The EPL is undoubtedly the most watched league in the world, with the top performing, highest paid players. Competition for playing time can be fierce, with squads of up 25 all vying for a spot in the starting XI.
During these economic times, marred by inflation, fuel crises and an ongoing cost of living crisis, the team at BestGamblingSites.com wanted to quantify how much teams in the Premier League are paying for benchwarmers.
It can indeed be frustrating for a top flight player, resigned to warming the bench and instead putting in the hard graft in training - however, when you break the numbers down, the high salaries would certainly soften the blow.
As the international break comes into effect, we’ve taken salaries along with minutes played so far this season to work out which club is paying out their nose for players to sit on the bench.
Key Takeaways
Clément Lenglet has earnt £2.1 million without seeing a minute of playing time in the EPL
4 out of the top 10 most expensive cost more than million per minute
Cédric Soares has bagged a cool £1.05 million without setting foot on a Premier League pitch
Collectively, benchwarmers have earned over £12 million so far this season
Bench warming defenders have cost EPL teams over £6 million
Goalkeepers have racked up a bill of over £5 million by just sitting on the bench this season
Top 10 Most Expensive Benchwarmers
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Collective Earnings: £10,430,000
1. Clément Lenglet
Coming in first place is France’s Clément Lenglet. The defender hasn’t even seen a minute of playing time in the Premier League yet has racked up a bill of £2,100,000 for Aston Villa.
2. Hugo Lloris
The former first choice keeper had an impressive 11 year stint with Spurs that has marred by the chaos of his playing situation. As of now, Lloris is exiled from playing but has made £1.4 million without standing under the goal posts.
3. Cédric Soares
After coming back from a Fulham loan this summer, the former Southampton staple has failed to make much of an impact at Arsenal, with Arteta preferring the likes of Zinchenko and Ben White to defend the wings. At a weekly wage of £75,000, and with zero playing time in the EPL this season, Soares has made over £1 million tending the bench.
4.Ben Godfrey
Godfrey has failed to make much of an impact this season in the Dyche-era of Everton - racking up a single minute of play so far in the EPL. The rumour mill has been churning as the January transfer window edges closer. The defender has earnt over £1 million from 1 minute of play in the EPL.
5. Łukasz Fabiański
The Polish shot stopper has not been favoured by Moyes in the Premier League so far this season, with the latter preferring the talents of Areola in goal. Fabiański has earnt an impressive £910,000 without a single minute of play in the EPL.
Each Team’s Most Expensive Benchwarmer
We analysed wage and playing time data for each Premier League team to work out who has made the most money sitting on each teams’ bench so far this season:
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Collective Earnings: £12,370,610
Most Expensive Positions
1. Defenders
Defenders have cost Premier League teams the most money so far this season - racking up a collective bill of £6,090,000. Led by Clément Lenglet, the average earnings per minute for these 6 players equates to £1,015,000.00.
2. Goalkeepers
The most commonly reoccurring expensive benchwarmer so far this season for 11 of 20 Premier League teams. Goalkeepers sitting on the bench have cost EPL teams £5,559,610.00 so far this season, with average earnings per minute across all 11 keepers being £505,419.09.
3. Midfielders
Coming in last are the anchors of the starting XI, orchestrating play from the middle of the park. Midfielders have been the least costly position to bench so far this season, coming in with a total earnings per minute at £721,000, and an average earnings per minute of £240,333.
Methodology
Taking wage and playing time data so far this season, we divided total earnings so far this season by playing time in the EPL to get earnings per minute.
We excluded players out with injury.
All data was sourced from FBref.
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