Manchester United, Tottenham and West Ham have been the Premier League’s biggest underachievers of 2024-25 when you compare their performance on the pitch to their outlay on wages.
At the other end of the scale, Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Brentford are doing the best relative to their spending on player wages.
There are notable exceptions, but looking at the table of Premier League wages is usually a decent benchmark for where each club ‘should’ be finishing in the league when all is said and done.
On that front, it’s no great surprise that Ipswich Town look destined for relegation given how little they spend on wages compared to some of the English top-flight’s more established clubs.
Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys take home only a fraction of what the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal spend on player wages.
But Brentford, who still have the second lowest wage bill – spending less than sides like Southampton, Leicester and Everton – have demonstrated that it is possible to get a lot of limited resources, once again sitting comfortably in midtable.
Thomas Frank’s Bees are up there with Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth this season when it comes to clubs getting the most out of their wage spend.
It’s Brighton, though, that can be considered the Premier League’s biggest upstarts. They’ve made a habit of punching above their weight in recent years and look capable of making another push for European qualification – sitting seventh at the time of writing – which is a remarkable achievement given they spend an estimated £60million a year on wages, with only five clubs in the division spending less.
Table toppers Liverpool can be considered doing the best of the ‘big six’, given they spend less on wages than the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.
At the other end of the scale, it’s no wonder there’s so much noise around Manchester United when they currently sit 13tth in the Premier League table while spending the second-most on wages; only behind their city rivals.
West Ham, Tottenham and Leicester City are the other clubs down there with the Red Devils when it comes to not getting bang for their buck in terms of wage spend.
We’ve listed every Premier League single club by their league position in comparison to their wage bill, ranking them in order of the biggest overperformers down to the biggest underperformers.
Note: All wage bill data is via Capology.
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Brighton
League Position: 7th
Wage bill: 15th
Total wage bill: £60.9million
Difference: +8
Brentford
League Position: 11th
Wage bill: 19th
Total wage bill: £41.4million
Difference: +8
Nottingham Forest
League Position: 3rd
Wage bill: 14th
Total wage bill: £63.4million
Difference: +7
Bournemouth
League Position: 10th
Wage bill: 17th
Total wage bill: £54.7million
Difference: +7
Liverpool
League Position: 1st
Wage bill: 5th
Total wage bill: £128.8million
Difference: +4
Fulham
League Position: 8th
Wage bill: 12th
Total wage bill: £68.4million
Difference: +4
Ipswich Town
League Position: 18th
Wage bill: 20th
Total wage bill: £34.2million
Difference: +2
Newcastle
League Position: 6th
Wage bill: 8th
Total wage bill: £103.2million
Difference: +2
Arsenal
League Position: 2nd
Wage bill: 3rd
Total wage bill: £172.1million
Difference: +1
Wolves
League Position: 17th
Wage bill: 18th
Total wage bill: £53.2million
Difference: +1
Chelsea
League Position: 4th
Wage bill: 4th
Total wage bill: £169.3million
Difference: =
Crystal Palace
League Position: 12th
Wage bill: 11th
Total wage bill: £69.8million
Difference: -1
Aston Villa
League Position: 9th
Wage bill: 6th
Total wage bill: £107.5million
Difference: -3
Man City
League Position: 5th
Wage bill: 1st
Total wage bill: £201.8million
Difference: -4
Southampton
League Position: 20th
Wage bill: 16th
Total wage bill: £56million
Difference: -4
Everton
League Position: 15th
Wage bill: 10th
Total wage bill: £71.4million
Difference: -5
Leicester City
League Position: 19th
Wage bill: 13th
Total wage bill: £65.4million
Difference: -6
Tottenham
League Position: 14th
Wage bill: 7th
Total wage bill: £104.8million
Difference: -7
West Ham
League Position: 16th
Wage bill: 9th
Total wage bill: £90.2million
Difference: -7
Manchester United
League Position: 13th
Wage bill: 2nd
Total wage bill: £180.6million
Difference: -11