Chelsea
Squad · 2026/27 spending-room estimate
Chelsea squad, player by player
Per-player wages are gross fixed salaries from public sources, or a labelled estimate where no salary is published. Fees are reported transfer fees where one is in evidence. This table is a decomposition: the squad-cost estimate on the Briefing stays anchored to the club's own accounts, and the difference is stated here rather than hidden.
Ledger total for 31 players. The club's accounts-anchored squad cost is £571m.
How this is calculated
sum of 31 rows: wages £199m + amortisation £250m = £448m
club squad cost (accounts-anchored) = £571mWhat the named players cost in a year on the ledger's own figures. The club's squad-cost test uses the accounts-anchored figure, which this table decomposes rather than replaces.
- Wages (reported salaries plus bounded estimates)£199m · 44%
- Annual transfer-fee cost£250m · 56%
The three most expensive players carry £114m, 26% of the ledger total. Wages are 44% of it; the rest is past transfer spend still being written down.
Reconciliation: the rows account for £199m of the £298m wage line and £250m of the £247m amortisation charge; the residuals (£99m and -£3m) are stated below the table, never absorbed.
Median £6m. Estimated wages are shown as ranges in the table.
How this is calculated
mean = £199m / 31 players = £6m
median = £6mMean versus median shows how top-heavy the wage bill is: a mean well above the median means a few contracts dominate.
- under £2m2 players · 6%
- £2m-£5m4 players · 13%
- £5m-£10m (10 estimated)21 players · 68%
- £10m-£15m (2 estimated)4 players · 13%
- £15m+0 players · 0%
Fairly flat: the mean (£6m) sits close to the median (£6m), so the bill is spread across the squad rather than concentrated in a few contracts.
19 of 31 wages are reported gross salaries; 12 are bounded PSRwatch estimates shown as ranges. None is an official figure.
Unamortised transfer cost still on the books. This is not what the squad is worth.
How this is calculated
sum of remaining book value across 31 rows = £1440m
(annual charge x seasons left, per player)This is not what the squad is worth. Book value is the part of past transfer fees not yet written down; a sale above it is book profit, below it a loss.
- From reported fees (accounting run-off)£574m · 40%
- Apportioned from the club charge (no fee in evidence)£866m · 60%
£0m of book value sits on contracts that end this season, so it either runs off or is re-based by a renewal. No loan-in players are on the ledger.
Book value on players whose fee is not in evidence is an apportionment of the club's filed charge, labelled MODELLED in the table. Loans do not pause amortisation for the club that owns the registration.
- 24 · EcuadorModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £43m
- Wage
- £9m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £34mapportioned
- Book value
- £237m
- Contract
- 7 seasons left
- 24 · EnglandModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £41m
- Wage
- £7m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £34mapportioned
- Book value
- £237m
- Contract
- 7 seasons left
- 26 · EnglandModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £31m
- Wage
- £10m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £20mapportioned
- Book value
- £122m
- Contract
- 6 seasons left
- 24 · EnglandModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £24m
- Wage
- £8m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £17m
- Book value
- £116m
- Contract
- 7 seasons left
- 23 · EnglandModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £22m
- Wage
- £5m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £17mapportioned
- Book value
- £51m
- Contract
- 3 seasons left
- 25 · FranceModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £20m
- Wage
- £10m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £9mapportioned
- Book value
- £28m
- Contract
- 3 seasons left
- 26 · FranceModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £19m
- Wage
- £7m-£10mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £9m
- Book value
- £51m
- Contract
- 6 seasons left
- 26 · PortugalModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £18m
- Wage
- £8m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £10m
- Book value
- £50m
- Contract
- 5 seasons left
- 21 · BelgiumModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £16m
- Wage
- £5m-£10mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £8mapportioned
- Book value
- £51m
- Contract
- 6 seasons left
- 19 · PortugalModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £15m
- Wage
- £7m-£10mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £5m
- Book value
- £42m
- Contract
- 8 seasons left
- 21 · ItalyModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £15m
- Wage
- £8m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £7m
- Book value
- £48m
- Contract
- 7 seasons left
- 23 · FranceModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £14m
- Wage
- £2m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £12mapportioned
- Book value
- £47m
- Contract
- 4 seasons left
- 22 · ArgentinaModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £14m
- Wage
- £6m-£10mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £5m
- Book value
- £34m
- Contract
- 7 seasons left
- 22 · EnglandModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £13m
- Wage
- £6m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £8m
- Book value
- £47m
- Contract
- 6 seasons left
- 24 · BrazilModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £13m
- Wage
- £7m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £7m
- Book value
- £54m
- Contract
- 8 seasons left
- 20 · NetherlandsModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £12m
