Erling Haaland makes more money in a single week than most surgeons earn in three years. That is a wild, slightly uncomfortable reality. But if you think premier league football salaries are just about greedy players and agents, you're missing the weirdest parts of the story.
It's 2026. The money isn't just "big" anymore; it has basically become its own weather system.
The Haaland Peak and the £500k Barrier
Honestly, the numbers are getting stupid. Erling Haaland is currently sitting on a contract at Manchester City that pays him roughly £525,000 per week. Let that sink in for a second. That is over £27 million a year just in base salary. If he hits his bonuses—and let's be real, he always does—the number climbs even higher.
But why?
It isn't just because he scores goals. It's because he is a walking insurance policy for success. In the 2025-26 season, City's wage bill is estimated to be around £230 million. They are paying for a guarantee that they stay at the top of the food chain.
Then you've got Mohamed Salah. People thought he might head to Saudi Arabia, but he stayed at Liverpool on a massive £400,000-a-week deal signed in early 2025. It makes sense. Even at 33, the "Egyptian King" is the heartbeat of Arne Slot’s attack. You can’t replace that kind of output with a "project" player, so you pay the premium.
🔗 Read more: Buddy Hield Sacramento Kings: What Really Happened Behind the Scenes
The Top 5 Earners Right Now (Weekly)
- Erling Haaland (Man City): £525,000
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool): £400,000
- Casemiro (Man Utd): £350,000
- Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool): £350,000
- Raheem Sterling (Chelsea/Arsenal Loan): £325,000
Why Bad Teams Sometimes Pay More
You’d think the best teams always have the highest premier league football salaries, right? Not always. Look at Manchester United.
For years, they’ve been stuck with a "bloated" wage bill. Casemiro is still pulling in £350,000 a week despite his legs clearly slowing down. It’s a legacy of the "panic-buy" era. When a club loses its way, they often have to overpay just to convince stars to join a sinking ship.
On the flip side, you have Arsenal. Mikel Arteta has built a squad where the pay is high—Kai Havertz is on £280,000 and Bukayo Saka recently jumped to £300,000—but it feels earned. There’s a logic to it.
"The wage bill is the biggest predictor of league position, but only if you spend it on the right players." — This is a common saying among football scouts, and the 2025-26 table proves it.
Sunderland and Leeds, the newly promoted bunch, are trying to survive on total squad bills that are less than what Man City pays for three or four players. Sunderland’s entire squad earns roughly £68 million a year combined. That’s a massive chasm.
💡 You might also like: Why the March Madness 2022 Bracket Still Haunts Your Sports Betting Group Chat
The Weird World of "Dead Money" and Loans
Football finance is kinda messy. Take Jack Grealish. He spent time on loan at Everton recently, and Man City was still reportedly covering a huge chunk of his £300,000 weekly wage.
Then there's the "Dead Money" issue. This is when a player is sold or released, but the club is still paying off their contract or accounting for the loss. It happens more than you'd think. Chelsea has been the king of this lately, with a massive squad of players who aren't even in the first-team building but are still collecting checks.
Raheem Sterling is the perfect example. He’s 31, earning £325,000 a week, and has spent time being "frozen out" or loaned. When you’re on that much money, it’s almost impossible to find a buyer because nobody else wants to pay those wages. You end up stuck.
What Most People Get Wrong About the "Average" Salary
We talk about the superstars, but what about the guy playing right-back for Bournemouth?
The average Premier League salary is now around £3.5 million to £4 million per year. That’s still incredible money, obviously. But the "middle class" of the league is where the most movement is happening. Teams like Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa are aggressively bumping up their mid-tier salaries to compete for Europa League spots.
📖 Related: Mizzou 2024 Football Schedule: What Most People Get Wrong
- Nottingham Forest annual bill: ~£93 million
- Everton annual bill: ~£75 million
- Brentford (the efficiency kings): ~£54 million
Brentford is the outlier. They’ve managed to stay mid-table for years while maintaining one of the lowest wage-to-turnover ratios in the league. They basically use math to beat teams that just throw money at the wall.
Is the Bubble About to Burst?
Honestly? Probably not.
TV rights and global sponsorships are still growing. The new Champions League format and the expanded Club World Cup mean more games, which means more revenue, which means... you guessed it, higher premier league football salaries.
The Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) have slowed things down a bit, though. Clubs are now terrified of getting point deductions like Everton and Forest did in previous seasons. This is why we're seeing more creative loans and "buy-now-pay-later" deals.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Analysts
- Watch the contract cycles: When a star player hits the 2-year mark on their deal, that's when the "pay me or I leave" leverage starts. This is how Salah landed his recent £400k deal.
- Look at the Wage-to-Turnover ratio: If a club is spending more than 70% of its revenue on player wages, they are in the danger zone for PSR penalties.
- Value over Volume: High wages don't equal points. Man Utd’s struggle versus Arsenal’s rise shows that a structured wage hierarchy is better than just signing "names."
If you want to track these numbers yourself, sites like Capology and FBref are the gold standard for estimated data, though remember that official figures are rarely made public by the clubs themselves. The financial gap between the "Big Six" and the rest is widening, but as teams like Aston Villa have shown, you can break the ceiling if you spend smart, not just big.