Manchester United wage bill higher than Manchester City and Chelsea as what every Premier League club pays their players is revealed

Southampton emerge with the most credit in terms of wages versus current league position

Rooney is Manchester United's highest paid player (Getty)

Manchester United's desperation to stop any slippage from the top in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era was laid bare today as new figures reveal they now have the highest wage bill in the Premier League.

The Red Devils have overtaken Manchester City as the Premier League club with the biggest outgoings on wages, with £215.8m spent during the 2013/14 season, the season after their most successful ever manager departed.

That's 10 times the amount spent by fellow Premier League side Burnley, with the wage bill at Turf Moor during the same period standing at £21.5m (which includes £6m in promotion bonuses). The Old Trafford owners may view the outlay as a poor investment with the club finishing seventh last season and failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Figures for the previous year had seen Manchester City well out in front in terms of wage spend, but whilst the most recent numbers show the bill has been reduced from £233.1m to 205m at the Etihad, at Old Trafford it increased by £35.3m.

A view from outside Old Trafford (GETTY IMAGES)

The wage bill tallies closely with current league positions, however some clubs can be seen to be over-achieving.

Southampton are the club punching heaviest above their weight in terms of performance compared with wages paid to players while Chelsea are also over-achieving.

Saints are only ranked 16th in the top flight in terms of their wage bill - £55.2m - and yet are currently seventh in the Premier League. Chelsea are 10 points clear at the top of the table but are only the third-highest payers with a wage bill of £192.7m.

The biggest under-achievers are QPR, with a £75.3m wage bill even from a season when they were in the Championship making them the eighth-highest payers - yet they are down at 19th in the Premier League table. QPR's salary bill was almost twice what the club earned in total last season.

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PREMIER LEAGUE WAGE BILLS

Premier League clubs' financial figures for 2013/14 (2012/13 in brackets), in order of wage bills, all sums in £ sterling.

Manchester United: wages 215.8m (180.5m); turnover 433.2m (363.1m); wages to turnover ratio 50 per cent (50 per cent); profit after tax 23.8m (146.4m).

Manchester City: wages 205m (233.1m); turnover 346.5m (271m); wages to turnover ratio 59 per cent (86 per cent); loss after tax -22.9m (-51.6m loss).

Chelsea: wages 192.7m (172.6m); turnover 319.8m (255.8); wages to turnover ratio 60 per cent (67 per cent); profit after tax 18.4m (-49.4m loss).

Arsenal: wages 166.4m (154.5m); turnover 298.7m (242.8m); wages to turnover ratio 56 per cent (64 per cent); profit after tax 7.3m (5.8m).

Liverpool: wages 144m (131m); turnover 256m (206m); wages to turnover ratio 56 per cent (63 per cent); profit after tax 0.4m (-49.9m loss).

Tottenham: wages 100.4m (96.1m); turnover 180.5m (147.4m); wages to turnover ratio 56 per cent (65 per cent); profit after tax 65.3m (1.5m).

Newcastle: wages 78.3m (61.7m); turnover 129.7m (66.5m); wages to turnover ratio 62 per cent (91 per cent); profit after tax 18.7m (9.9m).

QPR: wages 75.3m (78m); turnover 38.7m (60.6m) ; wages to turnover ratio 195 per cent (129 per cent); loss after tax -9.7m (operating loss 65.3m but £60m debt write off as one-off income injection) (-65.4m loss).

Sunderland: wages 69.5m (57.9m); turnover 104.4m (75.5m); wages to turnover ratio 67 per cent (77 per cent); loss after tax -17.1m (-13m).

Everton: wages 69.3m (63m); turnover 120.5m (86.4m); wages to turnover ratio 58 per cent (73 per cent); profit after tax 28.2m (1.6m) .

Aston Villa: wages 69.3m (71.9m); turnover 116.9m (83.7.m); wages to turnover ratio 59 per cent (86 per cent); loss after tax -3.9m (-51.8m).

West Brom: wages 65.4m (not available); turnover 86.8m (69.7m) ; wages to turnover ratio 75 per cent (not available); profit after tax 9m (£8,000).

West Ham: wages 63.9m (56.2m); turnover 114.9m (89.8); wages to turnover ratio 56 per cent (63 per cent); profit after tax 10.3m (-3.5m loss).

Swansea: wages 62.3m (48.1m); turnover 98.7 (67.1); wages to turnover ratio 64 per cent (72 per cent) profit after tax 1.7m (15.3m).

Stoke: wages 60.6m (60.3m); turnover 98.3m (75.5m); wages to turnover ratio 67 per cent (77 per cent); profit after tax 3.8m (-31.1m loss).

Southampton: wages 55.2m (41.4m); turnover 106m (71.8m); wages to turnover ratio 59.3 per cent (65.5 per cent); profit after tax 33.4m (-7.1m loss).

Crystal Palace: wages 45.7m (18.7m); turnover 90.4m (14.5m); wages to turnover ratio 50.5 per cent (124 per cent) profit after tax 17.2m (3.6m).

Hull: wages 43.3m (25.9m); turnover 84.5m (11.1m); wages to turnover ratio 64 per cent (72 per cent); profit after tax 9.4m (-25.6m loss).

Leicester: wages 36.3m (26.8m); turnover 31.2m (19.6m); wages to turnover ratio 116 per cent (136 per cent); loss after tax -20.8m (-34m).

Burnley: wages £21.5m (£15.3m); turnover 19.6m (15.2m); wages to turnover ratio 110 per cent (100.6 per cent); loss after tax -4.2m (-7.8m).

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The wages costs and profits or losses of all top-flight clubs for 2013/14 have now been confirmed via annual accounts posted at Companies House and overall there is a close correlation between total salary bill and league position, with the current top four in the Premier League also the four biggest payers.

The combined accounts of the 20 clubs shows over overall turnover rose to £3.07billion from £2.3billion in 2012/13 with wages increasing too but at a slower rate and totalling £1.84billion compared with £1.59billion. The latest figure shows salaries account for 59.9 per cent of turnover compared with 71.7 per cent for the same 20 clubs a year before.

The increase in income is mainly down to the Premier League's lucrative television deal that came into effect for the first time last season. The cash injection has led to six clubs who were in the red in 2012/13 now being in the black.

Apart from those clubs who were promoted from the Championship last season, only Manchester City, Aston Villa and Sunderland ended the 2013/14 season having made a financial loss.

Premier League director of communications Dan Johnson said the clubs' decision two years ago to introduce spending controls had also contributed to a positive financial outlook

Johnson said: "There are two reasons for this. The first is increasing revenues and the second is the financial criteria the clubs have voted in two seasons ago which put financial sustainability at the heart of how they want to go forward."

The measures introduced by the clubs capped the amount they could use television money to pay for player costs. It also put a long-term limit on a club's overall losses.

The figures also show Sunderland are the ninth-highest payers but are 16th in the table.

Premier League clubs' financial figures for 2013/14 (2012/13 in brackets), in order of wage bills, all sums in £ sterling.

Additional reporting by PA