The clubs with the biggest wage bills in Europe - ranked

  • Barcelona's enormous wage bill has seen their financial situation decline
  • PSG and Man City both have enormous salary bills
  • 10 Premier League sides in the top 20
Barcelona boast Europe's biggest wage bill
Barcelona boast Europe's biggest wage bill / Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/GettyImages
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Barcelona still boast the biggest wage bill in Europe despite their efforts to trim down on salary, a report has revealed.

The club's financial woes are no secret, with Barcelona officials openly admitting the need to cut down on wages, and there have been plenty of moves made behind the scenes to try and lower their expenses.

However, according to UEFA's European Club Finance and Investment Landscape report, Barcelona still have the biggest wage bill in Europe, sitting at €639m.

That figure is marginally ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, whose salaries in 2023 tallied up to €617m.

Manchester City come in third on the standings with a wage bill of €554m, and there is significant distance between the top three and the rest of the teams in the final 20.


Erling Haaland, Rodri
City's wage bill was the third-highest in Europe / Mateusz Slodkowski/GettyImages

At €453m, Real Madrid come in with the fourth-biggest wage bill, and Liverpool round out the top five with €429m.

Bayern Munich's 2023 spend saw a cool €416m used for wages. Chelsea are seventh on the standings with €397m but the Blues' data is from 2022 and may not be entirely accurate compared to their current wage budget.

Despite having the most expensive squad in history, Manchester United's wage bill sits at just €381m, and there's a big drop down to Tottenham Hotspur at €381m. Juventus complete the top ten with €283m.

Arsenal's budget of €270m gets them into 11th on the standings and there is futher representation from the Premier League with Aston Villa (€223m), Newcastle United (€215m) and Everton (€191m).

Shockingly, in 16th place sit Leicester City, who were relegated from the Premier League last season. The Foxes had a wage bill of €215m when the data was recorded but that was not enough to save them from the drop.


Top 20 biggest wage bills in 2023

Rank

Team

Wage bill

1

Barcelona

€639m

2

Paris Saint-Germain

€617m

3

Manchester City

€554m

4

Real Madrid

€453m

5

Liverpool

€429m

6

Bayern Munich

€416m

7

Chelsea

€397m

8

Manchester United

€381m

9

Tottenham Hotspur

€289m

10

Juventus

€283m

11

Arsenal

€270m

12

Atletico Madrid

€245m

13

Borussia Dortmund

€236m

14

Inter

€230m

15

Aston Villa

€223m

16

Leicester City

€215m

17

Newcastle United

€215m

18

RB Leipzig

€192m

19

Everton

€191m

20

Roma

€181m


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