The 25 European Clubs Who Spent the Most on Wages in 2025 [Ranked]

Football is typically a simple game when it comes to expenditure and performance. To be the best in the world, you need to spend big. And that’s true of both transfer fees and salaries.

The most talented footballers from around the globe can typically command lofty wages from any potential suitors. It can also be a bone of contention for existing stars, who believe that they deserve a pay rise worthy of their ability. Just look at Mohamed Salah, who managed to secure a £400,000-per-week salary in his new Liverpool deal.

But it’s not just players can command big pay cheques if they’re a leading figure in their field. Whether it’s the manager, coaching staff or backroom team in and around the training ground, football clubs can end up paying millions every week to employees.

UEFA’s latest Club Finance and Investment Landscape report has revealed that aggregate wages grew 5.9% in 2025. But which clubs paid the most last year? The top 25 clubs for wage expenditure have been broken down and ranked, with 12 teams reporting record high wage costs.

European Clubs Who Spent Most on Wages in 2025 (25-21)

Being at the bottom of this pile doesn’t mean that you’re cheap by any stretch of the imagination. And that’s proven by Galatasaray and Lyon, both of whom shelled out a whopping £156m on wages in 2025. While that’s no mean fee, it pales in comparison to those at the top of the list.

Despite both teams playing in European competition in 2025/26, they still trail behind three Premier League clubs. Both Fulham and Everton can typically be found among the middle of the pack in the English top flight, but even the 21st biggest expenditure in Europe hasn’t been enough to stop West Ham United slipping into a relegation battle in 2025/26.

European Clubs Who Spent Most on Wages in 2025 (20-16)

AC Milan might once have been considered the behemoths of European football, but the Rossoneri haven’t had everything their own way in recent seasons. Falling short of expectations in 2024/25 and finishing eighth in Serie A, they are the only team in the top 25 who have seen no change in their wage expenditure between 2024 and 2025, according to UEFA.

Just in front of Milan lie Nottingham Forest, who went above and beyond expectations in 2024/25 by qualifying for the Europa League. Despite that, their reported annual salary actually dropped 1% in the last two years.

RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen both climb up the list with their reported wages for 2025, but Juventus drop down three positions after seeing a sizable fall in wages. Only one other team in this list saw total wage expenditure decrease more than the Old Lady (7%).

European Clubs Who Spent Most on Wages in 2025 (15-11)

Inter Milan rank as the highest-placed Italian team in this list, but even though the Nerazurri’s wage expenditure rose by 12% in 2025, their overall bill is still dwarfed by those around them. It’s perhaps an indicator of Serie A’s financial limitations in comparison to other top five European leagues that their highest paying teams all rank outside the top 10.

Borussia Dortmund are fractionally ahead of Inter, with an annual spend of £235m, while there’s a more sizable gap between Die Schwarzgelben and Atletico Madrid in 13th. Diego Simeone reported a record expenditure on salaries last year, but even that isn’t enough to gazump the two Premier League teams above them.

Newcastle United returned to the Champions League for the 2025/26 season, which has seen their wage bill rise by 12% compared to 2024. While the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Magpies’ owners, are the richest in the Premier League, they are hamstrung by the financial rules in both England and Europe. If they weren’t, Eddie Howe’s side would likely be way higher.

Aston Villa saw their overall wage outlay jump to £271m in 2025, but the sheer growth of teams around them sees them drop one place in the rankings compared to 2024. Ranking just outside the top 10, there is a very sizable gap between the Villans and most of the teams above them.

European Clubs Who Spent Most on Wages in 2025 (10-6)

UEFA clarify that performance-related pay can make up 15–25% of larger clubs’ wages, hence why there can be such volatile fluctuations between years. And Tottenham’s Europa League triumph might well have led to several bonuses being paid out, hence why their salaries jumped from £228m in 2024 to £279m in 2025.

Perhaps this evidence, though, suggests that Ange Postecoglou’s comments about Spurs’ wage bill being small compared to other big clubs were correct. There’s a huge jump between the north Londoners and their rivals Arsenal, who shelled out nearly £100m more on club wages. Reporting a club-record salary outlay, there’s not much to separate them from Manchester United in eighth, who reported a 3% decrease in 2025.

Reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich lie in seventh place, just behind Chelsea. The Blues saw their salary expenditure jump by £44m in 2025, which sees them rise two places in the overall rankings.

European Clubs Who Spent Most on Wages in 2025 (5-1)

Liverpool and Barcelona’s domestic league triumphs are what UEFA pin their respective wage rises on. Both teams emerged with silverware in 2025, but while Arne Slot’s team reported a club-record outlay, it wasn’t the case for the Blaugrana. And there’s a pretty steep £37m difference between the two teams in fifth and second respectively.

The two sides who separate them are Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. Although Los Blancos are the employers of the highest-paid man in Europe’s top five leagues, Kylian Mbappe, it’s PSG who report the higher wage of the two. Even more impressively, they also curtailed their wage bill by 16%, marking the steepest drop from 2024 to 2025 among all clubs.

It’s Manchester City, though, who rule the roost when it comes to salaries. The Sky Blues have the largest wage bill in the Premier League by some distance. And while it’s not as big a gap between them and Europe’s elite, Pep Guardiola’s side still spent £5m more on wages in 2025 than their closest competitor, Barcelona.