Bavarian Financial Works: Is Bayern Munich’s wage structure broken? The Squeakquel

Last year, we analysed Bayern Munich’s wage structure and compared it to other top European clubs around the world to see how the teams stack up, and the result was slightly worrying, but nothing to be extremely alarmed about. A year later, the squad already looks wildly different to what it did then, so how does the team stack up now? Let’s take a look.

If you haven’t read the article from last year, I would highly recommend you do so. However I must preface that it was written in May of 2022, much before Bayern made marquee signings like Matthijs de Ligt and Sadio Mané.

All figures taken from Capology.com, unless specified otherwise.

The Ivory Tower: Top earners

Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Here are Bayern Munich’s top eight earners as of today:-

• Harry Kane - €25m/yr (€480k/week)
• Manuel Neuer - €21m/yr (€403k/week
• Thomas Müller - €20.5m/yr (€394k/week)
• Leroy Sané - €20m/yr (€384k/week)
• Joshua Kimmich - €19.5m/yr (€375k/week)
• Serge Gnabry - €18.87m/yr (€363k/week)
• Leon Goretzka - €18m/yr (€346k/week)
• Kingsley Coman - €17m/yr (€327k/week)

These eight players together earn €159.87m annually, which puts Bayern amongst the very highest payers in Europe. For comparison, Real Madrid pay €152.5m, Manchester City’s top eight earners bring home €138.12m, FC Barcelona pay €136.05m, Manchester United pay €132.46m, Arsenal pay €103.43m, Chelsea pay €101.91m, Liverpool pay €93.72m, and Juventus pay €80.34m. The only top team in Europe that out-does Bayern is Paris Saint-Germain with a mammoth €204.02m (€72m of that alone goes to Kylian Mbappé). It is not an ideal start for the Bavarians.

Cute new players keep on popping up, since the exodus

Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

The next set of players earn as follows:-

• Matthijs de Ligt - €16m/yr (€308k/week)
• Kim Min-jae - €12m/yr (€231k/week)
• Alphonso Davies - €11.25m/yr (€216k/week)
• Dayot Upamecano - €10m/yr (€192k/week)
• Konrad Laimer - €9m/yr (€173k/week)*
• Raphaël Guerreiro - €8m/yr (€154k/week)
• Noussair Mazraoui - €8m/yr (€154k/week)
• Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting - €7m/yr (€135k/week)

*Konrad Laimer’s salary is not officially reported on Capology or anywhere reliable, the €9m figure is an estimate.

Bayern Munich’s ‘middle class’ earns €81.25m/yr, which is a massive amount too. Continuing the comparison, PSG pay their next best eight players €74.99m, Real Madrid pay €74.84m, Manchester United pay €64.44m, Manchester City pay €62.35m, FC Barcelona pay €59.11m, Arsenal pay €55.05m, Liverpool pay €48.36m, Arsenal pay €40.75m, and Juventus pay €31.01m. Once again, Bayern are far removed from the other in Europe’s elite, this time with no exceptions.

What can I say, I’ve known ‘em for a long, long time

Photo by David Inderlied/picture alliance via Getty Images

The remaining players in Bayern’s wage bill are:-

• Jamal Musiala - €5m/yr (€96k/week)
• Mathys Tel - €4m/yr (€77k/week)
• Sven Ulreich - €2m/yr (€38k/week)
• Bouna Sarr - €1.9m/yr (€37k/week)
• Daniel Peretz - €1.5m/yr (€29k/week)*

*Daniel Peretz’s salary is not officially reported on Capology, the €1.5m figure is an estimate sourced from the Athletic.

Not much to speak about here, other than the fact that Musiala and Tel are on criminally low wages for the amount of contributions they are bringing to the first team. This rounds out Bayern Munich’s annual wage bill to €255.52m (€4.91m/week). Amongst the nine teams mentioned today, here’s how the rankings for total wage bills fair:-

• Paris Saint-Germain - €319.8m
• Real Madrid - €265.77m
• Manchester City - €260.64m
• Bayern Munich - €255.52m
• Manchester United - €240.05m
• FC Barcelona - €211.4m
• Arsenal FC - €202.6m
• Chelsea FC - €204.76m
• Liverpool FC - €172.19m
• Juventus - €129.22m

It may seem innocuous that Bayern are ranked fourth on this list, but it must be pointed out that Bayern’s squad is paper thin at the moment, especially in defense. If all of Bayern’s signings panned out, the team would likely be above Real Madrid, who are a team that is both gifted with financial cheat codes and a massive squad, as are Manchester City and PSG which are the only other teams above Bayern.

While this does worry anyone with a care about club finances, it is important to note that most of the team’s highest earners are now approaching their best years and will likely plateau in terms of their wage demands or just end up being sold after a drop-off in performances. New CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen has made it clear that he can sell anyone he really wants to, as shown by the sales of Sadio Mané, Marcel Sabitzer and Ryan Gravenberch’s departures despite their inflated wages, and this should put pressure on the players to justify their salary packages. However, it must not be overlooked that Bayern’s wage bill could really do with some managing, as the younger players may feel undervalued if their salaries don’t match the top earners. Some reductions of expectations are due for the crop of players that are still in their early and mid 20s.

Side note: I have to say I’m impressive with Real Madrid’s control over their payroll. They made a marquee signing in Jude Bellingham and still somehow managed to reduce the wage bill by over €60m compared to the previous article.

What do you think of Bayern Munich’s wage structure? Can it be fixed? Should the board be concerned? Let us know in the discussion below.