Liverpool are already operating towards the top of their wage structure, although three clubs in particular are risking absolute financial oblivion.

Arsenal (announced to June 2024)

Wages: £328m (5th)
Average weekly wage: £136,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 53% (2nd)

The good news is that this is all sustainable; Arsenal are set up to finish second and trophyless for the next decade without encountering too many financial issues.

Almost all their higher earners have at least two years remaining on those contracts, with Thomas Partey the exception ahead of his expiration this summer. Mikel Arteta did a ludicrous amount of course-correcting work in his first few years at the Emirates and the desperation to deliver something tangible in return is obvious.

Aston Villa (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £194m (9th)
Average weekly wage: £80,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 89% (17th)

That is not a relegation zone any club wants to float around for too long. And it is without taking into account Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford, whose wages Villa are covering all and the majority of respectively during their loans.

This is a monumental gamble on consistent Champions League qualification they cannot really afford to have backfire, unless a great deal more annoying PSR sales are going to be made every summer.

Bournemouth (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £100m (20th)
Average weekly wage: £41,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 71% (9th)

It is a quite astonishing testament to their brilliance that Bournemouth are in the top half of the Premier League table, never mind Champions League qualification contention and an FA Cup quarter-final.

Andoni Iraola is on one of the smaller Premier League manager wages too. If the Cherries don’t correct that post-haste then another club absolutely will.

Brentford (announced to June 2024)

Wages: £114m (19th)
Average weekly wage: £47,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 69% (8th)

The bus stop in Hounslow has been punching above its weight for so long that such excellence has been entirely normalised. It is a remarkable achievement for Brentford to survive in the Premier League, never mind for what will soon be four seasons with relative comfort at a time the gap from the Championship to the top flight has never been greater.

Ivan Toney takes home about double the combined wages of his former teammates but at least he is presumably happy.

Brighton (announced to June 2024)

Wages: £146m (12th)
Average weekly wage: £61,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 56% (4th)

There will always be pretenders and contenders but Brighton are the absolute kings in terms of scalable and sustainable growth fuelled by sensible decision-makers and an awareness of their natural place in the football food chain.

While Chelsea and others covet their best players, Brighton have already signed his replacement’s replacement’s replacement. And poaching their scouts and recruitment heads won’t stop them either. Paul Barber’s laptop is worth an unthinkable amount of money.

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Chelsea (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £404m (2nd)
Average weekly wage: £167,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 79% (14th)

Only two players are said to be on £200,000 a week or more as part of Chelsea’s strict wage structure. But when you build four separate squads for each competition, it tends to add up.

They also generate less commercial, broadcast and matchday revenue than any other member of the Big Six, which feels like an issue that cannot be amortised.

Crystal Palace (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £131m (17th)
Average weekly wage: £54,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 73% (10th)

It doesn’t scream ‘one of Europe’s form teams’ but then neither does Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho or a post-retirement Claudio Ranieri in 2025.

The available numbers are pre-Glasner but they underline his alchemy nevertheless.

Everton (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £159m (11th)
Average weekly wage: £66,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 92% (18th)

Contrary to popular conspiratorial belief, they were not deducted eight points in 2023/24 for a laugh; Sean Dyche and David Moyes are skilled enough to make something edible and palatable from the barest of cupboards but at some point Everton should probably consider escaping that infernal cycle of financial oblivion.

Fulham (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £139m (16th)
Average weekly wage: £58,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 76% (12th)

Fulham are operating towards the bottom of the net spend table while holding their own in the Champions League race. It is a quiet competence which does not dominate headlines but should be commended.

Leicester (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £206m (7th)
Average weekly wage: £85,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 116% (20th)

It feels sub-optimal. This is based on the accounts from the season which culminated in their most recent relegation, since which some attempts have been made to cut costs and right some glaringly obvious wrongs. But that is incredibly stark.

Having basically avoided punishment thus far on the technicality of falling through the jurisdictive cracks between the Championship and Premier League, Leicester are running out of road to kick the can down. The time bomb is ticking.

