It's little wonder that some European clubs have begun to snidely refer to the Premier League as the ESL - the English Super League.
The financial might of England's top-flight dwarfs the rest of the continent. Napoli won Serie A at a canter last season, playing brilliant, beguiling football that also carried them to the Champions League semi-finals. Yet, Luciano Spalletti's squad had a lower wage bill than Leicester City - who couldn't even avoid Premier League relegation.
Among this upper echelon of economic dominance are some of the world's best-paid footballers. However, not everyone in this gold-lined group entirely represents value for money.
Here are the highest earners from the grossly overfunded Premier League.
The highest wages in the Premier League
Data via Spotrac
Despite the club's vast and controversial backing, Manchester City - like every other club - were in a financial gulley in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Kevin De Bruyne managed to convince City to make him the Premier League's best-paid player during this dip. Employing the services of a data company, De Bruyne's argument for a 30% bump proved to be very compelling.
Initially, De Bruyne's management team reached out to Analytics FC to establish whether City would continue to be the best club for De Bruyne. Once the projections confirmed their status as consistent Champions League challengers, the company analysed De Bruyne's strengths, weaknesses and intrinsic impact on the team.
Erling Haaland is thought to command a slightly lower base salary (£375,000 per week) than his teammate (£400,000) but is handsomely rewarded with a raft of favourable bonuses baked into his contract. According to the Daily Mail, Haaland picks up a total of £865,000 each Friday when he hits appearance-based targets that are described as "almost guaranteed".
After a tortuous negotiation process, Mohamed Salah eventually agreed to an eye-watering new contract with Liverpool in the summer of 2022 to become the highest earner in the history of the club - raking in an estimated £18.2m per year. At that rate, Salah earns the £440,000 sum which Liverpool paid for the legendary Kenny Dalglish every nine days.
While the division's three top earners are inarguably among the best players in the league, not everyone on this list of high rollers represents the same sound investment.
Jadon Sancho reportedly earns the same wage as Salah. Playing in a similar position for a club of comparable stature, the Manchester United winger can come nowhere Salah's output; while Liverpool's talisman directly contributed to 31 Premier League goals last season, Sancho couldn't break into double digits.
The hefty deals for Raphael Varane, Casemiro and Anthony Martial ensure that United pay their players more than any other club in England. Marcus Rashford's imminent contract extension will increase this swollen salary list further.
READ MORE FROM THE 90MIN TALKING TRANSFERS TEAM
Chelsea may have finished 12th but boasted the third-largest wage bill in England's top flight during the 2022/23 campaign. Reece James is one of five Chelsea players who earn at least £250,000 a week - which is more than the combined wage bill of all the players at Strasbourg, the French team Chelsea's majority shareholders purchased as a feeder club for the Blues in the summer of 2023.
While both parties may be desperately trying to rectify this status, Romelu Lukaku is still a Chelsea player. The £97.5m striker is the club's joint-top earner along with Raheem Sterling - the forward signed as Lukaku's replacement when he was loaned back to Inter for the 2022/23 campaign.
Across the previous two seasons, Lukaku and Sterling have combined for 14 Premier League goals while earning £325,000 a week. Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins scored 15 in the top flight last term on less than a quarter of their salary.
LISTEN NOW
On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Toby Cudworth is joined by Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss the latest transfer news. On the agenda is Arsenal's approach for Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice, the exodus of Chelsea players to Saudi Arabia, Moises Caicedo, Kyle Walker, Man Utd's goalkeeper plans & more!.
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
This article was originally published on 90min as The highest wages in the Premier League.