Every year, the average weekly income of Championship players rises, but this season could see the biggest wage bills ever seen in the second tier.
In the 2025/26 season, two established Premier League teams were relegated. Both West Ham United and Wolves had a European pedigree prior to last season, so they were able to pay their players in line with competitive top-flight clubs.
Wolves and West Ham will eventually dominate most of this list, as they navigate their first off-season as Championship clubs for quite some time.
Wages will need to be decreased, and certain players will be targeted for top-flight moves, but for the time being, here are the 20 highest-paid second-tier players, according to Capology, heading into the 2026/27 season.
20Maxwel Cornet – £65,000 p/w
The list begins with Maxwel Cornet, West Ham’s forgotten winger.
The 29-year-old is entering his fifth season under contract at the London Stadium, although he has not played for the Hammers in almost two years and has only made 35 appearances in the last three seasons, including loan spells at Southampton and Genoa.
Cornet is still expected to earn £65,000 per week at West Ham, but time will tell if he is one of the players Nuno Espirito Santo looks to dump permanently between now and September 1.
19Adam Armstrong – £65,000 p/w
Adam Armstrong, one of Wolves’ most recent signings and one of the most prolific scorers in recent Championship history, is next on the list.
The Old Gold brought the 29-year-old from Southampton to Molineux in January, which some viewed as another step towards preparation for life in the Championship in 2026-27. In doing so, they granted him a contract for approximately £65,000 per week.
Armstrong has 91 goals in the second division during his career and will seek to become the eighth player to reach 100 next season.
18Jackson Tchatchoua – £65,000 p/w
Cameroon international Jackson Tchatchoua did not have the ideal debut season at Wolves after joining from Verona for £10.8 million last summer.
The 24-year-old was the fastest player in Serie A during the 2024/25 season, but he struggled to adjust to the Premier League and did little to justify his £65,000 per week salary despite their relegation.
The Telegraph speculated this summer that Tchatchoua could be one of the several Molineux departures before the window closes, although he is now ranked 18th on this list.
17Andre – £65,000 p/w
Andre, who signed a new contract with the Old Gold this summer, will remain with Wolves for the 2017 Championship season. Capology estimates this to be £65,000 every week.
With him being one of the few bright spots in a terrible Premier League club last season, there will be some hope that the 24-year-old defensive midfielder may be one of the better second-tier engine room operators in 2026/27.
16Hwang Hee-Chan – £70,000 p/w
Hwang Hee-Chan has had a turbulent five years at Wolves since his transfer from RB Leipzig in 2021.
The 12-goal campaign he had in 2023/24 seems like a distant memory now, and the 30-year-old will be one of several players weighing their choices at Molineux as the Old Gold prepares for a Championship season.
There are still a few years left on his contract, so Wolves aren’t in a hurry to sell, but with an estimated £70,000 per week salary with players like Armstrong and Raul Jimenez on the roster, the frontman might be on his way out this summer.
15Marshall Munetsi – £70,000 p/w
Marshall Munetsi’s departure appears to be more clear, however, since the 30-year-old, who is also projected to earn £70,000 per week at Wolves, has struggled significantly in his one year at Molineux.
The midfielder was an exciting arrival in January 2025, having scored 20 goals in three and a half years in Ligue 1 with Stade Reims, but he was loaned back to France in January, spending the second half of the season with Paris FC.
He scored four goals in 15 appearances for the Parisians, demonstrating that his abilities are best displayed in France. He will undoubtedly leave the Championship, especially given his huge salary.
14Kyle Walker – £75,000 p/w
The first Burnley player on this list is veteran defender Kyle Walker, and considering his track record, it’s no wonder that the Clarets were pleased to make him their highest earning when they signed him to a two-year contract last summer.
The 36-year-old has won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and the Champions League while at Manchester City.
And, despite his age, he will undoubtedly be one of the Championship’s best full-backs if Burnley can keep him this summer.
13Jean-Ricner Bellegarde – £75,000 p/w
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, who joined Wolves for £12.8 million from Strasbourg, has struggled to maintain his form in his three years at Molineux. He started only 15 games last season, scoring one goal and assisting once, before starting every game for Haiti in the World Cup this summer.
Bellegarde’s top-flight pedigree may make him a fantastic midfielder in the Championship, but it’s unclear whether the 28-year-old would rather maintain his pedigree than play in the second tier for a year.
12Taty Castellanos – £75,000 p/w
Taty Castellanos appeared to buck the tradition of multi-million pound West Ham forwards being huge disappointments, scoring six goals in 18 league appearances after joining from Lazio in January, and his arrival coincided with the team’s play improving.
The two-time Argentinian international is someone West Ham owner Daniel Kretinsky wants to keep at the London Stadium this summer, but he’ll face stiff competition, as you’d expect other top-flight sides to be interested in signing the forward.
Castellanos is now anticipated to earn £75,000 per week, which may need to be maintained if he is to remain in a second-tier campaign.
11Tolu Arokodare – £75,000 p/w
Tolu Arokodare’s debut season at Wolves, following a Golden Boot-winning campaign in the 2024/25 Belgian Pro League with Genk, was not particularly successful.
He scored three goals in 33 Premier League games en route to relegation, but new manager Cesar Peixoto has not favoured him, and current reports suggest that he had to cancel training on Monday, July 20, because the frontman refused to leave the ground.
Arokodare is thought to earn £75,000 each week, but it won’t be long before those expensive salaries are off the books at Molineux.
10Jean-Clair Todibo – £80,000 p/w
Another player who, despite being on the books at his current club, is almost certainly set to leave this summer is Jean-Clair Todibo, who is halfway through the list and earns an estimated £80,000 per week.