Liverpool (announced to June 2024)

Wages: £386m (3rd)
Average weekly wage: £160,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 63% (7th)

Once again for those in the back: a club’s wage bill should be a far greater indicator of their performance than transfer spend. It is why Liverpool can chuck £10m at the relative nothingness of Federico Chiesa and go from third to first in a single season without it being completely inexplicable.

But that total spend on wages is the biggest complicating factor in those contract negotiations, and the most obvious reason they cannot simply shout any random numbers across the table to the agents of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Keeping all three almost certainly means having the biggest outlay on wages of any Premier League club.

Manchester City (announced to June 2024)

Wages: £413m (1st)
Average weekly wage: £171,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 58% (5th)

And topping the wage table is no guarantee of leading the real one. It was for a good few years the foundation for Manchester City’s relentless trophy-hoarding, but when eyes are taken off balls – and Rodri’s knee gives way under the pressure – it is entirely liable to come crashing down.

But look at all that commercial revenue. No, that’s too close. Don’t look too deep at it. Just glance, marvel, move on and don’t ask questions.

Manchester United (announced to June 2024)

Wages: £365m (4th)
Average weekly wage: £151,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 55% (3rd)

There is sadly no cost-cutting table, although Sir Scrooge McRatcliffe seems to be of a different belief.

Only Leicester are under-performing relative to their position in the wage table more starkly than Manchester United. Next season’s accounts will include the savings on restricted lunches and unnecessary paperclip orders so everything is fine.

Newcastle (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £187m (9th)
Average weekly wage: £77,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 75% (11th)

Those should not be numbers so ridiculous as to require no significant recent signings and the habitual use of PSR loopholes but it is a precarious reality for those below the glass ceiling. There is a reason it is called the Big Six and not the Top Six and it essentially comes down to revenue: Newcastle generate the second-highest behind West Ham (£270m) of those outside the elite at £250m, less than half of the lowest club inside it (Chelsea at £512m).

The Premier League has been conquered so get those £5bn kit deals signed and sent off, basically.

Nottingham Forest (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £145m (14th)
Average weekly wage: £60,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 94% (19th)

For Forest perhaps more than any other Premier League club, their most recent financial results are the least relevant to their current situation. This is when they were battling relegation under Steve Cooper, even before a points deduction in 2023/24, rather than competing for Champions League football and an FA Cup under Nuno.

That really could be transformative money. Simply participating in the Champions League league phase is worth £15.6m and that is before factoring in bonuses for winning, drawing, finishing higher or going further in the knockouts.

Southampton (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £122m (18th)
Average weekly wage: £51,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 84% (16th)

When you put it like that, 20th doesn’t sound catastrophic. But they are so painfully 20th and the only two sides paying less in wages are 7th and 11th, both of whom were promoted recently and have made comparative ease of the transition.

This was Southampton under Ralph Hasenhuttl, Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles. It will not look much prettier when those names are changed for Russell Martin and Ivan Juric while Sport Republic remain so committed to learning no lessons from the experience of relegation and promotion.

Spurs (announced to June 2023)

Wages: £251m (6th)
Average weekly wage: £104,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 46% (1st)

You’ll never sing that, etc and so forth. Of course Daniel Levy was the highest-paid chairman of any Premier League club, receiving at least twice as much as any of his contemporaries.

West Ham (announced to June 2024)

Wages: £161m (10th)
Average weekly wage: £67,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 60% (6th)

It does make them seem weirdly, jarringly competent, despite most available evidence provided on the pitch this season. Moyes left them in a strong place and Graham Potter might belatedly help them push on from there.

Wolves (announced to June 2024)

Wages: £142m (15th)
Average weekly wage: £59,000
Wage to revenue ratio: 80% (15th)

While nowhere close to economic ruin, Wolves also feel quite far from breaking back into that echelon above where they are not constantly fearing relegation and selling their best players.

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Man Utd won’t be able to play Chido Obi in their Europa League clash against Real Sociedad this week after his impressive display on Sunday.

The Denmark Under-18 international came off the bench to replace Rasmus Hojlund against Fulham as the Red Devils exited the FA Cup on penalties.

