New salary database: Premier League players now earn twice as much as LaLiga players

Players in the Premier League on average earn more than twice the amount of a LaLiga player. Looking at the median salary the gap is almost four times as big, compared to number two league.
Off The Pitch can now reveal a snapshot of how much first team players in the big five leagues on average are earning in basic salary.
Why it matters: Wages are the single biggest expense, so player salary decisions have immense impact on the profitability of a football club.
The perspective: If clubs used player salary data more intelligently in either transfer due diligence or in negotiations with agents, there might be a shorter path towards stopping an upward wage spiral.

When the World Cup began in Qatar in November 2022, the division with most players among the 830 footballers in the 32 squads was England’s Premier League, with 134 players, or 16.1% of all players, followed by LaLiga with 84 (10.1%), Bundesliga with 77 (9.28%), Serie A with 65 (7.83%) and Ligue 1 with 55 (6.62%).

That suggests the biggest group of ‘the best’ players tend to congregate in the Premier League, and then LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1.

The latest data available from Off The Pitch’s new player salaries insight product suggests this is true.

Our player salaries database indicates the average Premier League first-team basic guaranteed player salary as the World Cup began was €4,156,855.

This was, obviously, higher for the ‘biggest clubs’ and lower for the majority of clubs. But the Premier League median salary at the same time, among 530 players in the 20 first-team squads in mid-November, was €3,106,000.

The Premier League has paid the highest wages in global football since overtaking Serie A in the early Noughties, and the second best-paid league now is LaLiga. The data for LaLiga shows average basic pay of €2,060,307 per year for 498 first-team players in mid-November 2022 with a median salary at the same time of €837,520.

Basic guaranteed salaries are one element of most professional playing contracts, with three other typical elements also adding income for players. First is signing-on or loyalty lump sums, payable each year; second is appearance money per game started or played; and third is performance / success bonuses. These all differ widely between clubs.

Our data deals with the guaranteed basic pay element, typically the largest single contributor to a player’s pay. Our data is sourced via players, agents, club officials, union sources, legal declarations, and other reputable origins.

Changes on a week-to-week basis

In LaLiga, typically, around 85 per cent of a club’s total wage bill (all employees) will be spent on players (all levels from first team to youth academy), with a large majority of total player pay being spent on first-team wages.

In Serie A, typically, around 82 per cent of a club’s total wage bill will be spent on players, while in the Premier League and Ligue 1 it is around 75 per cent and in the Bundesliga it is typically just below 70 per cent rising to 78 per cent including the managers and coaching staff. A large majority of total player pay is spent on first-team wages.

There are variations across clubs in all leagues.

Every club’s wage bill and projected wage bill typically changes on a week-to-week basis, depending on signings, departures, step-changes in contracts, new contracts, club longevity in different competitions (and thus appearance money) and end-of-season results, and thus prize money or performance-related financial rewards for the club, and the players.

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Off The Pitch is now offering footballer salary services to provide clubs, players, agents, lawyers and key decision makers with the insight and corporate intelligence to help make the best decisions.

Our data is sourced via players, agents, club officials, union sources, legal declarations and other reputable origins.

Learn more about our unmatched football salary services.