Off Topic Average Premier League Salaries

Interesting article on the BBC

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46341672

Followed the link and downloaded the full report and found that we have the 4th lowest average annual salary per first team player (although it is still a whopping 1.6million quid). Brighton, Wolves, Watford, Bournemouth all paying higher salaries than us). Average salary for league is about 3million quid per year which works out at a price per game of 78000quid.

Hardly surprising we are struggling in the lower half each year.

 

So in theory anything above 4th bottom means we are doing well.

#therafaeffect

 

Yep - we are performing above our salary levels.

 

And yet we are in the top 20 earning teams in Europe.

 

We are 33rd in the list of European teams for Average Annual Pay.
Barcelona has an average basic first team annual salary per player of 10.4million quid. Highest of any sports team.

 

I remember reading that while the transfer market gets distorted by uncertainty and high profile big money deals, the wage market is very efficient (i.e. wage spend correlates very strongly with club performance).

This, combined with the above scale, tells us three things:

1) Fatty is aiming at 4th from bottom, with no margin for error. (Shocking news I know!)
2) Rafa is getting us punching above our weight in terms of wage bill - an even better test of management ability than his transfer spend
3) The very tight prem table from 13th-20th (7 places separated by 4 points!) is reflected in the wage bills being tight as well.

Interesting, if not exactly surprising.

IRWT