Former Arsenal academy star Obi made more of an impact than Hojlund did in his time on the pitch with three shots compared to his compatriot’s one.

And that has led for some calls from Man Utd fans to start the 17-year-old over Hojlund in their next match against Real Sociead in the Europa League Round of 16 on Thursday.

However, the Daily Telegraph have revealed that Man Utd had a chance last month to register Obi but they ‘opted not to’.

The report claims: ‘Obi could have been named on the revised A list that was submitted last month but United opted not to.’

Man Utd legend Andy Cole was impressed by Obi during the Red Devils’ match against Fulham and insists the youngster has “definitely got a chance” if he keeps developing.

Cole told Rio Ferdinand on his YouTube channel: “When you’re raw and you’re 17, you have no fear. I looked at him yesterday… He’s definitely got a chance.

“My nephew worked with him and my nephew said: ‘Yeah man, he’s got a chance’.”

Ferdinand added: “He’s still rough around the edges and he should be. But what I don’t have any fear about is that he will get chances.

“Because I watched him play against my two boys and the way he played yesterday was exactly the same. He’s not in the game but the ball falls and he’s there.”

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Former Premier League striker Alan Shearer was also impressed by Obi with the ex-Newcastle man describing the Dane as a “nuisance”.

Shearer said: “He’s been a real handful in there you know.

“He’s certainly offered a lot more than Hojlund has when he was on the pitch. He’s been a nuisance and tough to play against.

“I like what I see from Obi, I really do. He’s certainly given them a different option to play with.”

Ruben Amorim said after the match against Fulham: “I think Chido did really well today. Of course, he was a little bit naive in some moments, but you felt that, inside the box, he wants the ball – something the strikers have and he has.”

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Paul Scholes has revealed that ex-boss Sir Alex Ferguson made one former Manchester United star play with a hamstring injury vs Wolves.

Scholes discussed the incident during the latest episode of The Overlap when discussing the relationship between players and physios.

The Red Devils legend brought up former England international Owen Hargreaves, who was often prone to injury during his spell at Old Trafford.

Scholes claims former Man Utd manager Ferguson became overly frustrated with Hargreaves during the 2010/11 campaign as they prepared for a match against Arsenal.

After missing the start of the 10/11 season, Hargreaves made his first Premier League appearance of the campaign against Wolves in November.

Hargreaves felt his hamstring during the warm-up, but an “angry” Ferguson made him play and he was forced off after around ten minutes.

“I remember, we had Owen Hargreaves who was unfortunately injured a lot, and the manager eventually became frustrated because we couldn’t get him back,” Scholes revealed on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet.

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“I remember one game where we were playing Arsenal at home, Owen had been out for some time and was nearly back, and he went out for the warmup and came in feeling his hamstring and you could just see the anger and frustration in the manager’s face.

“He said, ‘You’re playing,’ and that was it. It didn’t end well – within 15 minutes, Owen had to come off and was out for a long time after that – there has to be frustration from managers as well.”

This proved Hargreaves’ only Premier League appearance of the season. At the time, Ferguson claimed Man Utd “took a chance” on the injury-prone midfielder.

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He said: “We were at the stage where we knew Owen’s knee was okay,’ Ferguson said at the time. ‘His training performances for eight or nine days previously had been terrific.

“He had done really well, which is why we took the chance. But maybe the tension in the build-up for the lad was too much and he suffered because of it.”

Scholes has also admitted that he must have been a “pain in the a*** for the physios”.

“I think that mentality is a big thing when people get injured,” Scholes said. “Say someone does their hamstring and the physio says its eight weeks, the first thing I wanted to know was what I had done, how long I’d be out, then my mentality switched to ‘Right, I’m going to beat it.

“I could imagine that I was a pain in the a*** for the physios because I was always going to the physio everyday saying, ‘What am I doing today? Can I step up to the bike? When am I going outside?’

“I don’t see that in many players these days. Once you say twelve weeks hamstring that’s it, they’re taking twelve weeks and they’re not coming back before that.”