Throughout the season, there have been arguments about whether Championship footballers have lived up to the earnings they are claimed to earn.
Players in the second division are now signing contracts worth tens of thousands of pounds more than ever before.
Former Premier League clubs use their parachute payment money to keep many of its players on top-flight wages, while those aspiring to the top flight are going above and beyond to bring in better players on bigger wages in order to make their aspirations a reality.
But who are the highest-paid Championship players, particularly midfielders?
According to Capology’s estimates, and excluding loan players from top-tier teams, these are the top ten second-tier midfielders earning the most money each week.
10Edoardo Bove – Watford (£30,000 p/w)
Edoardo Bove joined Watford in January after his contract with Serie A side Roma was terminated due to a cardiac attack he sustained while on loan at Fiorentina a few years ago.
Players in Italy are not permitted to wear a cardiac defibrillator, therefore the 23-year-old’s future lay elsewhere, and the Hornets were the team to bring him in.
Despite having not played in a competitive game in over a year, he was regarded as a huge coup at the time, considering the promise he had demonstrated prior to his cardiac arrest.
Unfortunately, he has yet to demonstrate why Watford paid him an estimated £30,000 per week, starting only two league games since the move.
9Gustavo Hamer – Sheffield United (£30,000 p/w)
Gustavo Hamer has demonstrated throughout his time at Sheffield United why he earns an estimated £30,000 a week, as the Dutchman has consistently been one of the top midfielders in the second tier since the Blades returned to the division in 2024.
Hamer won the league’s Player of the Season award last season, and despite a forgettable spell at Bramall Lane, the 28-year-old still managed a league-best 12 assists.
With his contract expiring at the end of next season, there will be plenty of speculation about a possible move away from South Yorkshire. If the Blades can reach an agreement on new terms, it will be interesting to observe whether his salary increases or decreases from what is currently reported.
8Azor Matusiwa — Ipswich Town (£30,000 p/w)
Ipswich Town’s Azor Matusiwa is also claimed to earn £30,000 per week, and he has been one of the unsung heroes of the Tractor Boys’ rapid promotion back to the Premier League this season.
The 28-year-old joined Ipswich from Rennes this summer, foregoing top-flight play in France for the chance to break into the top-flight in England at Portman Road, and he’s started all but one Championship game to help the club reach that goal.
The Dutchman is expected to receive a wage increase as Ipswich return to the Premier League, but there is no doubt that he deserves it.
7Nampalys Mendy – Watford (£30,000 p/w)
Nampalys Mendy is the second Watford player on the list, and like Bove, the 33-year-old has yet to prove his worth in his short stint at Vicarage Road.
The former Leicester City player returned to England this summer following two years in Ligue 1 with Lens, but he struggled to break into the squad in both campaigns, making only 26 league games in total.
However, Mendy’s expertise was enough for the Hornets to spend a significant portion of their salary budget on a one-year contract with the Senegalese international.
Watford is yet to release its retained list, but with only 17 second-tier starts in an underwhelming season, it will be surprising if they maintain him, especially at his present salary.
6Imran Louza – Watford (£32,500 p/w)
Imran Louza rounds out the Watford midfield trio on the list, having established his worth throughout the season with seven goals, nine assists, and a number of noteworthy displays.
The Moroccan has struggled at Vicarage Road since his £10 million arrival in 2021, when the Hornets were in the Premier League, and has even been loaned out to France in 2024 following a bad start to the 2023/24 Championship campaign.
However, he has demonstrated top-flight capabilities this season, with more goals and assists than in any of his previous seasons, and Watford may struggle to retain him this summer, with Premier League clubs vying for his services.
5Joe Aribo – Leicester City / Southampton (£35,000 p/w)
Joe Aribo would have been at the top of this list a few years ago, when Southampton were promoted from the Championship in the 2023/24 season, since he was earning an estimated £70,000 per week.
As it turns out, his anticipated £35,000 per week salary still places him in the top five, which is probably still too costly given his lower productivity this season.
After his most productive season at St Mary’s in last year’s disastrous Premier League season, in which he played over 2,000 minutes across 32 games, new manager Will Still immediately declared Aribo surplus to requirements, a decision Tonda Eckert did not reverse despite seven substitute appearances in the first half of the season.
In February, he was loaned out to fellow second-tier club Leicester, but he was unable to assist them avoid relegation, making only six appearances and none in the final seven games of the season.
The 29-year-old has had a disastrous season, but he has still earned a decent weekly salary, according to Capology.
4Hamza Choudhury – Leicester City (£50,000 p/w)
It’s a significant financial jump into the top four, and Leicester, obviously, leads the way, as they prepare for only their second season in the third division.
Hamza Choudhury has established himself as a reliable utility player in the Championship during the last few seasons, whether on loan at Watford or Sheffield United, or at the King Power Stadium, where 64 of his 163 senior games have been in the second division.
However, the Leicester academy player has not been worth the estimated £50,000 per week deal he is currently on, which represents the hefty pay paid by the club just three seasons ago when they were sure in their Premier League status.
3Finn Azaz — Southampton (£50,000 p/w)
Taking a short break from Leicester but remaining among teams with Premier League parachute payments, Southampton’s Finn Azaz is the Championship’s third-highest-paid midfield player.
The Irishman has been a key figure in the Saints’ rise up the second-tier table in the second half of the season, scoring ten goals in total. He also scored a fantastic opener at Wembley Stadium against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final.
Azaz has had a successful debut year at St Mary’s, and he represents a rare transfer win for Sport Republic, which paid an initial £12 million to bring him in this summer.
He is expected to be Southampton’s best earner and a top-six earner in the league, and he has easily demonstrated this at times this season.
2Oliver Skipp – Leicester City (£50,000 p/w)
There hasn’t been a more perplexing move in recent memory than Leicester City’s £20 million acquisition of Oliver Skipp ahead of their Premier League return in 2024.
That is not owing to the 25-year-old’s skill, but rather to the expensive price tag, especially given that the Foxes will incur a stunning pre-tax loss of £71.1 million in the 2024/25 season.
Skipp only made 10 league starts last season as they were relegated back to the second division, indicating that he was not worth the investment, and while his game time grew enormously this year, it has not helped them avoid successive relegations.
The 25-year-old’s contract runs until 2029. Even with a likely wage drop following relegation, Leicester will find it difficult to justify paying him that much as they prepare to return to the third division.
1Harry Winks – Leicester City (£90,000 p/w)
It’s been well documented throughout the final few months of the season that Harry Winks is the reported highest earning on the team, with one of the largest wage bills, if not the greatest, ever to be relegated to League One.
The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder is claimed to make an eye-watering £90,000 per week at Leicester, and his contract has another year left on it.
Furthermore, it’s difficult to claim that the 30-year-old has been worth the high salary he’s received this season. Winks hasn’t been able to run the midfield as easily as he did two years ago, and he’s struggled to help the Foxes in their relegation battle.
His frustrations spilled over near the conclusion of the season, and with Leicester supporters not taking it well, it’s just a matter of time until he finds another team.
The one concern remains: who will be able to support his £90,000 per week salary?
xz
