Man City still have the HIGHEST wages in the Premier League, financial reports reveal - as club embarks on a string of dramatic future-proofing moves

Manchester City are in the process of dramatically slashing their wage bill by upwards of £35million a year amid a major overhaul of Pep Guardiola ’s squad.

A raft of senior stars - including arguably the club’s greatest ever player, Kevin De Bruyne - were replaced by younger prospects over the last two transfer windows as City go through a transitional period.

In the latest financial report, published on Tuesday, City’s wage bill remains at a Premier League high of £408m - down from £412m last year.

But the accounts are for the year ending June 30 and do not factor in the departures of high earners Ederson (Fenerbahce), Ilkay Gundogan (Galatasaray) and Kyle Walker ( Burnley ).

Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji also left on loan for Everton and Inter respectively, with the pair expected to seal permanent switches next summer.

That quintet are worth in the region of £50m a season in basic salaries, likely to be entirely wiped out come the 2026 accounts.

Erling Haaland signed a bumper new nine-year contract at the start of this year but his eye-popping wages are now an outlier at Manchester City

New faces Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez are all contained within this year’s total. So too is Erling Haaland’s mega nine-year new contract, penned in January.

James Trafford and Gianluigi Donnarumma are the only senior summer signings to have arrived after the reporting end date and do not have their wages included. The two goalkeepers would be estimated to take home around £15m a year between them.

The dip signals a financial trend at City, who recorded a wage bill of £423m two years ago, when Guardiola masterminded an historic Treble.

‘I believe that we may look back on this year as one that was pivotal for the ongoing and long-term strengthening of the club,’ said chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

‘Our focus on continuous improvement did not diminish in any way, and the season saw everyone across the organisation remain committed to the ongoing evolution of Manchester City both on and off the pitch.’

City’s smaller outlay came despite hiring 59 extra staff across the football and commercial departments.

The most recent accounts of Premier League rivals has Liverpool’s latest wage bill from 2024 at £386m, with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United all above £300m. Arsenal and Liverpool are expected to rise.

City posted revenues of £694m and a loss of £9.9m. City also confirmed that the expanded North Stand is on course to open before the end of the season.