Liverpool's latest accounts show that the club's wage bill for 2009-10 increased by a whopping 21% to £121m (up from 100m for the previous year). Whilst £121m is a barely defensible figure (especially compared to Man United's much lower figure), it's chicken feed compared to the gross sums paid out to greedy Chelsea players.
For the 2009-10 financial year, the wage bills for the Premier League's top clubs were as follows:
* Chelsea - £172.5m (League position: 1)
( Manchester City - 133.3m (League position: 5)
* Liverpool - £121.1m (League position: 7)
* Man United - £111.9m (League position: : 2)
* Arsenal - £107.9m (League position: 3)
* Spurs - £65m (League position: 4)
Source: Official accounts for all 6 clubs
* Liverpool's 7th place finish was a pitiful return for a £121m wage-spend. With the failure to qualify for the Champions League, 2009-10 was a disaster from a financial standpoint, and the club's grossly overpaid players really let the club down.
* Conversely, Spurs - with a 46% lower wage-pend than Liverpool - ended up in 4th, and in the Champions League, which is a testament to the man-management skill of Harry Redknapp.
Thankfully, Kenny Dalglish and FSG are clearly aware that the club's wage bill needs to be slashed, and with all the deadwood-departures over the last 10 months, the club's wage bill will hopefully be much lower now (even factoring in new purchases).
Man City and Chelsea: home of the greediest players in the Premier League (and probably the whole of Europe).