Football is not just goals and spectacle, but also… salaries!
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Every year, major European clubs spend astronomical sums to maintain their champions, and according to Transfermarkt data, the salary budget reveals a lot about how clubs operate in the market and their real economic strengths.
This year there are surprises: Bayern Munich is no longer at the top, and no Italian club is among the top ten most “spendthrift” teams in Europe.
🏆 Real Madrid Unchallenged King
The Blancos look down on everyone: 305 million euros gross in annual salaries for the squad. A monstrous figure that even surpasses the total revenues of many “luxury” clubs.
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Right behind, Bayern Munich with 257 million and Manchester City with 252 million. Further back is Barcelona (222M), still dealing with the economic aftermath of recent years but remaining high.
🇬🇧 Premier League Without Rivals
When it comes to leagues, the Premier League has no equal. The 20 English clubs reach a record figure: 2.4 billion euros in salaries. To understand the gap: the English average is 120 million per club, more than Napoli or Roma.
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The Spanish Liga follows at a distance (1.44 billion), then Serie A (1.18), Bundesliga (1.11), and Ligue 1 (700M). Numbers that explain why English clubs can repeatedly buy (and pay) talents.
🇮🇹 Italian Teams Struggle
For Serie A fans, the data is not encouraging. No team is in the Top 10:
Napoli, Milan, and Roma just inside the Top 20.
The gap from the elite is evident: between Inter and Atletico Madrid (10th place) there is almost a 20 million difference, and with English clubs like Arsenal or Chelsea, the gap widens even more.
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At the bottom, teams like Lecce and Pisa have the lowest salary budgets, showing how Serie A has become a league polarized between big and small teams.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.
📸 Aitor Alcalde – 2025 Getty Images