The financial gulf between the Premier League and the rest of Europe's 'Big Five' leagues has been revealed in a new ranking of the 50 highest wage bills in European football's most prestigious competitions.
Much has been made of the financial clout of the Premier League when compared to other major leagues in Europe.
Premier League clubs set a new spending record of around £1.9bn in the summer transfer window, more than Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and the German Bundesliga combined.
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Meanwhile, gross spending across all of Europe's 'big five' leagues – which also includes France's Ligue 1 - increased by 52 per cent to £3.88bn.
A new list, compiled by Planet Football using data from FBref, shows that 18 of the top 50 highest wage bills in Europe's top competitions belong to clubs in the Premier League.
However, French champions Paris Saint-Germain - who boast the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar in their squad - perhaps unsurprisingly top the list with an annual wage bill of £351.3m.
They are followed by the two Spanish giants, Barcelona (£300.1m) and Real Madrid (£241.3m), with German champions Bayern Munich in fourth (£241.3m).
Manchester United are the highest-ranked Premier League side with a wage bill of £223m, having recently bolstered their squad with huge summer spending spree of more than £230m to bring the likes of Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Antony to Old Trafford.
Chelsea (£164.4m), Manchester City (£163.1m) and Liverpool (£141.8m) also feature in the top 10. Check out the full list below:
1. PSG – £351.3m
2. Barcelona – £300.1m
3. Real Madrid – £241.3m
4. Bayern Munich – £230.2m
5. Manchester United – £223m
6. Chelsea – £164.4m
7. Manchester City – £163.1m
8. Atletico Madrid – £148.4m
9. Liverpool – £141.8m
10. Juventus – £136.7m
11. Internazionale – £108.6m
12. Tottenham – £101.3m
13. Villarreal – £85.6m
14. Arsenal – £85.5m
15. Borussia Dortmund – £81.4m
16. Sevilla – £81.1m
17. RB Leipzig – £77m
18. Aston Villa – £75.2m
19. Roma – £73.2m
20. West Ham United – £70.2m
21. AC Milan – £67.6m
22. Leicester City – £65.6m
23. Newcastle United – £62.6m
24. Athletic Bilbao – £62.2m
25. Crystal Palace – £59.2m
26. Napoli – £58.5m
27. Lazio – £51m
28. Marseille – £50.4m
29. Everton – £46.8m
30. Valencia – £45.5m
31. Fiorentina – £42.6m
32. Real Betis – £39.9m
33. Bayer Leverkusen – £39.6m
34. Monaco – £38.2m
35. Fulham – £37.6m
36. Wolfsburg – £36.9m
37. Wolves – £35.7m
38. Southampton – £35.4m
39. Borussia Monchengladbach – £35.3m
40. Lyon – £35.2m
41. Hertha Berlin – £32.5m
42. Hoffenheim – £31.9m
43. Real Sociedad – £30.9m
44. Monza – £30.5m
45. Bournemouth – £29.1m
46. Schalke – £29.1m
47. Atalanta – £28.9m
48. Nottingham Forest – £28.6m
49. Brighton – £28.3m
50. Torino – £24.3m
Topics: Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A, Football, Transfers
Rory O'Callaghan