Stefan Borson reveals the truth about Liverpool’s ‘enormous’ wage bill after official documents analysed
Liverpool have an “enormous” wage bill after releasing their accounts for last season at Anfield.
That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider there is a lot of “nonsense” spoken about the Reds being a low-spending club.
Arne Slot’s side published their accounts for 2024-25 on Companies House last week, showing their wage bill increased from £386million in 2023-24 to £428m due to the bonuses owed to players and staff after winning the Premier League title last season.
That is £20m higher than Man City’s wage bill, which dropped slightly from £413m to £408m after failing to win a major trophy.
Liverpool pay their top stars high wages, with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk believed to be on around £400,000 a week at Anfield.
Why Liverpool's wage bill reached record-breaking level
Liverpool smashed their club-record revenue last season after their turnover surged from £614m in 2023-24 to £703m.
However, the Reds’ operating expenses increased from £158m to £181m, with several clubs across the Premier League experiencing the same rise in costs.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson discussed Liverpool’s financial situation after analysing their latest accounts.
“The cost base has increased quite aggressively, so they've added about £50m of cost since 2021,” said Borson.
“I think there are issues in a lot of these clubs with the operating expenses, i.e. those expenses outside of the wages.
“Wages for Liverpool, there's a lot of nonsense that's spoken about Liverpool's wages generally and a sort of perception that they are not the biggest payers around, and it's just simply not true.
“I mean, this year they ended up at £428m, which is just an enormous wage bill. Of course, when you win the title, there are bonuses to pay.”
Why Liverpool's wage bill could rise this season
Borson revealed Liverpool are among the highest spenders in Europe following their increase in wages.
“There is also a note in the accounts that talks about a £15m increase from last year to senior management,” said Borson.
“That again may or may not have been bonuses. It may just have been some kind of reallocation of salaries. But either way, £428m of wage bill puts them right up there with Europe's biggest spenders.
“There's nothing wrong with that, but the idea that Liverpool are in some way a kind of low-spending club is just obviously not true.
“Of course, this wage bill is for last season, and since then they've added some very big earning players, so I would expect it to be probably even higher for the current season.”