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Leeds United parted company with Victor Orta in May of last year and are now looking to fight their way back to the Premier League without him, with the play-off final against Southampton at Wembley on Sunday.

The former Whites sporting director ultimately contributed to the club's relegation from the top-flight last season as his appointments, Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia, failed to keep them in the division.

Now working at Sevilla, the Spanish chief did have his fair share of howlers and blinders in the transfer market, and one that looks to be in the former category is the sale of Rafa Mujica as the club had a nightmare with him.

The young striker was sold by Orta in the summer of 2021 and has since gone on to thrive away from Elland Road, with a reported transfer pending that makes him more valuable than Leeds star Pascal Struijk.

Rafa Mujica's form since leaving Leeds

Signed from Barcelona in 2019, Mujica did not make a single first-team appearance for the Yorkshire-based outfit in two year before his move to Las Palmas on a free transfer in 2021.

After one goal in 14 league matches for the Spanish side during the 2021/22 campaign, Portuguese side Arouca swooped in to secure his services and they never looked back.

He produced 14 goals and one assist in 32 matches in all competitions for the club in his first season in Portugal, before kicking on again this term.

Appearances

30

Sofascore rating

7.21

xG

16.27

Goals

20

Minutes per goal

127 minutes

Assists

3

As you can see in the table above, the 25-year-old marksman, who scored 23 goals in all competitions, was prolific in the Liga Portugal as he outperformed his xG by almost four goals.

Rafa Mujica's big-money transfer this summer

The former Whites youngster is now reportedly on course to make a move away from Arouca this summer to join Qatar-based side Al-Sadd.

Journalist Pedro Sepúlveda reported earlier this month that he is in advanced talks to join them for a fee of €9m with a further €2m in add-ons, taking the total package to €11m (£9.4m).

This means that Mujica is currently valued higher than a number of Whites stars, including Glen Kamara (€6m), Ilia Gruev (€5.4m), and Pascal Struijk (€9.5m) – per FootballTransfers.

Struijk had made 23 appearances in the Championship at centre-back during the first half of the campaign before a groin injury put an end to his season.

This speaks to the Spanish striker's turnaround in fortunes since leaving Yorkshire that he is now worth more than the Dutch defender, who has the eighth-highest Sofascore rating in the Leeds squad this term (7.12) and captained the team on many occasions this season.

It has been reported that, as one of the teams that helped to develop Mujica, Leeds will receive 5% of the initial fee, which would be roughly £380k from £7.6m in this case.

That £380k may not be enough to forget about how much of a nightmare they had by letting him go in 2021 as his 20 league goals this season suggest that he could have turned into a strong player for the club, given that Crysencio Summerville (20) is the only player with more than 14 strikes to his name this term.

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Orta had a howler when he decided to let the centre-forward go as he was not given a single first-team opportunity to prove himself and should have been given a chance, which his form this term suggests Mujica may have taken, to prove himself.

Instead, he has gone on to be a roaring success in Portugal and is now looking set for a big-money move to Qatar, making him more valuable than several of Daniel Farke's stars.

Chelsea moved up to seventh in the Premier League table with an eye-catching 5-0 win over West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The Blues are above Manchester United on goal difference, ahead of their clash with Crystal Palace on Monday night, and are two points behind sixth-placed Newcastle United, with three matches left to play.

Mauricio Pochettino's side are still in with a chance to secure a place in a European competition for the 2024/25 campaign, but it remains to be seen whether they will land in the Europa Conference League or the Europa League.

Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher, and Noni Madueke all scored during the first half to give the team a healthy advantage, before Nicolas Jackson struck twice in the second half to round out the 5-0 win.

The only starter outside of Dorde Petrovic and the back four who was not directly involved in a goal was Mykhailo Mudryk and Pochettino must now ruthlessly ditch the lightweight from the starting XI.

Mykhailo Mudryk's performance against West Ham

The Ukraine international was selected to start on the left side of the attack for the Blues at Stamford Bridge but failed to showcase his quality in the way that his teammates did.

Moises Caicedo registered an assist, Gallagher scored, Madueke produced a goal and an assist, Palmer scored, and Jackson scored two goals to go along with his assist, as the rest of Chelsea's midfield and attack outperformed Mudryk.

He did not make the most of his team's dominance in the game to play with freedom and display his attacking ability by taking players on and trying to make things happen, as the forward ended the match with one attempted dribble.

