EXCLUSIVE: Leeds United’s top five highest paid players for the 2023/24 season with Junior Firpo and Patrick Bamford shockingly on the list despite playing fringe roles so far this season
Leeds United are embarking on life back in the Championship for the first time in three years following Premier League relegation last season.
The Whites appointed two-time winner of the Championship in Daniel Farke, and he will be hoping his promotion-chasing side can bounce back to the top-flight at the first time of asking.
The likes of Ethan Ampadu, Joel Piroe, Glen Kamara, and Joe Rodon have bolstered his options at the club, but the main focus of the summer centred more around outgoings, with a number of first-team players departing.
That was partly necessitated by their need to trim the wage bill, which was always going to be fairly sizeable for the second tier of English football.
In spite of that, expectations were always going to remain high and Farke’s team have been one of the stand-out sides in the first half of the campaign. They are going to be a side full of optimism heading into the transfer window next month.
Here, we have taken a look at all you need to know about the club’s player salaries for the 2023/24 season in the Championship, with a countdown of the top five earners at Elland Road.
5) Pascal Struijk
£50,000 a week
Struijk earns £50,000 a week and £2,600,000 a year and is the fifth-highest earner at the club according to their estimates.
The 24-year-old joined the Whites academy from Ajax in 2018 and he has established himself as a regular in the first-team since making his debut in December 2019. The Dutchman has captained the side on occasion as well.
He signed a new long-term contract in December last year to keep him at the club until summer 2027, which was a fantastic decision given how he has performed so far this season in partnership with Rodon at the heart of Farke’s defence.
Struijk is technically a one-club man, despite not being a domestic-born player, and has made well over 100 appearances for Leeds already.
4) Dan James
£50,000 a week
James is also paid £50,000 a week and £2,600,000 a year, having signed for the Whites in 2021 from bitter rivals Manchester United.
After a long-running transfer saga, James signed in late August of that year for a reported fee of £25 million. He was a go-to player in his first season with the club under Marcelo Bielsa, but was cast aside last term.
The Welsh international spent last season on loan at Fulham, scoring three goals and providing two assists in 29 appearances in all competitions to help the Cottagers to a 10th-placed finish in the Premier League.
He’s back in West Yorkshire and been virtually ever-present for Farke this season, scoring and assisting with much greater frequency in the second tier as a key cog in his attacking unit.
3) Junior Firpo
£60,000 a week
Firpo receives an enormous £60,000 a week and £3,120,000, per Capology’s estimates.
The 27-year-old joined the Whites from Spanish giants Barcelona in July 2021 for a fee of £12.8 million, but it has been a move that has seen the left-back rarely feature in two-and-a-half seasons in West Yorkshire so far.
Firpo registered two goal involvements in 24 appearances last season, but he has featured little over 50 times in total in his Leeds career so far.
It’s fair to say he hasn’t paid the club back for the reported fee and wages put down to signing him.
2) Patrick Bamford
£70,000 a week
Bamford earns £70,000 a week and £3,640,000 a year.
Bamford joined the Whites from Middlesbrough in July 2018 for a fee of £7 million, rising to £10 million. The striker made an outstanding impact at the club and his goals helped fire the Whites into the Premier League in 2020.
His prolific form continued in the top-flight, and, after scoring 17 goals in the 2020/21 season, he was called up to the England squad for the first time in August 2021, making his debut against Andorra the following month.
But after an injury-hit 2021/22 campaign, Bamford has struggled to rediscover his form and he netted just six goals in 31 appearances in all competitions last season, with only four of those coming in the league. Those struggles have continued into the current season, too.
1) Georginio Rutter
£70,000 a week
Like Bamford, Rutter is also paid £70,000 a week and £3,640,000 a year.
The 21-year-old became the club’s record signing when he arrived from Hoffenheim for a fee rising to £36 million in January. Initially, it did not work out for Rutter in West Yorkshire and he registered just one assist in 13 appearances in all competitions following his big-money move, with many of his minutes coming from the bench.
However, he has been a man possessed this season, with the Frenchman playing with swagger and showing his quality. Rutter has been the main creative spark in Farke’s team, despite starting as the most advanced striker.
His eye for a pass, as well as his ability to turn and dribble to evade pressure, makes him one of the most dynamic and threatening forwards in the league. Rutter’s wages reflect the fee paid but also his quality comparative to the rest of the division, as one of the Championship’s best players.
