively.

Costa and Phillips were both key figures during their promotion success, featuring 43 and 37 times in the league as Leeds clinched the title.

However, Forshaw only played seven times for Bielsa’s team, including only six starts.

While Casilla was the highest earner at the club, he was not the best paid player in the entire division.

That honour was given to Andre Ayew at Swansea City, with the forward earning £80,000 per week.