One trophy Manchester United is winning over Manchester City and Liverpool

Liverpool now have the fifth highest wage bill in world football after their fees rose by 17.5% last season it has been revealed.

The Reds paid out a hefty £310million, just £2m shy of Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Above the La Liga side are Manchester City who spent £315m, Manchester United are in second place having paid out £332m and way out in front are Barcelona who spent an incredible £438m on wages last campaign.

TOP 10 WAGE BILLS

1. Barcelona £438m

2. Manchester United £332m

3. Manchester City £315m

4. Real Madrid £312m

5. Liverpool £310m

6. Bayern Munich £292m

7. Paris Saint-Germain £290m

8. Chelsea £285m

9. Juventus £281m

10. Arsenal £230m

The reason for the increase is likely due to the additions in the summer of 2018 which saw the Reds splash out £163million in transfer fees.

In came Alisson from Roma, Naby Keita from RB Leipzig, Fabinho from Monaco and Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke, all of whom receive high wages.

Virgil van Dijk signed from Southampton for £75 million in January of 2018.

In the same year, Liverpool set about rewarding their prolific attacking trident of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane with lucrative new deals.

Mane penned a contract worth in the region of £150,000 per week until 2023, while Firmino likewise sealed a deal which will bank him £9million annually. Salah, like Mane, committed until 2023 on a large pay increase.

As reported by Sportsmail, each of the Liverpool senior squad will share the rewards of a £4million pot should they go on to clinch the Premier League title this season.

All players who have played in the Premier League this season will be eligible for the bonus, which will be paid on a sliding scale determined by their number of appearances.

First-team regulars will bag approximately £150,000 on top of the standard win bonuses they get during the season.

Klopp is also in line for a significant bonus as the new four-and-a-half-year deal he signed in December included several performance incentives on top of his £15m salary.

The Reds are above German champions Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Juventus and Arsenal.

That means five Premier League teams make the top 10 with Tottenham the only ‘big six’ side not included.

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