Birmingham City v West Brom: Who is paying the most in wages in 2025/26? | OneFootball

FLW compares who pays most in wages between West Midlands rivals Birmingham City and West Brom.

West Midlands rivals Birmingham City and West Brom will once again be battling it out for places in the 2025-26 Championship season.

The two were pulled apart in 2024-25 when Blues suffered relegation to League One, but Chris Davies’ men resoundingly lifted the third-tier title and broke the record points total to gain immediate promotion back to the Championship.

Meanwhile, Albion narrowly missed out on the play-offs despite a disrupted season after Christmas which saw Carlos Corberan depart, before Tony Mowbray had a dismal spell and James Morrison was left in charge as caretaker boss for the final two games of the season.

But now, both teams seem to be optimistic about a positive season unfolding. Blues, of course, have significant financial spending power under Tom Wagner to push towards the top end of the table, while the Baggies have a number of experienced Championship figures in their squad and have Ryan Mason doing all he can to be a success in his maiden full-time managerial post.

The two teams will lock horns on a minimum of two occasions this season, both in the Championship, with West Brom hosting the first West Midlands derby at The Hawthorns on the 26th November 2025, while the roles will be reversed at St Andrew’s on the 14th February 2026.

With the rivalry between these two clubs expected to be as fiery as ever, FLW has decided to take a look at the wages at both Birmingham and West Brom to see who is paying the most.

We must stress that all figures in this article are ESTIMATES by Capology.

3 Birmingham City’s wage spending

Starting off with Birmingham City, Capology estimates that Blues are paying £216,000 per a week on player salaries, now Krystian Bielik’s £20,000 and Alfie May’s £10,000 a week wages are off the books.

Overall, this means that the club pays £11.2m collectively to the playing squad on an annual basis.

If everybody in the playing squad stayed until the end of their contracts, then Birmingham are expected to fork out just shy of £30m to cover those, although it could be more if bonuses arrive due to success on the field.

Looking at individuals, Bailey Peacock-Farrell is the highest paid player at the club at £25,000 a week, although it is unknown what percentage Blackpool are paying him for taking him on loan for the campaign.

Lower down the list is Christophr Klarer, Lyndon Dykes and Seung-ho Paik on £15,000 a week, while Jay Stansfield and Tomoki Iwata are believed to be on a £12,500 a week salary.

The final players who are on six-figure wages are Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Dion Sanderson (on loan at Derby County), Ryan Allsop, Scott Wright, Tyler Roberts and Willum Willumsson, who are all on £10,000.

In comparison, Capology estimates West Brom’s weekly wage bill comes in at £235,308, reducing from the previous £278,308 they were spending on Gianluca Frabotta, Kyle Bartley and Torbjorn Heggem’s wages, who have all now left the club.

This means that Albion spend £12.2 million on player wages annually, while they are expected to shell out a further £20.8 million if the players in the squad stay until they are contracted to.

In terms of the highest paid players, Daryl Dike comes out on top, earning a weekly salary of £32,308.

Jed Wallace and Darnell Furlong come in at £25,000 a week, while Karlan Grant, Alex Mowatt and Jayson Molumby are a step-down at £20,000.

Josh Maja is next down the list at £17,000, Mikey Johnston at £12,500, while Joe Wildsmith and Isaac Price make up the rest of the six-figure sums at £10,000 a week.

According to Capology, West Brom edge out Birmingham City for the most money spent on player wages.

Per week, Albion spend just over £19,000 more than their West Midlands counterparts, as well as paying just over £1m per year more.

The Baggies also have the highest-paid player out of the two clubs in Daryl Dike, although Albion fans won’t take too much pride from that, given his lack of impact in the blue and white stripes.

West Brom’s higher wage bill is also largely down to recruiting more experienced players at this level, whereas the core of the Birmingham City squad are learning their trade in the second-tier and will be adjusting to the demands of the competition.