Liverpool overtake Man City in wage league table after 75 per cent increase since 2017

Liverpool paid out more on players’ wages last season than Manchester City, with the club’s wage bill increasing by a mammoth 75 per cent since 2017.

Clubs have been releasing their financial accounts for the 2021-22 season, and as per the Times, figures show that Manchester United paid out the most of the ‘big six’ clubs on player wages at £384m.

They are followed by Liverpool who have jumped Man City to second, largely down to the fact they paid £158m more on their players than they did six years ago.  

It comes as the Reds announced that they only made a £7.5m pre-tax profit last season, despite playing every match on the calendar and coming close to a historic quadruple.  

A contributing factor behind the increase last season is the contracts that they have offered to players who have played significant roles during their success of recent years. 

Liverpool overtook Man City by paying out more on player wages than their rivals last season

The Reds signed a number of players to new deals including Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson

Stars such as Andy Robertson, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold all signed new improved deals in 2021. 

Mohamed Salah‘s new £350,000 a week contract is not taken into account in these figures, with the Egyptian signing his deal after last season had some to a conclusion.

The Reds though did make big money moves for Ibrahima Konate in the summer of 2021 and Luis Diaz in the following January transfer window which will have also played a key factor.  

Their increasing wages have seen them close up to £18m less than what Manchester United paid last season – compared to a £56m gap in 2017.

Man City are behind their two rivals on £354m, though they could still be overtaken by Chelsea who have not yet released last season’s numbers.

Chelsea’s numbers for the 2020-21 season saw them pay out £333m on wages. 

Liverpool made a £7.5m pre-tax profit despite one of their most successful single campaigns 

Last year’s champions could drop to fourth in terms of wages paid out of the ‘big six’ clubs with Chelsea yet to release their numbers for the 2021-22 season

Another change inside the top six is that Tottenham forked out more on player salaries than their north London rivals Arsenal.

Tottenham have had a massive 66 per cent increase from £127m in 2017 to £209m last season, while Arsenal’s increase over that same time is just 5.6 increase from £195m to £206m.

Liverpool last year revealed that their wages for the 2020-21 season had dropped from £325m to £314m. 

This was mainly due to the fact that the previous figure included bonuses for winning the Champions League in 2019 and accrued bonuses for the Premier League title win 12 months later.  

Liverpool’s pre-tax profit of just £7.5m comes despite their historic 2021-22 campaign in which they played every single match in the calendar.  

Manchester United splashed out the most on player wages at £384m  – £18m up on Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp’s side won both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup last season, as well being pipped by Manchester City for the Premier League title on the final day and losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

It was one of their most successful single campaigns – they pocketed £90million for their run in Europe – and strengthened their position as one of the biggest clubs in the world. 

But for all that progress, it didn’t transmit into a golden windfall for Liverpool, who last year started a club-record kit sponsorship deal with Nike and saw their commercial revenue increase by £29million through a number of new partnerships.

Liverpool, who have seen a 100 per cent rise in utility costs over the last 12 months, cite the significant increase in the cost running football as to why there has been such an impact – the annual costs of running Anfield, for instance, have risen by 40 per cent since 2017.