Chelsea FC pay the third-highest wages in world football

Many people are under the illusion that the best wages for footballers are to be had in the English Premier League, but a survey from sportingintelligence.com reveals that both Barcelona and Real Madrid have a higher average wage bill than Chelsea for their first team players. For Chelsea that equates to a staggering £3.5m for each player per year.

The editor of sportingintelligence, Nick Harris, said: “The findings will come as a surprise to anyone who thinks the Premier League is the best paid division in world sport because it’s far from it.”

But even more surprisingly, there is not another football club in the list of top ten sports wages. Top of the pile is the New York Yankees baseball team, who earn £4.6m a year each, and the other six top places are all taken up by US Basketball stars.