Liverpool's wage spending is NOT as bad as you think it is
Liverpool's wage spending is NOT as bad as you think it is
Liverpool are one of the most frugal clubs in world football with regard to transfer spending.
Many people's response to the statement above is that the wage bill is remarkably high and the fans are purposefully naive to recognise that. In reality, some myth-busting with the salaries is required.
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Admittedly, the Reds' spending on wages is high. It's one of the highest wages in world football, but to put it simply, there's a good reason why. The transfer fees in comparison are low and sensible.
£77m on Darwin Nunez, a potential £116m on Florian Wirtz and record-breaking fees at the time for Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson Becker, do not help our case, but as with most things, context is key.
The latter two are the best in their positions, Wirtz may cost just £100m since his add-ons include a Ballon d'Or win, and Nunez's fee is actually £77m is because the extra £8m in add-ons weren't met.
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Now the fees themselves have been cleared up, it's time to contextualise the agreed wage packages.
© IMAGO
Liverpool's wage spending is actually reasonable
According to TBR Football, who broke down the wages per year and the cumulative wage bill since FSG took over in 2010, as well as the wage to turnover ratios for last season, Liverpool spend a lot.
For the first metric, it is only fair that I state that Liverpool are expected to spent £400m on wages for the staff and players in this upcoming 2024/25 season, and the overall bill has gone from less than £500million to £4billion over the past 15 years. Our costs in that respect have skyrocketed.
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In the article, Kieran Maguire - a lecturer at the University of Liverpool - said: "The narrative that Liverpool are frugal in the wage department isn't accurate." In general, everyone can agree with that.
However, the wage to turnover ratios tell a story. The Reds' percentage is at 63% for the 2023/24 season, which is actually eleventh in the Premier League list, behind Burnley, Newcastle, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Bournemouth, Wolves, Everton, Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
This is in the context of Liverpool having the second highest wage bill, behind Manchester City.
As such, we spend big on wages because we generate a lot of money. Spend reasonable amounts on transfer fees, and keep the players on the payroll for a long time because they're integral.
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Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, Van Dijk and Alisson have all been ours for over seven years.
And then we can get to the other myth that needs busting regarding Liverpool's wage spending.
Players are not attracted to us because we can offer them a high salary, the opposite is in fact true.
Van Dijk and Salah are top of the list, with the captain taking home £350,000 a week and the Egyptian taking home £400,000 a week, per Capology. That's with their newly agreed extensions.
Why are they on such amounts? Well, Salah has delivered at least 35 goal contributions in each of his last eight seasons with us and Van Dijk is regarded as one of the best centre-backs of all time.
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Third on the list will be Florian Wirtz on £200,000 a week, but he had the world at his feet and could easily have agreed a more financially beneficial move elsewhere. Instead he is in a league where he hasn't proved himself yet and so he is incentivised to perform at his best to earn his bonuses.
Beyond that, you've got Robertson on £160,000 a week, who will be leaving either this season for a fee or next season on a free upon the expiration of his contract and then you find Alexis Mac Allister, Alisson and Ryan Gravenberch on £150,000 a week. The Argentinian was our best midfielder last season, our keeper remains the best in the world and Gravenberch is a promising DM who is only 22.
Generally speaking, you will struggle to find a player who is being overpaid. The club is world's elite, the expectations on the players are significant and their commitment deserves to be rewarded.
So when Liverpool fans defend the club's transfer business using 'net spend', and some rival social media account attempts to use the wage bill in response, they really don't have a leg to stand on.
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