How much Middlesbrough FC spend on wages every week on average (Estimated) | OneFootball

FLW takes a look at how much Boro are spending on their playing squad, how it compares with previous seasons, and who the top and lowest earners are.

The 2024/25 season is Middlesbrough FC's eighth campaign back in the Championship following Premier League relegation in 2017, but chairman and Boro fan Steve Gibson will be as determined as ever to see his club reclaim their spot in the top-flight this term.

In the immediate few years following relegation from the Premier League, Middlesbrough spent large sums of money on transfer fees and player wage packets, as they looked to make a swift return to English football's top tier.

However, they failed to get much of a return on a considerable amount of their big investments during that period, with expensive flops the product of a somewhat scattergun approach to player recruitment.

But, Boro appear to have learned their lesson in more recent times, with the appointment of head of football Kieran Scott clear evidence of this. Scott and his recruitment team have implemented a clear philosophy at the Riverside, and head coach Michael Carrick's squad is now laden with highly talented players and sellable assets.

So, how much are the club spending on their playing squad payroll? Using figures from Capology - which must be stressed are an estimate - FLW investigates...

Middlesbrough FC's (estimated) weekly wage bill

With the days of parachute payments on Teesside long gone, and after recovering from years of financial setback due to overspending on largely underwhelming signings, Middlesbrough have had to become far more shrewd when it comes to how and where they spend their money.

But is their payroll still eye-wateringly high, or is their playing squad costing them less than it has done in previous years? Let's find out.

According to Capology, Middlesbrough's 2024/25 estimated weekly wage bill stands at £311,846. This means that the annual wage bill comes out at £16.2m.

So how does that compare with some of their previous years in the Championship? Well, it's slightly less than last season's weekly payroll, which came out at £328,346.

In fact, Boro's current 2024/25 weekly wage bill is the lowest it's been since the 2017/18 season. That was Boro's first campaign back in the Championship following Premier League relegation, and their weekly payroll that year stood at a whopping £581,073.

That highlights how all-in the club was to win promotion at the first time of asking, and also offers an insight into just how significantly the club's coffers will have been drained when that didn't happen.

Comparing that season's figures to the 2024/25 season even further, it means that Middlesbrough are paying £269,227 per-week less on their playing squad, which works out at an average annual saving of £13.9m when matched up with the 2017/18 figures.

Middlesbrough FC's highest earners

So, with Boro evidently taking a more careful and economic approach to how much they spend on their playing squad, who are the club's top earners?

According to Capology, a pair of Middlesbrough veterans stand as the two top earners at the Riverside. Jonny Howson comes in second with a weekly salary of £25,000, whilst right-back Luke Ayling is at the top of the club's earnings table, with a weekly salary of £30,000.

Following closely behind these two are the likes of Neto Borges and Delano Burgzorg (both earning 20,000 per-week), Liverpool loanee Ben Doak, Riley McGree and Isaiah Jones (all earning £15,000 per-week) and Marcus Forss (earning £14,038 per-week).

Middlesbrough FC's lowest earners

What about those Middlesbrough players at the opposite end of the club's wage bill? Who are they, and are there any big surprises among the lower earners of the squad? Let's take a look.

According to Capology, attacking midfielder Alex Gilbert is the lowest earning Boro player, with a weekly salary of £1,500. That may not come as a massive shock to most Middlesbrough supporters, but the next one probably will.

Boro's star centre-back Rav van den Berg stands as the club's second-lowest earning player, with a weekly wage of just £2,000. If that is accurate, should any top club come knocking for him in the near future, they won't be concerned over needing to sway him with a big wage packet.

Making up the rest of the lower earners are the likes of Tom Glover and Alex Bangura (both earning £5,000 per-week), Dael Fry (earning £5,577 per-week), Anfernee Dijksteel (earning £5,962 per-week), Dan Barlaser (earning £6,000 per-week), and another one that could be a big shock to supporters, Hayden Hackney, who is stated as earning £6,500 per-week.