How Leicester City’s 2023/24 wage bill compared to the rest of the Championship - Jamie Vardy was the big earner | OneFootball

Comparing Leicester City's Championship winning 2023/24 wage bill to the rest of the division

Leicester City earned promotion straight back to the Premier League during the 2023/24 campaign.

The Foxes won the second division title 10 years after achieving the feat under Nigel Pearson, which put them on their path to the Premier League title in 2016.

A total of 97 points saw them finish ahead of Ipswich Town and Leeds United in the Championship, with Enzo Maresca guiding the club back to the top flight after their 2023 relegation.

However, Maresca departed the club afterwards to make the switch to Chelsea, much to the dismay of supporters.

Here we use estimated figures from Capology to compare Leicester’s wage bill to the rest of the division that season…

Leicester City’s 2023/24 wage bill compared to the rest of the Championship

Leicester had the highest wage bill in the Championship during their title-winning run in 2024.

Their success back in the Championship, which is all-but-set to be where they find themselves playing once again next term as relegation looms, came as no surprise considering the cost of the Foxes' wage bill and, as such, just how many seasoned top-flight operators were retained at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes were paying a weekly total of £1,147,500 to their playing squad as they earned their place back in the Premier League under Maresca.

They were the only team in the division to pass the £1 million mark for weekly wages spending, with Southampton second at £836,500.

The pair both came down from the Premier League in the prior campaign, so it’s no surprise to see them at the top of this list now.

Leeds United were the third relegated side, and they were also ranked third for weekly wage spend during this term with a total of £831,750.

Norwich City were the top club that had remained in the Championship, with an amount worth £510,192 but could only come sixth in the actual table.

Meanwhile, second place Ipswich Town had the 14th highest wage bill, with their total salaries coming to a total of £286,308, highlighting just how impressive of an achievement their promotion was.

Leicester City’s highest earner in 2023/24

The highest paid player in the Leicester squad during this season was Jamie Vardy, with the iconic striker earning £140,000 per week.

This also made him the best paid player in the entire division, with Harry Winks in second for both the Foxes and Championship as a whole.

The midfielder joined the club that summer from Tottenham Hotspur, and played a crucial role in their promotion under Maresca.

Winks was earning £90,000-a-week with this contract, a figure he justified by featuring in 45 of their 46 league games, starting on each occasion.

Ricardo Pereira, Kelechi Iheanacho and Conor Coady rounded out the top five best paid players in the Leicester squad.

The former pair were earning £80,000, with Coady receiving £75,000 per week.

The next highest paid player in the rest of the division was a tie between Joe Aribo at Southampton, as well as Patrick Bamford and Georginio Rutter at Leeds United, with the trio all earning £70,000 per week.

That meant the Foxes covered the top eight when it came to the best paid players in the Championship during the 2023/24 campaign as they achieved a second second division title in a decade.