The club's wage bill ballooned to £206m. "They had one bad season and they had no comeback in terms of relegation clauses and relegation avoidance clauses," added Maguire. In the 2022-23 relegation season the club were spending 116% of their income on salaries. It was then 102% in the 2023-24 season, and Maguire said the £107m wage bill was "unprecedented for a second-tier football club". The wage bill of the two other relegated teams was £84m for Leeds and £80m for Southampton.

Source: BBC February 06, 2026 18:34 UTC