LIVERPOOL have risen above Manchester United in the Premier League wage bill standings – but still sit miles adrift of Manchester City.
The official salary totals for the 2019-20 season have now been confirmed.
And in a surprise update, Liverpool have risen above rivals Man Utd into second.
Across last season, the Reds paid out a whopping £325million in player wages.
Mohamed Salah was Liverpool’s top earner last season, raking in £200,000 per week.
Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk both raked in £180,000 weekly, with EIGHT further players all earning £100,000 a week or more.
However, Kop bosses would say it was worthy every penny as the Premier League trophy finally made its way to Anfield.
It’s expected Liverpool’s wage bill has increased in 2020-21, too.
After all, the Reds offered Thiago £200,000 a week to join from Bayern Munich, while another 2020 buy, Diogo Jota, is raking in close to £100,000 weekly.
However, Dejan Lovren (£110,000), Adam Lallana (£100,000) and Nathaniel Clyne (£70,000) were just three big-earners sold in the summer of 2020.
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Meanwhile, Manchester City still top the pile, shelling out an extraordinary £351m on wages last season.
In 2019-20, Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling both raked in £300,000 per week or more.
David Silva and Sergio Aguero were both also on in excess of £200,000 every week, with a further NINE players all ranking in six-figure sums weekly.
Man Utd sit third on the list – miles adrift of their local rivals – on £284m, despite David De Gea signing a massive £375,000-a-week contract at the start of the season.
Paul Pogba (£290,000), Anthony Martial (£250,000) and Marcus Rashford (£200,000) all raked in huge amounts.
And a further eight players all took home in excess of £100,000 per week.
However, some big names such as Scott McTominay (£10,000), Mason Greenwood (£35,000) and Daniel James (£45,000) helped keep the overall wage bill lower than their rivals.
Last season, Chelsea spent just £1m less than United on wages at £283m.
However, the Blues look set to climb up the table again in 2020-21 – with summer buys Ben Chilwell, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Thiago Silva and Kai Havertz all commanding six-figure weekly salaries.
Arsenal and Tottenham ran the tightest ship wage-wise, spending just £225m and £181m respectively last term.
The Gunners’ overall bill for 2020-21 will be interesting to see though.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang signed a bumper new £350,000-a-week deal, while Thomas Partey (£250,000) and Willian (£220,000) also joined.
But Mikel Arteta offloaded a hatful of big-earning stars such as Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac, Sokratis Papstathopoulos and Lucas Torreira all offloaded, alongside others such as William Saliba and Matteo Guendouzi.
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