This article looks at squad values and wage bills across the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two for the 2026-27 season. It covers the highest and lowest valued squads in each division, the biggest and smallest wage bills where that data is available, and the most valuable player at each level. Figures are also compared against last season to show which clubs have gained and lost value.
Compare every club
The table below covers all Premier League and Football League clubs. Use the tabs to switch between divisions, click any column heading to sort, and select a club to open a full breakdown including its wage bill, rank across all four leagues, and most valuable player.
Squad values via Transfermarkt, converted from EUR at 0.855. Wage bills via Capology (gross annual, first-team squads). Wage data is not publicly available for League One and League Two. Coventry City, Hull City and Ipswich Town have no published 2026-27 wage bill yet; their 2025-26 figure is shown where available and relates to their Championship season. Rank change compares each club’s position within its current division to its position in the division it played in last season.
Premier League
The Premier League’s 20 clubs hold £11.07bn in squad value. Twelve of them increased in value this season, the highest proportion of any division.
| Metric | Club | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Highest squad value | Manchester City | £1.28bn |
| Lowest squad value | Hull City | £62.1m |
| Value gap | — | 20.6× |
| Highest wage bill | Manchester City | £280.5m |
| Lowest wage bill | AFC Bournemouth | £46.1m |
| Most valuable player | Erling Haaland (Manchester City) | £188.1m |
| League total value | — | £11.07bn |
| Biggest riser | Tottenham Hotspur | +£177.4m (+29.1%) |
| Biggest faller | Hull City | −£23.7m (−27.6%) |
Wage efficiency varies more than squad value
Manchester City’s squad is worth 20.6 times more than Hull City’s. But the more useful measure is how much of that squad value each club commits to wages every year.
AFC Bournemouth spend 10.0% of their squad value on wages, the lowest share in the division. Aston Villa spend 31.7%, the highest. Both are established Premier League clubs, but Villa are committing more than three times the proportion Bournemouth are.
Brentford (10.3%), Brighton (12.5%) and Sunderland (14.0%) also sit at the efficient end. Fulham (27.6%) and Manchester United (24.0%) are nearer the other. Manchester City, despite the largest wage bill in the country at £280.5m, sit mid-table on this measure at 21.9% because their squad value is so high.
Tottenham recorded the largest increase in the division, rising £177.4m or 29.1%. Hull City had the largest fall at £23.7m, down 27.6% in their first season back in the top flight.
Note: Coventry City, Hull City and Ipswich Town do not yet have a published 2026-27 wage bill. Their 2025-26 figures relate to their Championship season and are labelled accordingly in the interactive table. Divisional wage totals cover the 17 clubs with current data.
Championship
The Championship holds £1.88bn in squad value and £665.7m in wages across 24 clubs. It also contains the widest financial gap of any division in this study.
| Metric | Club | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Highest squad value | West Ham United | £281.6m |
| Lowest squad value | Lincoln City | £7.9m |
| Value gap | — | 35.5× |
| Highest wage bill | West Ham United | £98.1m |
| Lowest wage bill | Lincoln City | £6.7m |
| Wage gap | — | 14.7× |
| Most valuable player | Crysencio Summerville (West Ham United) | £38.5m |
| League total value | — | £1.88bn |
| League total wages | — | £665.7m |
A 35 times gap from top to bottom
West Ham United’s squad is worth 35.5 times more than Lincoln City’s. That gap is wider than the equivalent gap in the Premier League, which sits at 20.6 times.
The reason is parachute payments. Clubs relegated from the Premier League receive money designed to cushion the drop in income, and they arrive in the Championship still carrying Premier League contracts. West Ham’s wage bill of £98.1m is more than the bottom eight clubs in the division pay combined.
The wages-to-value measure shows the strain further down. Lincoln City spend 84.4% of their squad value on wages each year. Cardiff City spend 77.7% and Bolton Wanderers 70.4%. At the other end, Middlesbrough sit at 21.2% and Swansea at 21.9%.
This shapes how the division works. Promotion is not evenly contested. Recently relegated clubs start each season with squads the rest of the league cannot match on paper, which is part of why so many of them return to the Premier League within a few years.
Only three Championship clubs increased in value this season: Charlton Athletic (+7.7%), Southampton (+5.3%) and Stoke City (+0.8%). Burnley posted the largest fall at £84.2m, down 42.2%, which is the standard pattern after relegation as contracts run down and players leave.
League One
League One’s 24 clubs hold £245.2m in combined squad value. One club accounts for a fifth of it.
| Metric | Club | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Highest squad value | Leicester City | £47.8m |
| Lowest squad value | Bromley | £3.0m |
| Value gap | — | 16.1× |
| Most valuable player | Caleb Okoli (Leicester City) | £7.7m |
| League total value | — | £245.2m |
| Biggest riser | MK Dons | +£2.3m (+27.7%) |
| Biggest faller | Leicester City | −£53.1m (−52.6%) |
One club, a fifth of the division
Leicester City’s squad is valued at £47.8m. The whole division comes to £245.2m, so Leicester hold 19.5% of it on their own.
