By Chris Wright
Not that it’s much of a shock considering they’re owned by the investment arm of one of the richest sovereign wealth funds in the world, but PSG are currently haemorrhaging the highest wages – not only in football, but in all of sport.
According to a wage survey jointly conducted by Sporting Intelligence and ESPN The Magazine, PSG are a fair way clear at the top of the pile though football teams are littering the Top 10 once again.
Indeed, eight of the top ten are football clubs, with only baseball franchises Los Angeles Dodgers (No.5) and New York Yankees (No.9) muscling in on the action.
Here’s the average weekly wage table, via ESPN…
1. PSG: $174,692 — £111,453 — €153,913
2. Real Madrid: $166,180 — £106,022 — €146,401
3. Man City: $165,343 — £105,502 — €145,676
4. Barcelona: $155,452 — £99,191 — €136,938
5. L.A. Dodgers: $154,292 — £98,451 — €135,929
6. Manchester United: $154,274 — £98,439 — €135,914
7. Bayern Munich: $147,326 — £93,993 — €129,780
8. Chelsea: $143,516 — £91,574 — €126,436
9. New York Yankees: $140,566 — £89,681 — €123,825
10. Arsenal: $133,658 — £85,284 — €117,703
With last year’s biggest spenders Man City dropping to third, PSG are topping the list for the first time ever – thanks largely to their gigantic average annual salary of £5.8million.
The French side also boast (if that’s the right word) the second-highest total wage bill for their entire team at just over £146.1million, behind the Dodgers on £175.45million.
We sincerely hope that Ligue 1 win was worth it.