THE biggest wage bills in Europe have been revealed – with FOUR Premier League teams in the top ten.
With the domestic 2019-20 season now done and dusted, the annual wage bills have been revealed by SafeBettingSites.
But which teams make the cut and are they getting bang for buck?
We take a look…
10. ARSENAL
2018-19 wage bill: £4.78m
Top-earner: Mesut Ozil – £350,000 a week
Bang for buck?: Not even close
COMPLETING the top ten is Arsenal, who spend a monster £4.78m a year on wages.
But having finished eighth in the Premier League and closer to 20th-placed Norwich than champions Liverpool, that certainly isn’t money well spent.
Ozil raking in £350,000 a week to rot on the bench is a sore spot amongst Gooners.
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9. ATLETICO MADRID
2018-19 wage bill: £5.37m
Top-earner: Jan Oblak – £350,000 a week
Bang for buck?: Yes
FOR just a few extra quid, Atletico Madrid managed to finish third in LaLiga and are currently in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
When you compare that to Arsenal, it’s clear to see they’re getting value for mony.
But they will want to challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid a little more domestically next season.
8. LIVERPOOL
2018-19 wage bill: £5.53m
Top-earner: Mohamed Salah – £200,000 a week
Bang for buck?: Absolutely
ASK any Liverpool fan and they’ll tell you that £5.53m was worth every penny.
Jurgen Klopp finally led the Reds to their first-ever Premier League crown and first top-flight title in 30 years.
While Liverpool don’t have one standout, overpaid star, the entire squad is paid a decent amount.
As things stand, the Reds will pay less on wages next season, with the likes of Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne of the payroll.
7. MAN UTD
2018-19 wage bill: £6.12m
Top-earner: David De Gea – £375,000 a week
Bang for buck?: Not quite
IT took a late-season charge for Man Utd to sneak into the top-four in the Premier League.
But even then, they had a kind run-in and only snuck into the Europa League semis with an extra-time penalty from Bruno Fernandes – htier 21st spot-kick of the season, the most in all of Europe.
For over £6m per season, you’d hope to be challenging for the domestic crown and Champions League… United did neither in 2019-20 despite some signs of improvement.
And let’s not even get into the fact they were held to ransom over De Gea’s current contract, signed in September… the Spaniard has been error-prone ever since.
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6. BAYERN MUNICH
2018-19 wage bill: £6.19m
Top-earner: Robert Lewandowski – £275,000 a week
Bang for buck?: Yes… sort of
THEY stormed into the Champions League quarter-finals and charged to the Bundesliga title.
But even had they not spent £6.19m, you’d firmly believe they still would have won the German title.
No other side in the Bundesliga has the deep pockets Bayern do – and you could argue they may be overpaying despite their success.
5. PSG
2018-19 wage bill: £6.81m
Top-earner: Neymar – £600,000 a week
Bang for buck?: Yes… but with a catch
SIMILARLY to Bayern, PSG pay an extraordinary amount for a league they have won comfortably seven out of the last eight seasons.
But with the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria on the books, it’s easy to see why their bill is so high.
Neymar and Mbappe have been linked with summer moves away which will help their wage bill – and even then it would be hard to see them NOT winning Ligue 1.
4. MAN CITY
2018-19 wage bill: £6.98m
Top-earner: Kevin De Bruyne – £320,000 a week
Bang for buck?: Ask again in two weeks…
WHAT does £7m a year get you? Plenty of talent…
Pep Guardiola has easily the deepest squad in Europe – but still finished miles adrift of Liverpool in the Premier League in 2019-20.
To make that £7m good value, City will have to win the Champions League with the final on August 23.
3. JUVENTUS
2018-19 wage bill: £7.71m
Top-earner: Cristiano Ronaldo – £540,000 a week
Bang for buck?: Yes, but only thanks to their transfer deals
JUVENTUS were forced to fight for the Serie A title this season – their ninth in a row.
But exit in the Champions League saw Maurizio Sarri sacked.
In truth, £7.71m seems like an awful lot of money, but when so many of their top-earners were signed on free transfers, it does almost make it good value when you take in the big picture.
2. REAL MADRID
2018-19 wage bill: £8.5m
Top-earner: Gareth Bale – £600,000 a week
Bang for buck?: Yes and no…
WELL they’ve finally ousted Barcelona to reclaim the LaLiga title – but they were dumped out of the Champions League in the last-16 stage.
It was a mixed bag of a season for Los Blancos.
But in truth it’s hard to call £8.5m for the season “good value”… after all, Bale earns £600,000 a week to never play.
1. BARCELONA
2018-19 wage bill: £9.37m
Top-earner: Lionel Messi – £1.15m a week
Bang for buck?: Not quite
THEY were beaten to the LaLiga crown by old enemy Real Madrid, but unlike their rivals, they ARE still in the Champions League.
Their bill, £9.37m per season, is extraordinary – but with Messi accounting for over ten per cent of that, it’s hard to argue too much.
Barca have made some big-money mistakes in the transfer market and have overpaid a few of those flops, so ultimately it’s impossible say they’re getting good value for money.
