Chelsea’s wages have hit a record £215.6 million in the 2014-15 season according to the latest Premier League wage bill. The Premier league champions have seen a £25 million rise in their wages compared to the £190m a year earlier. The club, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, stormed ahead of Manchester United and Manchester City who reduced their wage bills from the previous campaign to £203m and £193.5m respectively.
Chelsea announced in November the club had made a net loss of £23.1m on turnover of £314.3m but said they were well within the limits complying with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations. The club’s complete annual figures reveal that the club made a profit of £42m with the selling of Romelu Lukaku, Andre Schurrle and Ryan Bertrand despite bringing in players like Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas.
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| Number | Team | Wage Bill | League Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | £215.6m | 14 |
| 2 | Manchester United | £203m | 5 |
| 3 | Manchester City | £193.8m | 3 |
| 4 | Arsenal | £192m | 1 |
| 5 | Liverpool | £152m | 8 |
| 6 | Tottenham | £110.5m | 4 |
| 7 | Newcastle United | £75.8m | 18 |
| 8 | Everton | £74.7m | 11 |
| 9 | Stoke City | £72.3m | 10 |
| 10 | Sunderland | £71m | 19 |
| 11 | West Ham United | £69.5m | 6 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | £68.5m | 20 |
| 13 | West Brom | £65.1m | 12 |
| 14 | Southampton | £59.5m | 13 |
| 15 | Swansea City | £54.3m | 17 |
| 16 | Crystal Palace | £51m | 7 |
| 17 | Leicester City | £48.2m | 2 |
| 18 | Norwich City | £37m | 15 |
| 19 | Watford | £29m | 9 |
| 20 | AFC Bournemouth | £25m | 16 |
League leaders Arsenal (£192.2m) sit fourth in the list.
They are slightly behind Manchester City despite Arsene Wenger’s frugal reputation in the transfer market. But the Gunners have enjoyed success unlike city rivals Chelsea who are currently 14th in the league table despite having the highest valued team in the league.
Manchester United have cut down their wage bills to £203 million in this year compared to highest in the league last year with £215 million. Big-spending Manchester City have also managed to reduce their bill from £205 million to just £193.8m this time around.
Liverpool and Tottenham make up the top six in the list with £152m and £110.5m respectively. The reds are currently eighth in the table and would be hoping for better performances from their players who are yet to live up to their wage bills. On the other hand, Tottenham enjoyed success and are in a Champions League position at the moment with a squad that has a lesser wage bill than rivals Chelsea.
The major disappointments in the list are current champions Chelsea followed by Newcastle and Sunderland. The blues had a disastrous first half of the season and their Champions league qualification for next season looks highly unlikely. Arch-rivals Newcastle and Sunderland are placed seventh and tenth on the list but have failed to live up to their wage bill and are fighting for survival down at the bottom of the table.
Leicester City are the biggest surprise in the league so far and are currently in pursuit of league leaders Arsenal. They are 17th in the list and have been the major gainers alongside West Ham, Crystal Palace and Watford, all of them made it to the top half of the table with a wage bill less than £70m.
Leicester also lead the table for ‘Value for money in the Premier League’ and without any surprise Chelsea are rock bottom in the same list.
English Premier League is the richest professional sports league in the world and the wage bills are only expected to move up considering the competition within the league.