The former Barcelona centre-back fell out with Nuno after being substituted in the 25th minute of last season’s penultimate game against Newcastle United, with sources claiming that the 26-year-old informed the Hammers manager he’d never play for them again.
Nuno is staying at the London Stadium, but Todibo and his top-10 salaries appear to be surplus to requirements this summer.
9Toti – £80,000 p/w
Toti, Wolves’ centre-back and captain, had to watch from the sidelines for much of last season as the Old Gold were relegated, making only 17 starts.
The 27-year-old has been with the club for five years and stated in late May that things were being addressed, and he sounded eager to be a part of the rebuilding process to return to Premier League status.
The two-time Portuguese international has showed no signs of wanting to go just yet, and if Wolves can keep him, he’ll be worth an estimated £80,000 per week in the Championship.
8Niclas Fullkrug – £90,000 p/w
Niclas Fullkrug’s tenure at West Ham appears to be drawing to a close. He has failed to meet expectations at the London Stadium since his arrival in 2024, following a great Bundesliga season with Borussia Dortmund and an even stronger Euros with Germany.
The 33-year-old spent the second part of last season on loan at AC Milan, but he only scored once in 20 games, and Milan later returned him without exercising the €5 million optional buy clause in the deal.
Fullkrug has been absent from preseason so far, but sources indicate that is due to an injury. Stranger things have happened, but if he impresses on his comeback, Nuno may decide to keep the £90,000 per week striker at the club.
7Aaron Wan-Bissaka – £90,000 p/w
Aaron Wan-Bissaka will soon return to West Ham for pre-season training after competing in the World Cup with DR Congo this summer. However, he is returning to a club where he is not desired.
Despite the 28-year-old’s extensive Premier League experience, Nuno has apparently deemed him surplus to needs, although Lazio’s opening bid has been rejected.
The Hammers are reportedly seeking €20 million to fund the departure of one of their and the Championship’s highest-paid players this summer.
6Tomas Soucek – £90,000 p/w
Tomas Soucek, on the other hand, appears to be sticking at West Ham this summer, having stated on Instagram that he is willing to do whatever it takes to assist the team return to the Premier League.
The Czech Republic international will miss the start of the season after his World Cup campaign was cut short due to ankle ligament damage, but his return will be welcomed by Hammers fans as he begins his ninth full season with the club.
Soucek is the Championship’s sixth-highest paid player, according to Capology, and with his goal threat from midfield, he’ll undoubtedly be one of the better second-tier engine room operators once he recovers from his injury.
5Max Kilman – £100,000 p/w
The top five are all expected to earn six-figure weekly earnings, beginning with West Ham centre-back Max Kilman.
The 29-year-old cost the Hammers £40 million in the summer of 2024, but this season, he hasn’t lived up to that price tag, nor has he proven his £100,000 worth.
Nuno dismissed Kilman after their second-half collapse against Chelsea in January, and he appeared just in FA Cup matches against Burton Albion and Leeds United from February to the end of the year.
Another player who is expected to leave as the Hammers seek to lower their salary bill by releasing their biggest earners.
4Edson Alvarez – £100,000 p/w
Edson Alvarez’s West Ham future appeared to be ended this time last year, when Graham Potter sent him out on loan to Fenerbahçe with the option of making it permanent this summer.
However, following an injury-plagued year that resulted in ankle surgery in February to ensure he was fit for the World Cup this summer, the Turkish club chose not to activate the buy option for the Mexican midfielder.
However, the 28-year-old shown his fitness while on international duty, and it has been suggested that Nuno is interested in taking a look at him when he returns from his extended sabbatical due to the World Cup.
That being said, it may be for the best that the two sides part ways, as Alvarez is a level above the Championship and the fourth-highest paid player in the league.
3Aaron Ramsdale – £120,000 p/w
The only non-Burnley, Wolves, or West Ham player on the list is Southampton shot-stopper Aaron Ramsdale, who takes bronze at an estimated £120,000 a week.
Newcastle United, like Alvarez, chose not to exercise the loan option in the deal that saw the 28-year-old move from the South Coast to the North East, following a season in which he kept only two clean sheets in 23 games and was in goal for their 7-2 loss to Barcelona, which knocked them out of the Champions League.
He returns to Southampton as a backup after Tonda Eckert’s team was able to sign Daniel Peretz on a permanent basis following a successful loan spell, meaning the five-time England international might be on his way out again.
2Alphonse Areola – £120,000 p/w
Given that West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola had previously played for PSG and Real Madrid, it’s logical that he’s now believed to have the second-biggest deal in the Championship.
However, as with a few others on this list, the Frenchman will most likely leave the London Stadium soon.
The 33-year-old maintained no clean sheets in 20 Premier League games last season and, like Kilman, was discarded in favour of Mads Hermansen following the Chelsea defeat.
Areola’s wife would blame Nuno for the eventual relegation in May, so it appears those bridges have virtually been burned, especially with the team currently in the Championship.
1Jarrod Bowen – £150,000 p/w
Jarrod Bowen, the Championship’s predicted highest-paid player, has committed to West Ham in mid-July, ahead of the second-tier campaign.
The 29-year-old is already well-respected at the London Stadium, but his decision to stay and try to bring West Ham back to the Premier League after scoring over 100 goals during his time in the top flight has elevated him to legend status, as he would have received numerous offers to leave.
Bowen scored 22 goals for Hull City during his final full season in the Championship in 2018/19. Midway through the following year, he scored 16 in 29 games, enticing West Ham to sign him.
So, with him being much older, wiser, and in his peak, it’s difficult to predict what type of stats he’ll put up in the second tier next season.
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