The top 25 Championship players’ salaries (highest weekly wages)

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.

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.