Barcelona wages best in the world, Manchester United highest in Premier League

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Bengaluru, Nov 27: Barcelona have set a new salary-spend record by becoming the first sports team in history to pay its players an average wage of more than £10 million-per-year, according to a survey.

The Spanish side in the calendar year of 2018-19 is expected to pay a staggering amount of £10,454,259 per man excluding extras such as signing-on fees and bonuses with Lionel Messi as the club's highest earner.

The wages of 23 man squad has risen by a third since 2017-18 and it is mostly due to the several contract extensions and new expensive signings made by them this year.

The Catalan side tied Lionel Messi to a new deal that pays him in excess of £50m a year while the recent signings of Phillippe Coutinho, Arthur, Malcolm and Arturo Vidal, along with Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti and Sergio Busquets's lucrative extensions played a big part in taking the amount to the top.

It is the first time Barcelona has topped the list since 2012 when the club's average wage was half of the current amount.

The second team in the list is Barcelona's arch-rivals, Real Madrid. The Los Blancos on an average spend salary in the region of £8.1 million per annum. However, the next six names in the top 10 list are only from NBA with the Oklahoma Thunder -- last year's table-toppers being third this time.

The next football team in the list is Juventus, who have risen from 32nd to ninth in the table after signing Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer with its bill at £6.72m.

Manchester United, however, are the only English team to feature in the top 10 list with a wage of £6.5m. Manchester City (£5.93 million/ $7.6 million) are the next highest English club in 20th, with Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all occupying spots in the top 40.

The only notable absence from the list is French club Paris Saint-Germain who have slipped from fifth in 2017 to 18th, with an average salary spend per player of £6.1m ($8m).

Highest Wage Bills in the World by clubs:

Barcelona - La Liga - £10.5m

Real Madrid - La Liga - £8.0m

Oklahoma City Thunder - NBA - £7.8m

Golden State Warriors - NBA - £7.8m

Washington Wizards - NBA - £7.6m

Toronto Raptors - NBA - £7.5m

Houston Rockets - NBA - £7.4m

Miami Heat - NBA - £7.0m

Juventus - Serie A - £6.7m

Manchester United - English Premier League - £6.5m