Minutes played

76

xG

0.34

Goals

0

Big chances created

0

Assists

0

Ground duels won

2/5

As you can see in the table above, the 23-year-old attacker did not have much of an impact on the game, with zero 'big chances' created and zero goals from 0.34 xG.

GOAL reporter Mark Doyle handed him a match rating of 5/10 and described the winger as the 'weak link' once again for the Blues, citing his safe play in possession – passing it backwards too often – as one of the reasons why it was such an underwhelming showing.

Mudryk ended the match with fewer touches (36) than the Chelsea goalkeeper Petrovic (46) and the fewest of any starter in the front for Pochettino, which speaks to his passive mentality during the game as he failed to go out in search of the ball in order to make things happen.

The Argentine head coach must now ditch the winger from the starting XI, as it was the latest disappointing showing in an underwhelming campaign from the young whiz.

Mykhailo Mudryk's Premier League season in numbers

Pochettino could, perhaps, excuse the odd poor performance if it was surrounded by impressive displays in other games, but that has not been the case for Mudryk.

The former Shakhtar Donetsk speedster has racked up just four goals and two assists in 29 appearances in the Premier League so far this season – an average of one goal or assist every 4.8 games.

In the 2023/24 campaign, the attacker does not rank within the top five in the Chelsea squad for goals, assists, shots per game, or key passes per game, which illustrates his lack of influence in the final third.

He ranks within the bottom 49% of wingers and attacking midfielders in the division for shot-creating actions per 90 (3.63), the bottom 34% for assists (0.13), and the bottom 40% for shots taken per 90 (2.07).

The Chelsea lightweight, who has lost 55% of his duels in the Premier League, has also been far too loose in possession of the ball to be considered a reliable operator.

Mudryk ranks within the bottom 7% of his positional peers in the top-flight for pass accuracy at just 67.3%, which shows that he is one of the most unreliable passers in the league.

His poor form throughout the season, with zero goals and zero assists in his last ten games, is why Pochettino must ditch the 'weak link' from the XI next time out against Nottingham Forest next Saturday.

The player Chelsea should replace Mykhailo Mudryk with

Christopher Nkunku made his return from injury off the bench against West Ham and, if fit, should be named in the lineup against the Tricky Trees.

The French forward has missed a staggering 39 matches through various injury issues, with hamstring, hip, and knee problems, and that has restricted his impact in London thus far.

He has only made eight appearances in the Premier League so far, two of which have come as a starter, and has scored two goals from 1.75 xG in that time.

It has possibly been frustrating for Pochettino and supporters that Nkunku has not been more readily available for selection, as two goals from two starts speaks to the untapped potential he has in a Chelsea shirt.

Appearances

25

Starts

20

xG

14.59

Goals

16

Assists

4

Big chances created

8

As you can see in the table above, the 26-year-old sensation arrived at Stamford Bridge off the back of a sublime campaign in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig last term.

He was directly involved in 20 goals in 20 league starts, compared to Mudryk's six involvements in 16 starts in the Premier League this term, and that speaks to his quality and consistency as an attacking player.

Nkunku ranks within the top 19% of forwards in the Men's Big 5 Leagues and European competitions over the last 365 days for non-penalty goals per 90 (0.53), and the top 6% for Expected Assisted Goals (0.25).

This shows that the former Bundesliga star does have the potential to be a terrific option for Pochettino to call upon if he is fit enough to play from the start next Saturday.

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If Nkunku can be selected to line up on the left of the attack, Pochettino must ditch Mudryk from the XI in order to hand the Frenchman an opportunity to shine.

Newcastle United's unthinkable season last campaign was helped massively by the financial backing from the Saudi PIF, with players such as Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier playing a key role in the club's success.

The Magpies finished in the Premier League's top four, securing a place in the Champions League for this campaign before being knocked out in the group stage.

However, things haven't gone as planned this campaign, with Eddie Howe's side lingering around mid-table after suffering somewhat of an injury crisis throughout the season.

Sven Botman was the latest player to be ruled out through injury, with the Dutchman needing surgery on an ACL injury that could see him miss up to nine months.

Despite the injury crisis, many players who had an impact at the club before the takeover have still failed to gain any game time, with certain players being victims of the club's rapid success.

One player in particular is currently on loan away from St James', with the club needing to permanently offload the player to help in their battle to avoid any punishment for breaking PSR rules.

Ryan Fraser's stats at Newcastle United

After arriving at St James' on a free transfer from Bournemouth in the summer of 2020, winger Ryan Fraser made 18 appearances in the Premier League during his first campaign for the team – failing to score a league goal during the 2020/21 season.

