£20k-a-week: Birmingham City's highest earner from the last 8 seasons (Estimated) | OneFootball

Birmingham City have endured quite a challenging eight years as a football club.

In the last eight years, the Blues have achieved a highest league finish of just 17th in the Championship, but have narrowly avoided relegation on several occasions. Birmingham have hugely struggled on the pitch over the last decade or so, and this season has unfortunately been no different.

As of the 18th of March, the Blues sit 21st in the table, and are level on points with the drop zone. They could be easily overtaken by Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday, so this could be the closest they come to actually suffering relegation, despite the last eight years of narrowly avoiding it.

The Blues are currently on a six-game win-less run in the league, so something needs to change quickly under the guidance of Caretaker boss, Mark Venus.

If Birmingham do suffer relegation, they will have big decisions to make off the pitch regarding player wages, as they may have to offload certain players.

As estimated by Capology, 15 members of the first-team squad are currently earning £10k or more, so this may have to change going into next season.

Today, Football League World looks at the highest earner at Birmingham City from the last eight seasons, with some having more of an impact on the pitch than others.

All salaries are estimated by Capology.

2023/24: Krystian Bielik

This season's highest earner is defensive midfielder, Krystian Bielik. The 26-year-old joined on loan for the 2022/23 campaign before making the deal permanent last summer and earning the highest wage in the squad; an estimated £20,000 per week.

He has started 27 Championship games so far this season for the Blues, and while he is a rather important asset, perhaps there are slightly more important players in the squad who should be earning more than him.

2022/23: Tahith Chong

Now a Premier League player with Luton Town, Chong was Birmingham's highest-earner last season, and rightfully so. The former Manchester United man was earning an estimated weekly wage of £30k last season and was a very important part of the side.

Over the course of the season, Chong scored five goals and assisted four in 38 appearances, which ultimately earned him a move to the Premier League.

2021/22: Onel Hernandez

Hernandez joined Birmingham on loan from Norwich City for the second half of the 2021/22, and was the highest earner at the club, earning an estimated weekly salary of £21,923.

San Jose enjoyed quite a successful career, spending a decade with Athletic Bilbao and becoming a Europa League runner-up, so it is no surprise that when he joined Birmingham in 2020, he became their highest-earner, with an estimated weekly wage of £26,538.

When he arrived at St Andrews, he was in his thirties and was beginning to slow down, making just nineteen league starts in midfield or defence.

The Irishman joined Birmingham for the second half of the 2019/20 campaign, on loan from fierce rivals, Aston Villa. He then went on to make the deal permanent in the summer, and has remained at St Andrews ever since.

In his first season for the club, he was their highest earner, with an estimated weekly wage of 28,077. This certainly reflected his importance in the team, as he straight away had an impact after signing in the January. He formed a formidable partnership with Lukas Jutkiewicz, scoring seven goals in eight games.

2018/19: Jota Peleteiro

The Spaniard signed for a club record fee back in 2017, and in his second season with the club, he was their highest earner, with his weekly wage estimated to be £25k.

The 2018/19 campaign was reasonably successful from Jota's personal perspective as he grabbed 9 assists, scoring three goals from right-wing.

2017/18: Carl Jenkinson

The highest earner on this list by some distance is right-back, Carl Jenkinson. Having signed on loan from Arsenal and being on the books at one of England's biggest football clubs, there is no surprise his wages were quite high, but his impact at the Blues did not justify that.

Jenkinson was earning an estimated weekly salary of £45,000 when he signed for Birmingham, but he made just 7 league starts due to being injured for the most part.

2016/17: Craig Gardner

The 37-year-old made a return to St Andrews in 2017 and became the highest earner at the club, with an estimated weekly wage of £28k.

He spent the second half of the 2016/17 season with the Blues, making 19 Championship starts from midfield.