£20m A Year: Mikel Arteta Is In A Salary League Of His Own

Mikel Arteta's new Arsenal contract has dramatically reshaped the Premier League's managerial salary table.

The Spaniard's new four-year deal, running until June 2030, is reportedly worth around £20 million a season in basic pay, with bonuses potentially taking the total higher. That puts Arteta clear at the top of the current Premier League salary rankings following Pep Guardiola's departure from Manchester City.

But how big is the gap between Arteta and the managers around him? And why are clubs willing to pay such vastly different amounts for their managers?

Premier League Managers' Salaries: Who Earns the Most?

Based on reported figures, the current picture looks like this:

*Guardiola is included for comparison based on his reported final Manchester City salary; he is no longer a Premier League manager.

The figures come from reported salary estimates rather than official club disclosures, so they should be treated as approximate. The ranking also reflects the source material's reported figures, rather than an independently verified league-wide payroll.

Pep Guardiola's £20m Manchester City Salary: Arteta Now Matches His Old Base Pay

Guardiola's reported Manchester City salary provides the clearest benchmark for Arteta's new deal. During his final years at City, Guardiola was earning around £20 million a year in base salary, with performance-related bonuses capable of taking his total package to approximately £25 million.

That means Arteta's reported £20 million basic salary puts him level with what Guardiola was earning as City's manager, although Guardiola's potential bonuses meant his overall package could be higher.

Guardiola's reported weekly basic wage was around £385,000, while his City earnings increased over the course of his decade-long tenure. His reported base salary ranged from around £15 million in the earlier years to approximately £20 million towards the end of his spell.

With Guardiola now gone from the Premier League, Arteta has effectively inherited the position at the top of the managerial salary table.

At around £20m a year, Arteta would earn roughly £7m more than Alonso and Glasner, the two managers reportedly closest to him at £13m.

That means Arsenal's manager is earning more than 50 per cent above the reported salaries of the managers in second place.

His new contract is also a major increase on his previous agreement. Arteta's old deal was reported at around £10m a year, with a further £5m available through bonuses. The new contract therefore reflects the value Arsenal place on what he has achieved since arriving in 2019.

Why Is Arteta Being Paid So Much?

The timing of the pay rise is important.

Arteta has just delivered Arsenal's first Premier League title in 22 years after three consecutive second-place finishes. He also took the club to the Champions League final last season, although Arsenal lost to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties.

His wider record explains why Arsenal have committed to him until 2030. Arteta took charge in December 2019 when Arsenal were struggling and has since rebuilt the squad, restored regular Champions League football and turned the club into a consistent title contender.

He has also become Arsenal's longest-serving manager in the Premier League. Over 361 games, his reported 62.05 per cent win rate is the best of any full-time Arsenal manager.

So the £20m salary is not simply a reward for winning one league title. It represents Arsenal paying for continuity after a six-year transformation of the club.

Xabi Alonso and Oliver Glasner: £13m

The next tier is headed by Xabi Alonso and Oliver Glasner, both reportedly on around £13m a year.

Alonso's salary reflects the market value he built through his success at Bayer Leverkusen, where he delivered an unbeaten domestic double, before later taking charge of Real Madrid and then Chelsea.

Glasner's figure is particularly notable because he has moved to Nottingham Forest after a highly successful spell at Crystal Palace. He won the FA Cup and Conference League with Palace and had previously won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt.

For Forest, the reported £13m represents a significant investment in a manager who arrived with a strong reputation and considerable bargaining power.

De Zerbi and Maresca: £12m

Roberto De Zerbi and Enzo Maresca are next at a reported £12m each.

De Zerbi's salary reflects his reputation built at Brighton, where he took the club to their highest-ever Premier League finish and into European competition. He subsequently moved to Marseille before taking over at Tottenham.

Maresca's situation is different. He succeeded Pep Guardiola at Manchester City after previously working within the club's coaching structure. His reported £12m salary is therefore part of City's decision to entrust him with the post-Guardiola era.

The comparison with Arteta is revealing: even the man replacing Guardiola at City is reportedly earning around £8m less per season than Arsenal's manager.

Andoni Iraola: £10m at Liverpool

Liverpool's reported £10m deal for Andoni Iraola places him just below the £12m group.

Iraola took over at Liverpool after three successful seasons at Bournemouth, where he helped the club qualify for Europe for the first time in their history.

His move represents another example of a manager's salary rising significantly after establishing himself at a Premier League club.

Unai Emery: £9.5m at Aston Villa

Unai Emery is reportedly earning £9.5m at Aston Villa.

His salary is notable because he has built one of the Premier League's more sustained success stories outside the traditional title contenders. Villa were 16th when Emery arrived in 2022, but he has since guided them into the Champions League and won the Europa League in 2025/26.

Yet even Emery's £9.5m is less than half of Arteta's reported basic salary.

Manchester United's Michael Carrick: £6.5m

Michael Carrick's reported £6.5m salary puts him considerably below the managers at Arsenal, Chelsea, City and Liverpool.

Carrick became Manchester United's permanent head coach after previously working within the club and subsequently managing Middlesbrough. He guided United to third in 2025/26 before being handed the permanent job.

The comparison illustrates how much a manager's salary can depend on experience, reputation and the circumstances of the appointment - rather than simply the size of the club.

Newcastle's Matthias Jaissle: £6m

Matthias Jaissle is reportedly on around £6m at Newcastle United.

The 38-year-old arrived at St James' Park after winning consecutive Austrian Bundesliga titles with Salzburg and two AFC Champions League titles with Al-Ahli.

His salary sits well below Arteta's despite Newcastle being another club with ambitions of challenging at the top of English football.

David Moyes and Frank Lampard: Around £5m

At the lower end of this particular list are David Moyes at Everton and Frank Lampard at newly promoted Coventry, both reported at around £5m.

Moyes' figure reflects the experience he brings after more than two decades of Premier League management, including his long first spell at Everton and subsequent jobs at Manchester United and West Ham.

Lampard's reported salary, meanwhile, comes after he guided Coventry to promotion to the Premier League. His managerial career has taken him through Derby, Chelsea and Everton before his successful spell in the Championship.

The Biggest Takeaway From Arteta's New Deal

Arteta's new contract does more than make him the highest-paid manager in the Premier League. It creates a sizeable gap between the Arsenal boss and almost everyone else.

At a reported £20m per year, Arteta is earning approximately £7m more than the next tier of managers and around twice as much as Iraola and Emery.

The difference becomes even more striking further down the table: Arteta's reported annual salary is more than three times Carrick's and more than four times the reported figure for Moyes.

That tells us something about how Arsenal now view Arteta.

He is no longer simply the manager who rebuilt the club after years of decline. He is the central figure in a long-term project that has now delivered the Premier League title, reached a Champions League final and restored Arsenal to the top tier of English football. His contract until 2030 is effectively the club betting that the title won last season is the beginning of an era rather than the culmination of Arteta's work.