However, the attacker did manage to find the back of the net on his Newcastle debut in the 1-0 Carabao Cup victory over Blackburn Rovers in September 2020.

His second season on Tyneside saw him have his best season for the Magpies, scoring twice in his 27 games in a campaign in which the club finished 12th in the Premier League.

It would all rapidly go downhill for the Scottish international, with the 2022/23 campaign his worst to date for the Magpies, with Fraser only featuring eight times in the league – featuring for just 311 minutes, with the winger subsequently leaving the club on loan ahead of the current season.

The 30-year-old joined Southampton on loan during last summer's transfer window, with the former Bournemouth attacker scoring eight times in the Championship, having enjoyed a good run of form in the second tier.

How much Ryan Fraser earns in 2024

After signing a five-year deal at St James' Park, the attacker would take home £42k-per-week, a decent chunk of money given his lack of impact during his time at the club.

His wage sees him earn £12k-per-week more than talented youngster Elliot Anderson, who currently earns £30k-per-week, and unsurprisingly teen superstar Lewis Miley who is on a weekly salary of £5k. The "terrible" forward, as Fraser said of his own performances on Tyneside, currently earns a whopping £2.1m a year, with the club needing to clear the attacker off the wage bill at the next opportunity.

His good form on loan at Southampton could tempt Russell Martin's side to permanently sign the 30-year-old, with Fraser still having one more year under contract at St James'.

Should he leave the club, Howe's side would command a fee for his services, with his transfer fee and wages going a long way in the club's battle to stay within the PSR confines.

The attacker's move to Newcastle has been a disaster for both parties. Nine goal contributions in 59 appearances for the Magpies is a poor return given the club's desire to sign him back in 2020.

Wage Burners

Football FanCast's Wage Burners series explores the salaries of the modern-day game.

There has been a return to community cases in NSW but the tournament model allows for measures to be tightened if required

Andrew McGlashan15-Oct-2020Cricket Australia is confident the WBBL structure can react to a changing Covid-19 landscape as the start of the tournament which will be played entirely in a Sydney hub draws closer.The competition will begin on October 25 and run until the end of November, played at a variety of venues around the city with players based in a ‘village’ at the Sydney Olympic Park. As it stands, crowds will be able to attend at varying levels across the different grounds based on capacity restrictions.After a period of 12 days without community transmission of Covid-19 in New South Wales, cases have returned over the last week but the way the competition has been set-up provides various contingencies should they be required.ALSO READ: From Suzie Bates to Laura Wolvaardt – all the WBBL overseas players”One of the focus areas for building the competition has been the village which is a really self-contained facility to create a safe environment where we can scale up and down the level security and overlay that’s required,” Alistair Dobson, the head of the Big Bash, said.”Crowds will be something we work really closely with the New South Wales government on around capacity – different venues will have different requirements. The hill at North Sydney Oval will be different to the big stands at the [Sydney] Showgrounds.”We have a really scalable model which will allow us to pull different levers if the situation changes. We haven’t talked specific [Covid] numbers but it’s something we monitor and talk about daily.”There are 23 overseas players signed up for the tournament with those from England, West Indies and South Africa currently undergoing two weeks quarantine in various cities before all the teams join up in Sydney next week. Those who live in Sydney will also be required to stay within the village, which will allow players some degree of freedom around the hotels but with strict protocols still in place to restrict any wider movement.”It’s an enormous sacrifice and it goes without saying that there isn’t a part of the game that hasn’t had to make really big sacrifices to get the WBBL season over the line and the same will apply for all the different formats this year,” Dobson said. “There’s an element of freedom within the village because we are able to create such a secure environment around it.”Part of what we’ve tried to set up is that players who are essentially leaving home for five or six weeks, from a mental health and wellbeing point of view, have an experience which is positive and not the hard bubble some other competitions have gone through. There are restrictions outside the village in terms of going into restaurants nearby or those sorts of things, [and] there’s an element of being able to flex that up and down.”On Thursday, it was announced that 12 additional WBBL matches would be live on Fox Cricket meaning more than half the tournament will be televised with the other games available via streaming.

In April of 2023, everything fell apart for Mikel Arteta's Arsenal. A run of wretched games saw their Premier League title hopes ultimately fade away with a whimper.

This season it looked as though the Gunners had learnt their lesson. 2024 has been dominated by swashbuckling football, notably putting six past Sheffield United and West Ham, and five past Burnley.

