Five Premier League teams rank in the top ten in terms of yearly salaries for football teams, according to a recent study.
The Daily Mail have published findings from Nick Harris of Sporting Intelligence, who has compiled a list of the highest salaries paid by sports teams.
Manchester United have the highest wages in world football, __with their players earning a staggering £5.77 million a year basic salary on average.
That ranks the Premier League side fourth in terms of all sports, behind the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers (£6.54m average), the MLB’s New York Yankees (£5.81m) and LA Clippers, also of the NBA (£5.78m).
The next highest football clubs on the list are Barcelona (£5.64m), who rank second in football and fifth in world sports teams, and they are followed by Manchester City (£5.4m), who are ninth in all sports.
Chelsea (£4.51m) are fifth in the list for football behind Real Madrid (£5.05m), __with Arsenal (£3.70m) and Liverpool (£3.01m) ranked ninth and tenth respectively.
In terms of other Premier League sides, Tottenham (12th, £2.68m), West Ham (15th, £2.26m), Everton (16th, £2.14m), Leicester (17th, £2.10m), Southampton (18th, £2.07m) and Crystal Palace (20th, £1.96m) also rank in the top 20 for highest salaries in world football.
United’s numbers are augmented by the fact that three players rank in the top ten for highest salaries in world football.
Paul Pogba is fifth on the list, with the world’s most expensive footballer earning £15.1m per year or £290,000 per week. Wayne Rooney is eighth on £13.5m per year or £260,000 per week, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, ranked tenth, earns £13m per year or £250,000 per week.
The lowest annual wage bill in the Premier League belongs to Burnley (£0.95m), followed by Bournemouth (£1.1m), Hull (£1.22m) and Middlesbrough (£1.22m). Each still earn more than Scottish champions Celtic (£0.71m).
The average annual Premier League salary is £2.43m, double that of the next best pay in La Liga (£1.23m).