How Sheffield Wednesday’s salaries compare to their Championship relegation rivals

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Here is how Sheffield Wednesday’s wage bill compares to their rivals, and how each club could cope if they are relegated.

Sheffield Wednesday have faced a number of financial problems over the years, having briefly been placed under a transfer embargo earlier this season due to Dejphon Chansiri’s HMRC debts.

The Owls have rarely spent much cash on their players in recent years, having relied on 23 free transfers and loanees over the last two seasons.

Whether Sheffield Wednesday are relegated or not, they could well use this summer as an opportunity to make some extra cash and offload hefty wage bills from the books.

Here is how their salaries compare to their relegation rivals, and how many players each team are paying five figures per week (as per Capology)…

Sheffield Wednesday (8)

1. Barry Bannan – £24k
2. Michael Smith – £17.5k
3. Will Vaulks – £15.9k
4. Michael Ihiekwe – £15.2k
5. Callum Paterson – £15k
6. Josh Windass – £15k
7. Liam Palmer – £12k
8. Mallik Wilks – £11.9k

As per Salary Sport, Barry Bannan was the highest paid footballer in League One last season and could potentially claim that crown once again, with the midfielder expected to stay at the club even if they go down. However, it is likely he would take a pay cut if they are relegated.

The Owls could well offload players such as Smith and Wilks to make way for new faces, while three of the remaining five players are out of contract in the summer.

Rotherham United (7)

1. Sam Clucas – £15k
2. Christ Tiehi – £12.5k
3. Daniel Ayala – £10k
4. Cafu – £10k
5. Sean Morrison – £10k
6. Tyler Blackett – £10k
7. Grant Hall – £10k

Given Rotherham have spent three of the last seven seasons in League One, they are likely to know how to handle to drop down to the third tier by now.

They have previously done a good job at preparing for life in the lower league and have come straight back up, only to barely improve their squad and come back down again.

Five of their seven highest earners could leave on a free transfer this summer.

Huddersfield Town (5)

1. Danny Ward – £22.5k
2. Jonathan Hogg – £18.5k
3. Rhys Healey – £15k
4. Jack Rudoni – £11.9k
5. Brodie Spencer – £10k

Despite being one of the most recent teams to actually be playing Premier League football, Huddersfield are only paying five of their players £10,000-a-week plus. However, Danny Ward is also one of the highest earns of the relegation rivals.

The Terriers’ highest earners could depend on whether they go down or not, while players like Jack Rudoni could earn himself a move elsewhere.

Birmingham City (13)

1. Krystian Bielik – £20k
2. Juninho Bacuna – £17.8k
3. Ivan Sunjic – £17.5k
4. Neil Etheridge – £17.5k
5. Lukas Jutkiewicz – £15k
6. Kevin Long – £15k
7. Siriki Dembele – £15k
8. Marc Roberts – £13.4k
9. Alex Pritchard – £12k
10. Scott Hogan – £11.5k
11. Tyler Roberts – £10k
12. Ethan Laird – £10k
13. Gary Gardner – £10k

Birmingham City are drastically overpaying some of their players, with players like Scott Hogan, Marc Roberts and Gary Gardner barely making an impact on the senior team this season.

Tony Mowbray’s side will be certain to move on a number of their highest earners in the summer and could potentially really struggle to come straight back up if they drop down.

QPR (11)

1. Asmir Begovic – £32.5k
2. Steve Cook – £30k
3. Lyndon Dykes – £18k
4. Taylor Richards – £15k
5. Morgan Fox – £15k
6. Michael Frey – £15k
7. Jack Colback – £15k
8. Reggie Cannon – £12.5k
9. Albert Adomah – £12.5k
10. Jake Clarke-Salter – £10k
11. Chris Willock – £10k

QPR are paying some of their players crazy money for a team battling relegation and there is no chance they would be willing to pay Begovic and Cook over £60k in total to play League One football next season.

The London outfit surely can’t afford to do down to League One, and if they do, they will have to undergo a dramatic overhaul.

Stoke City (10)

1. Wesley – £35k
2. Ciaran Clark – £20k
3. Enda Stevens – £20k
4. Ben Wilmot – £20k
5. Lewis Baker – £19.4k
6. Josh Laurent – £15k
7. Daniel Johnson – £15k
8. Tyrese Campbell – £12.5k
9. Million Manhoef – £12.5k
10. Michael Rose – £10k

Stoke City have always had the cash to pay their players a lot of money, but haven’t really done a lot of good with it in recent years.

Wesley, Clark, Baker and Manhoef have only made 21 starts between them this season, yet are raking in almost £90k per week.

The Potters are another club that can’t really afford to be dropping down to League One.

Plymouth Argyle (3)

1. Adam Forshaw – £15k
2. Bali Mumba – £15k
3. Mustapha Bundu – £10k

Plymouth have done particularly well in the Championship to say how low their budget is, with Adam Forshaw being a relatively big signing for the club.

If the Pilgrims are to go down then they won’t have to make very many changes are likely to be kitted out to battle for an immediate return.