However, lessons have seemingly not been learnt, notably by the manager whose squad management must be called out. Indeed, April is here again and a withered, tired-looking group of players look out for the count.

A 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa last Sunday was bad enough, only for the Londoners to then fall to a second-leg defeat in Munich, beaten 1-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate by Harry Kane's Bayern.

Losing to the Bundesliga giants is usually nothing to be ashamed of. However, Thomas Tuchel's side have not been at the races this term, conceding the German top-flight trophy for the first time in 11 years. They do, however, still boast a chance of winning the Champions League.

The back end of this campaign promised so much for Arsenal but it's all ending in rather predictable circumstances; without a trophy.

It's a bitter pill to swallow for supporters, who notably saw a number of fan favourites fail to deliver on the biggest of stages. An isolated Gabriel Martinelli – who simply hasn't been the same player this season – struggled to have much of an impact, the same could be said for Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal's biggest underperformer against Bayern

This honour could have been given to a number of players in green on Wednesday evening. Kai Havertz started up top as an out ball but once moved into the centre of midfield following Gabriel Jesus' introduction barely had a kick.

However, it was a player we all hold in such high regard who had one of his worst nights in Arsenal colours; Saka.

It is difficult to point the blame at such a well-loved figure. He has been there since the start of this project and dragged Arteta's team through many a moment. This season he is still the club's top scorer on 18 goals but his powers have waned towards the end of the term.

The Englishman missed the home match with Luton a few weeks ago because of injury and truth be told, he hasn't really looked too fit since.

He has found the net just twice in his last eight outings and only has one assist to show for his troubles since 20th January. For a young individual so creative, so full of flair, it's hugely disappointing.

Bayern are no mugs defensively but without Alphonso Davies, ruled out due to suspension at the Allianz on Wednesday, Saka had a wonderful opportunity to dominate up against Noussair Mazraoui, a right-back playing at left-back.

Touches

42

Accurate passes

21/24 (88%)

Key passes

0

Shots

0

Successful dribbles

0

Successful crosses

0

Duels won

5/11

Did he dominate? No is the short answer. The 22-year-old received no change from the Moroccan with Arsenal's number 7 failing to complete any of his three dribble attempts or four crosses.

Handed a 4/10 match rating courtesy of GOAL's Charles Watts, the Arsenal reporter noted that he was 'always on the fringes of things'. What didn't help were Saka's actions towards the end of the game. Having taken a quick free-kick, spurning the chance to get the ball into the area with seconds remaining, he planted the resulting corner straight at the man at the near post.

That just about summed up the winger's display with Saka left to rue a night where he failed to provide a single key pass or have a shot. This was a night to stand up and be counted but their main man did not do so.

Key to Arsenal's summer will be finding a player Arteta can rotate Saka with. He looked spent in Germany and it is hardly surprising for someone who's missed just three games all campaign. It's back to the drawing board for the Gunners.

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The left-arm quick is coming along nicely, having undergone a major operation to prolong his career

Andrew McGlashan01-Sep-2020While Australia’s limited-overs cricketers are ending more than five months without playing, for one man who had a brief but starring role in their World Cup campaign last year it has been a much longer break. Jason Behrendorff, the left-arm quick from Western Australia, has not played a match for 12 months and in that time has undergone major back surgery to prolong his career.Last June, Behrendorff enjoyed one of his great days out when he claimed 5 for 44 against England in the World Cup group match at Lord’s. It was the specific job he had been picked to do, with Australia having homed in on England’s issues against left-armers, and on that occasion it all came together. Briefly the hosts’ tournament was stumbling off course. As history shows, it all came together in the end for England (just) and Behrendorff did not leave with such found memories of the semi-final at Edgbaston.Less than two months later, on August 26, he played a T20 Blast match for Sussex against Glamorgan having been signed by the county as a late replacement. A few days after that he was called back by Western Australia due to experiencing back pain and that would set in motion is path towards spinal surgery to try and solve problems with stress fractures around his L4 vertebrae that had plagued him for five years.The operation, by the renowned New Zealand-based surgeon Rowan Schouten, which took place in October, was the same that James Pattinson, Corey Anderson and Shane Bond had undergone, involving fusing screws and a titanium cable into the lower spine to stabilise the fracture.There was a high success-rate with the surgery – Pattinson, for example, has returned to Test cricket – but the recovery time frame ranged from the very hopeful six months to a more realistic 12 and maybe even 18. Behrendorff is on track for that one-year mark and has his sights set on the Big Bash for the Perth Scorchers, in whatever form that takes, come December.

