The Premier League may be the pinnacle of English football, but the Championship is also regarded as one of Europe’s top leagues, with lots of money available in the second tier.

With relegated sides having the luxury of parachute payments, a number of high-earners remain on the books, and we’ve looked at the earnings of the Championship’s top earners.

Name

Club

Contract expiration.

Weekly wage

1. Jamie Vardy.

Leicester City

2024

£140,000

2. Harry winks.

Leicester City

2026

£90,000

3. Kelechi Iheanacho.

Leicester City

2024

£80,000

4) Aaron Ramsey

Cardiff City 2025

£80,000

5) Ricardo Pereira

Leicester City 2026

£80,000

6) Conor Coady

Leicester City

2026

£75,000

7. Paton Daka

Leicester City

2026

£75,000

8. Wilfred Ndidi

Leicester City 2024

£75,000

9. Dennis Praet

Leicester City 2024

£75,000

10) Patrick Bamford

Leeds United

2026

£70,000

11. Joe Aribo.

Southampton 2026

£70,000

12. Jannik Vestergaard.

Leicester City 2024

£70,000

13. Georgio Rutter

Leeds United

2028

£70,000

14. Brandon Williams

Ipswich Town (Loan)

2024

£65,000

15. Nathaniel Phillips

Cardiff City (Loan)

2024

£65,000

16. Stuart Armstrong, Southampton, £65,000 in 2024. 17.

Junior Firpo

Leeds United 2025

£60,000

18. Jan Bednarek

Southampton 2025

£60,000

19. Adam Armstrong: Southampton, 2025, £55,000

20. Daniel James

Leeds United 2026

£50,000

21. David Brooks

Southampton (Loan)

2024

£50,000

22. Alex McCarthy

Southampton, 2024: £50,000 (23).

Pascal Struijk

Leeds United

2027

£50,000

24. Hamza Choudhury

Leicester City 2027

£50,000

25. Wouter Faes

Leicester City

2027

£50,000

Highest Championship Wage Bills
Leicester City – £1.1 million a week

The Foxes comfortably lead the table in terms of salaries, and they are the only team in the Championship to pay more than £1 million per week.

As previously stated, Jamie Vardy and summer signing Harry Winks make enormous weekly incomes at the King Power Stadium, but 14 players earn more than £40,000 each week, demonstrating Leicester’s vast financial advantage over the rest of the division.

Southampton – £773,000 each week.

Southampton traded some of their finest players after being relegated last summer, notably James Ward-Prowse and Romeo Lavia, who joined West Ham and Chelsea. However, the Saints retained Joe Aribo, Stuart Armstrong, Adam Armstrong, and Jan Bednarek.

They also signed winger David Brooks on loan from Bournemouth in January, bringing their total weekly pay outlay to nearly three-quarters of a million pounds.

Leeds United – £694,000 each week.

As expected, the most recently relegated Premier League teams dominate the second tier, with Leeds United finishing third. The Whites lost a number of loan players this summer due to relegation release clauses, although they kept Georginio Rutter, Patrick Bamford, and Dan James.

There was a change of ownership, a new manager in Daniel Farke, and a number of new signings made throughout the summer, with Leeds spending around £700,000 each week on their playing team at Elland Road.

West Bromwich Albion – £455,000 per week.

West Brom have also experienced the highs and lows of promotion and relegation in recent years. The Baggies, who are currently under new ownership at The Hawthorns, did not spend a lot of money on transfer fees last summer, but they have one of the largest payrolls.

In total, 12 players in Carlos Corberan’s roster make more than £20,000 per week, with Adam Reach earning the most at £40,000.

Norwich City – £400,000 each week.

Norwich City have been promoted and relegated on a number of occasions over the last 10 years, becoming one of the specialist ‘yo-yo’ clubs. They were last in the Premier League in 2022, and now, under David Wagner, are pushing for yet another promotion.

The Canaries, as a result, are one of the clubs who can pay a high salary in the division, with centre-back Ben Gibson their highest earner on £40,000-a-week.