They are also the biggest fallers in this study. Leicester dropped £53.1m in squad value, a decline of 52.6%, after consecutive relegations took them from the Premier League to League One. Their most valuable player, Caleb Okoli, at £7.7m, is worth more than 14 of the 24 clubs in the division have in their entire squad.
The speed of that fall is worth noting. Squad value does not decline gradually as a club moves down the divisions. It drops sharply because players leave, contracts shorten, and the remaining squad is valued against a lower level of competition.
Six League One clubs increased in value. MK Dons recorded the largest rise at £2.3m or 27.7%, followed by Sheffield Wednesday at £3.0m or 22.3%.
Note: wage bill data is not publicly available for League One, so this section covers squad values only.
League Two
League Two’s 24 clubs hold £69.2m in combined squad value. It is the smallest total of the four divisions and the most evenly spread.
| Metric | Club | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Highest squad value | Port Vale | £6.0m |
| Lowest squad value | Rochdale | £834k |
| Value gap | — | 7.2× |
| Most valuable player | Sam Nombe (Rotherham United) | £684k |
| League total value | — | £69.2m |
| Biggest riser | Salford City | +£1.2m (+26.0%) |
| Biggest faller | Rotherham United | −£3.0m (−43.7%) |
The most level division of the four
Port Vale have the highest squad value in League Two at £6.0m. Rochdale have the lowest at £834k. The gap between them is 7.2 times.
Compare that to the Championship, where the gap is 35.5 times. League Two has the narrowest spread of any division covered here by a clear margin.
The reason is straightforward. There is less money in the division, so there is less room for any club to pull away from the rest. No League Two club receives parachute payments large enough to distort the table, and squad values sit close enough together that most clubs start the season on a similar footing.
That makes League Two the least predictable of the four divisions in financial terms. Squad value is a weaker guide to where clubs finish, because the differences between them are small enough that recruitment, management and form carry more weight than spending.
Rotherham United had the largest fall at £3.0m, down 43.7%. Salford City recorded the largest rise at £1.2m, up 26.0%.
Note: wage bill data is not publicly available for League Two, so this section covers squad values only.
Biggest movers across all four divisions
The table below shows the largest rise and fall in squad value in each division.
| Division | Biggest riser | Biggest faller |
|---|---|---|
| Premier League | Tottenham Hotspur +£177.4m (+29.1%) | Hull City −£23.7m (−27.6%) |
| Championship | Charlton Athletic +£1.9m (+7.7%) | Burnley −£84.2m (−42.2%) |
| League One | MK Dons +£2.3m (+27.7%) | Leicester City −£53.1m (−52.6%) |
| League Two | Salford City +£1.2m (+26.0%) | Rotherham United −£3.0m (−43.7%) |
There is a clear pattern in the falls. Leicester City are down 52.6%, Rotherham United 43.7% and Burnley 42.2%. All three were relegated. Relegation reduces income, but it also reduces squad value quickly, because players move on and those who stay are valued against a lower standard of football.
The rises tell a different story by division. Tottenham’s £177.4m is the largest increase in cash terms across all 92 clubs. But the largest percentage gains come from much smaller clubs: MK Dons at 27.7% and Salford City at 26.0% added a fraction of that in absolute terms.
Conclusion
Three points stand out from the data.
First, the Premier League holds 83.4% of all squad value across the top four divisions. The financial distance between the top flight and the rest of the pyramid is larger than the distance between any two other divisions.
Second, the Championship has the widest internal gap of the four leagues at 35.5 times from top to bottom. Parachute payments mean recently relegated clubs operate on a different financial level to the rest of the division, which affects how promotion is contested each season.
Third, League Two is the most evenly matched. A 7.2 times gap between the richest and poorest squads means money is a weaker predictor of results there than in any other division covered here.
These figures will change over the course of the season as contracts run down, players are sold, and form shifts valuations. We will update this piece with new data as it becomes available.
Methodology
- Squad values: Transfermarkt, retrieved 23 July 2026. Original figures in euros, converted to pounds at a rate of 0.855.
- Wage bills: Capology, gross annual first-team wages for the 2026-27 and 2025-26 seasons.
- Coverage: Wage data is not publicly available for League One or League Two, so those sections cover squad values only.
- Rank changes: Compare each club’s position within its current division to its position in the division it played in last season. Promoted and relegated clubs are marked accordingly in the interactive table.
- Squad values reflect Transfermarkt’s market valuations. These are estimates based on age, contract length, performance and transfer market conditions, not confirmed transfer fees or accounting values.
Journalists are welcome to cite this research with a link to BylineCoverage. For the full dataset or a comment from our team, get in touch.