“The first goal is getting back on the park and hopefully staying there for a prolonged period. That will be a white-ball focus in the initial period and once I’ve got some continuity with my body, then hopefully there’s some red-ball conversations.”

“That’s definitely realistic and hopefully a bit earlier than that,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I know potentially there isn’t a lot of white-ball cricket before that with some of conversations going on, but here in Perth our club competition will kick off at the start of October and that should be a good stepping stone before the BBL.”Unsurprisingly given the nature of the surgery it hasn’t been entirely smooth over the last 10 months, but Behrendorff remained confident. “Sometimes it feels like two steps forward, one step back but on the whole it’s tracking nicely,” he said.”When I first had the surgery, chatting to some of the guys, they were back within six to nine months. I thought that would definitely be me, but it has not quite 100% gone to plan in the sense that I’m not back playing cricket yet, there’s been a few little niggly things and some technical things that have not gone exactly to plan but certainly nothing derailing the train so to speak.”In a blog for his management company shortly before heading to New Zealand, Behrendorff wrote: “There have been times when I haven’t been able to pick up [his son] Harrison. That’s been really hard. There’s more to life than just cricket. Going forward I’m really hoping that my back is a lot better for life in general and life after cricket. In the short-term it’s about cricket, but in the long-term it’s hopefully about quality of life and that I’ll have a more robust and stronger back to keep me going well through life.”Now, with his mind firmly focused on his playing return, he said: “I 100% made the right decision, no doubt. I had dealt with the same stress fracture for about five years and it got to the stage where enough was enough. Knowing that if it gives me another chance to keep playing cricket at the level I want to, then I was all for it. Now I’m hoping to reap the benefits of it.”In February Behrendorff posted on Instagram as he started to walk through his action in the nets – captioned: “First steps to feeling like a cricketer again” – and by March, when the Covid-19 lockdown had started, he was coming in off a longer run in isolation between fitness training at home.While regaining his fitness, he has taken the opportunity to recalibrate parts of his bowling – something that is not without its challenges for a 30-year-old so ingrained in his action compared to a younger player. He has worked closely with Matt Mason, the Western Australia bowling coach, on balance in his delivery and position at the crease. Currently he has stepped back from pushing towards full pace to ensure the changes have settled down.Jason Behrendorff in his follow-through•Getty Images”I found as I was starting to get faster some of the technical work that I’ve been doing wasn’t holding exactly as I would like it to, so we’ve taken this chance – especially not knowing how the season will pan out – to make sure everything was how I’d like it to be in my mind before I press go.”Matt Mason pointed out a few things after watching me bowl and seeing some stuff in the World Cup. It made a lot of sense to me – in terms of being a fast bowler you want to be as efficient as you can to give you the best chance to bowl fast. I took his views away and married it up with where I’m trying to go as a bowler and a lot of that crossed over, which was nice.”While tweaking his action was not a direct requirement of the surgery, Behrendorff wants to do everything he can to ensure once he’s back in the middle he stays there. “The biggest thing for me is knowing just because I’ve had the surgery it’s not a miracle cure and [so] you can do whatever you like and your back will be happy with it. So I’m trying to be as smart as I can going forward.”Whenever the recovery has felt slow, he has been encouraged by advice from those who have either gone through it or helped others. “Speaking with one of the physios who has dealt with a lot of the New Zealand-based guys, they said basically what I’m experiencing is normal and my progress is pretty standard.”Chatting to James Pattinson, he took a really slow, gradual approach, probably around 18 months before he was back playing fully and doing everything he wanted, so everyone seems pretty happy with how I’m progressing.”His ambitions for the comeback also stretch much further than the Big Bash. Before undergoing surgery he said he hoped it would allow him to resume first-class cricket – a format he last played in 2017 and stepped away from to manage his workload, but where he has a career-best of 9 for 37 against Victoria in 2017 – and while he knows that’s a longer-term aim, he retains that optimism.”The first goal is getting back on the park and hopefully staying there for a prolonged period. That will be a white-ball focus in the initial period and once I’ve got some continuity with my body, playing some cricket, then hopefully there’s some red-ball conversations that can be had down the track.”The ultimate aim, however, is to have more days like the one at Lord’s against England. There is certainly plenty on the horizon with three World Cups – two T20s and the next ODI event – in consecutive years from 2021. “That’s exactly where I want to play my cricket,” he said. “The opportunities I’ve had playing for Australia have been some of the best of my life. Those are the experiences I’ll treasure and want to get back to.”