- Wage
- £6m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £6m
- Book value
- £37m
- Contract
- 6 seasons left
- 23 · NetherlandsModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £12m
- Wage
- £6m-£10mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £3m
- Book value
- £21m
- Contract
- 7 seasons left
- 22 · BelgiumModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £10m
- Wage
- £2m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £7mapportioned
- Book value
- £30m
- Contract
- 4 seasons left
- 19 · EcuadorModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £10m
- Wage
- £5m-£9mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £3mapportioned
- Book value
- £19m
- Contract
- 7 seasons left
- 28 · SpainModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £10m
- Wage
- £4m-£9mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £3m
- Book value
- £16m
- Contract
- 5 seasons left
- 35 · EnglandModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £9m
- Wage
- £4m-£9mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £2m
- Book value
- £5m
- Contract
- 2 seasons left
- 34 · ArgentinaModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £9m
- Wage
- £4m-£8mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £2m
- Book value
- £7m
- Contract
- 3 seasons left
- 20 · EnglandModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £9m
- Wage
- £0m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £8mapportioned
- Book value
- £25m
- Contract
- 3 seasons left
- Annual squad cost
- £9m
- Wage
- £6m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £2m
- Book value
- £7m
- Contract
- 4 seasons left
- EstêvãoRW19 · BrazilModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £9m
- Wage
- £3m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £5m
- Book value
- £38m
- Contract
- 7 seasons left
- 28 · FranceModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £7m
- Wage
- £5m-£10mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £0m
- Book value
- £0m
- Contract
- expiring
- 18 · KazakhstanModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £7m
- Wage
- £6m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £1m
- Book value
- £2m
- Contract
- 4 seasons left
- 36 · EnglandModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £6m
- Wage
- £4m-£8mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £0mfree/loan
- Book value
- £0m
- Contract
- 2 seasons left
- 23 · EnglandModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £5m
- Wage
- £3m-£7mest
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £0mapportioned
- Book value
- £0m
- Contract
- 2 seasons left
- 21 · ArgentinaModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £5m
- Wage
- £2m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £3mapportioned
- Book value
- £17m
- Contract
- 5 seasons left
- 22 · United StatesModel a sale
- Annual squad cost
- £3m
- Wage
- £2m
- Annual transfer-fee cost
- £1mapportioned
- Book value
- £2m
- Contract
- 2 seasons left
Wage labels: reported salaries are gross fixed pay from a public source; estimated wages are bounded PSRwatch ranges capped at the club's highest reported salary. Apportioned amortisation is a share of the club's filed charge, not a reported fee.
Reconciliation to the accounts£99m of wages and £3m of amortisation above the filed charge
- Player rows (19 reported, 12 estimated)
- £199m
- Player and head-coach wage line (from accounts)
- £298m
- Unallocated: bonuses, employer NI, image rights, head coach
- £99m
- Player rows (17 reported fees, 13 apportioned, 1 free or loan)
- £250m
- Club charge (filed, grown forward)
- £247m
- Above the filed charge
- £3m
A negative residual is not an error: contracts signed since the last filed year end amortise above that year's charge, which is exactly what a busy window does to a cost base. The squad-cost test on the Compliance tab uses the club figures.
Squad analysis
Amortisation wall: when past transfer fees stop being charged
£1440m of book value still to be charged across 29 players. The annual charge falls below half of this season's by 2032/33. This season's £250m is 36 points of the squad-cost ratio.
Contract cliff: what expires, and the wages at stake
7% of the ledger's annual cost sits on contracts ending within two seasons. Expiring wages either fall away or must be renewed; expiring book value runs off by then.
- 2026/27: Axel Disasi · £7m wages (1 estimated), £0m book value
- 2027/28: Gabriel Slonina, Teddy Sharman-Lowe, Jordan Henderson, Danny Welbeck · £19m wages (3 estimated), £7m book value
- 2028/29: Emiliano Martínez, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Josh Acheampong · £22m wages (1 estimated), £112m book value
- 2029/30: Malo Gusto, Roméo Lavia, Dastan Satpaev, Denner · £18m wages, £85m book value
Age profile against cost
Average age 23.9; weighted by cost, 23.9. 3 players aged 30 or over carry £23m (5% of annual cost). 1 without a reported age.
Cost concentration
£114m
£161m
£249m
9 players account for half of the ledger's annual cost. Top three: Moisés Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Reece James.
Loan exposure
£2m of book value is parked at other clubs across 2 loaned-out players, still amortising £1m a year here. Loans do not pause amortisation. Their wages (£14m) stay on this ledger unless the borrowing club's share is reported.
- Out: Axel Disasi to Crystal Palace · £0m book value, £0m a year
- Out: Dastan Satpaev to Burnley FC · £2m book value, £1m a year
Every player links to a page with the full financial story (contract, wages, amortisation run-off, book value, transfer history). See the whole league on the players table. Want to test a sale or a signing against these numbers? Open the Chelsea calculator.