When thinking about big spending clubs, transfer fees are most commonly used as the measuring stick.

However, what seems to play a far greater role in success is wage budgets, something that does not generate anywhere near the same degree of discussion.

That is about to change, though. With each of the so-called ‚Big Six‘ releasing their accounts for the 2019/20 tax year, the league table for money spent of wages can finally be updated. Thank you to Martyn Ziegler for the information.

Turns out Daniel Levy’s thriftiness is good for something. Tottenham are the lowest wage spenders out of the Premier League’s big six at below £200m.

Their low staff costs did not prevent them making a £63m loss during the 2019/20 tax year, though. Ooooooffftttt.

Spending more than their north London rivals was Arsenal, who had staff costs of £225m.

Their return earned them an FA Cup and eighth place Premier League finish, as well as a loss of just shy of £50m for the financial year.

Chelsea rank fourth for the 2019/20 tax year. However, expect them to climb a few places next season after they spent over £200m on new players in the summer.

They were one of the few clubs to return a profit in 2019/20, ending the year over £30m in the black.

The news that Manchester United had slipped to third in the Premier League wages table was greeted negatively by some of their supporters.

Overall the Red Devils spent just £1m more than Chelsea on staff costs, despite being in the top two of the charts for some time. This represents a decrease of around £50m compared to the 2018/19 tax year.

They may be struggling on the pitch this season but 2019/20 was a glorious time for Liverpool.

During this period the Reds won the Champions League and were well on the way towards their first Premier League title. Player bonuses are therefore likely one of the main reasons for their spike in wage costs to £325m – an increase of £10m from the previous year.

The team who spends the most money paying their players should always be the best.

However, this was not the case during the 2019/20 season. Despite outspending their Big Six rivals considerably, City secured just one trophy during this period – a Carabao Cup.