Your data guide to football betting, Dan Tracey shows you where the numbers point before the market catches up.
It’s no secret that Premier League footballers earn a lot of money. And with most Premier League squads reaching 25 players, it can often mean that some players spend more time on the bench than they would prefer.
Despite their limited minutes, this doesn’t mean they can spend their time on betting sites or going on holiday. They are still training most days to ensure they’re ready for when they do get their chance.
While it can be frustrating for footballers who have to sit on the sidelines despite putting the work in during training, their huge salaries soften this blow.
That’s why we wanted to find out which players are earning the most while keeping the substitute bench warm. We’ve looked into the salaries and the minutes played by each Premier League player to find out who earns the most per minute played.
Most Expensive Bench Warmers
We’ve looked at the minutes played and salaries of Premier League players to find out which players earned the most per minute played.
| Rank | Player | Club | Annual Salary | Weekly Salary | Minutes Played | Earnings Per Minute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boubacar Traoré | Wolves | £2,860,000 | £55,000 | 1 | £2,860,000 |
| 2 | Vitor Reis | Manchester City | £2,080,000 | £40,000 | 1 | £2,080,000 |
| 3 | Reiss Nelson | Arsenal | £5,200,000 | £100,000 | 3 | £1,733,333 |
| 4 | Takehiro Tomiyasu | Arsenal | £5,200,000 | £100,000 | 7 | £742,857 |
| 5 | Mason Holgate | Everton | £3,640,000 | £70,000 | 6 | £606,667 |
| 6 | Tom King | Wolves | £520,000 | £10,000 | 1 | £520,000 |
| 7 | Michael Golding | Leicester City | £416,000 | £8,000 | 1 | £416,000 |
| 8 | Matt Targett | Newcastle Utd | £5,200,000 | £100,000 | 21 | £247,619 |
| 9 | Oscar Bobb | Manchester City | £2,600,000 | £50,000 | 16 | £162,500 |
| 10 | Odsonne Édouard | Leicester City | £4,680,000 | £90,000 | 29 | £161,379 |
1. Boubacar Traore - £2.86m per minute played
Top of the pile in our updated benchwarmers list is none other than Boubacar Traore The Wolves midfielder managed a single Premier League minute across the 2024/25 season before returning back to his former club Metz on loan
One league minute played but £2.86m in his pocket all the same. Nice work if you can get it.
2. Vitor Reis - £1.52m per minute played
Second in this season’s list is Vitor Reis of Manchester City as the defender is another player who has been afforded just one single minute of Premier League action.
Signed from Palmeiras but not really part of Pep Guardiola's plans at present, he has been shipped out to La Liga outfit Girona on loan. Then again with £2.08m earnings for that minute, I doubt he will have too many complaints.
3. Reiss Nelson - £1.73 million per minute played
Sitting third in the table is Arsenal forward Reiss Nelson who only managed three minutes under manager Mikel Arteta last season.
Once again, Nelson was another player who ended up playing at a temporary outpost for the 2024/25 season as a cross capital loan to Fulham was established. However, his time at Arsenal was worth £1.73m for each of the 60 seconds that he played.
Each Premier League Team’s Most Expensive Bench Warmer
We’ve looked at each team in the Premier League to find out who the most expensive bench warmer was in the 2024/25 season.
| Rank | Player | Squad | Position | Annual Salary | Weekly Salary | Earnings Per Minute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boubacar Traoré | Wolves | Midfielder | £2,860,000 | £55,000 | £2,090,000 |
| 2 | Vitor Reis | Manchester City | Defender | £2,080,000 | £40,000 | £1,520,000 |
| 3 | Reiss Nelson | Arsenal | Forward | £5,200,000 | £100,000 | £1,266,667 |
| 4 | Mason Holgate | Everton | Defender | £3,640,000 | £70,000 | £443,333 |
| 5 | Michael Golding | Leicester City | Midfielder | £416,000 | £8,000 | £304,000 |
| 6 | Matt Targett | Newcastle Utd | Defender | £5,200,000 | £100,000 | £180,952 |
| 7 | Jayden Meghoma | Brentford | Defender | £780,000 | £15,000 | £114,000 |
| 8 | Carlos Vinícius | Fulham | Forward | £2,080,000 | £40,000 | £95,000 |
| 9 | Kaelan Casey | West Ham | Defender | £130,000 | £2,500 | £95,000 |
| 10 | Jeremy Sarmiento | Brighton | Forward | £1,040,000 | £20,000 | £84,444 |
| 11 | Ronnie Edwards | Southampton | Defender | £780,000 | £15,000 | £47,500 |
| 12 | Jordan Ayew | Crystal Palace | Forward | £1,560,000 | £30,000 | £54,286 |
| 13 | Antony | Manchester Utd | Forward | £10,400,000 | £200,000 | £53,901 |
| 14 | Federico Chiesa | Liverpool | Forward | £7,800,000 | £150,000 | £52,778 |
| 15 | Julio Soler | Bournemouth | Defender | £780,000 | £15,000 | £51,818 |
| 16 | Emi Buendía | Aston Villa | Midfielder | £3,900,000 | £75,000 | £29,082 |
| 17 | Marc Guiu | Chelsea | Forward | £2,600,000 | £50,000 | £26,027 |
| 18 | Ben Godfrey | Ipswich Town | Defender | £3,900,000 | £75,000 | £17,925 |
| 19 | Timo Werner | Tottenham | Forward | £8,580,000 | £165,000 | £12,151 |
| 20 | James Ward-Prowse | Nott'ham Forest | Midfielder | £5,980,000 | £115,000 | £10,925 |
With each of the 20 clubs putting forward an outfield representative, we can see that eight of the pool of 20 players are defenders - the same amount that is also comprised by forwards.
80% of the panel coming from those positions, the other 20% coming from a midfield four.
If you had this group of 20 players as a Premier League squad, they would cost you a total of £1,340,500 in terms of weekly salary.
While there average earnings per mnute would be £327,489 but if they were all in a squad together, you would expect this group to be far more active on the field of play. Whether they would actually be a success or not would be a different matter.
There are some pretty big names to call upon as the likes of Federico Chiesa and Antony could supplied the firepower, while James Ward-Prowse would obviously be the first choice when it comes to taking set pieces.
Ultimately this table highlights just how deep the pockets of Premier League clubs actually are and just how much money they have available to burn.
Methodology
FBRef was the source for the playing minutes and wage data
Data correct as of end of 2024/25 season.