The Premier League may well be the peak of English football, but the Championship is also regarded as one of the best leagues in Europe, and there is plenty of money on offer in the second tier.

With relegated sides having the luxury of parachute payments, there are a number of big earners who end up remaining on the books, and we've looked into the salaries of the top earners in the Championship.

	Name	Club	Contract expiry	Wage per week
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.	Patson 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.	Georginio 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	2024	£65,000
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.	Wout Faes	Leicester City	2027	£50,000

Highest Championship wage bills

Leicester City – £1.1m-a-week

The Foxes comfortably top the table when it comes to salaries and are the only side in the Championship to pay a total above £1m-a-week.

As mentioned, Jamie Vardy and summer signing Harry Winks are earning huge weekly salaries at the King Power Stadium, but 14 players are actually picking up a pay packet greater than £40,000-a-week, showing the huge gap in financial power between Leicester and the majority of the division.

Southampton – £773,000-a-week

Southampton sold some star players last summer after being relegated, including James Ward-Prowse and Romeo Lavia, who joined West Ham and Chelsea. However, the Saints managed to keep hold of the likes of Joe Aribo, Stuart Armstrong, Adam Armstrong and Jan Bednarek.

They also brought in winger David Brooks from Bournemouth on loan in January, taking their total weekly wage bill to almost three-quarters of a million pounds.

Leeds United – £694,000-a-week

As expected, the most recently relegated teams from the Premier League top the charts in the second tier, with Leeds United taking third spot. The Whites lost a number of their players on loan over the summer due to relegation release clauses, however, they kept hold of the likes of 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 brought in over the summer, with Leeds forking out almost £700,000-a-week on their playing squad at Elland Road.

West Bromwich Albion – £455,000-a-week

Another club who are used to the highs and lows of promotion and relegation in recent years are West Brom. The Baggies, now under new ownership at The Hawthorns, didn't splash the cash last summer on transfer fees but have one of the biggest books when it comes to salaries.

In total, 12 players of Carlos Corberan's squad pick up more than £20,000-a-week, with Adam Reach the top earner on £40,000-a-week.

Norwich City – £400,000-a-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.

	Club	Average wage bills per week
1.	Leicester City	£1.1m
2.	Southampton	£773,000
3.	Leeds United	£694,000
4.	West Bromwich Albion	£455,000
5.	Norwich City	£400,000
6.	Cardiff City	£385,000
7.	Stoke City	£337,000
8.	Hull City	£306,000
9.	Middlesbrough	£303,000
10.	Sheffield Wednesday	£300,000
11.	Watford	£273,000
12.	Birmingham City	£258,000
13.	Queens Park Rangers	£241,000
14.	Ipswich Town	£234,000
15.	Bristol City	£230,000
16.	Millwall	£230,000
17.	Swansea City	£211,000
18.	Preston North End	£196,000
19.	Huddersfield Town	£183,000
20.	Coventry City	£181,000
21.	Sunderland	£172,000
22.	Blackburn Rovers	£158,000
23.	Rotherham United	£150,000
24.	Plymouth Argyle	£109,000

Federico Chiesa's agent has reportedly flown to London to hold talks with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur as Juventus exit looms.

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Federico Chiesa set for Juventus exitAgent holds talks with Chelsea and TottenhamManchester United also reportedly interested(C)Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

Chiesa has been heavily linked with a move away from Juventus this summer with the Serie A champions keen to sell the winger as his current contract is set to expire in the summer of 2025. He is also not expected to be a part of Thiago Motta's plans at the Allianz Stadium, hence, Chiesa's agent has been holding talks with potential future clubs.

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As per Corriere dello Sport, Chiesa's agent, Fali Ramadani flew to London last weekend to hold talks with Chelsea and Tottenham as both London sides look to improve their squads. Manchester United have also linked with the winger and his situation is expected to be clarified ahead of the start of the new season.

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Chiesa as also been linked with Roma and Napoli, however, Gli Azzurri have moved on to other targets while I Giallorossi have chosen to concentrate on Matias Soule. Chiesa played in 37 games last season, tallying 10 goals and dishing out three assists.

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WHAT NEXT FOR CHIESA?

The Italian winger has not travelled with the Juventus squad for their Germany preseason squad, he will be hoping to have his future sorted out sooner rather than later as he will need a proper preseason before joining another club.