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CHAMPIONSHIP · DEFENDERS · 2026/27

Highest paid Championship defenders

Kieran Trippier is the best-paid defender in the Championship, on £115,000 a week at Wolverhampton Wanderers, or £5,980,000 a year. Kyle Walker is next on £100,000 at Burnley. We hold wages for 580 Championship defenders in 2026/27.

BEST PAID £115k
AVERAGE WAGE £18,082
SHARE OF WAGE BILL34%
TOP 10 A WEEK £759k
WAGES HELD580

The 50 best-paid Championship defenders

Weekly wage, 2026/27. A player who plays in two areas of the pitch is on both lists, at the full wage.

The best-paid defenders in the Championship in 2026/27, ranked by weekly wage, with the yearly wage, club, age, position and nationality.
# PLAYER WEEKLY YEARLY CLUB AGE POSITION NATION
1 Kieran Trippier £115,000£115k £5,980,000£6.0m Wolverhampton Wanderers 34 Right-back England
2 Kyle Walker £100,000£100k £5,200,000£5.2m Burnley 35 Centre-back England
3 Edson Álvarez £100,000£100k £5,200,000£5.2m West Ham United 27 Centre-back, defensive midfielder Mexico
4 Konstantinos Mavropanos £80,000£80k £4,160,000£4.2m West Ham United 27 Centre-back Greece
5 Max Kilman £79,000£79k £4,108,000£4.1m West Ham United 28 Centre-back England
6 Kyle Walker-Peters £65,000£65k £3,380,000£3.4m West Ham United 28 Full-back England
7 Joël Veltman £57,000£57k £2,964,000£3.0m West Ham United 33 Centre-back Netherlands
8 Hamza Choudhury £56,000£56k £2,912,000£2.9m Sheffield United 27 Full-back, defensive midfielder Bangladesh
9 Matt Doherty £54,000£54k £2,808,000£2.8m Sheffield United 33 Centre-back Ireland
10 Samuel Iling £53,000£53k £2,756,000£2.8m Bolton Wanderers 21 Left wing-back, winger England
11 Jackson Tchatchoua £50,000£50k £2,600,000£2.6m Wolverhampton Wanderers 23 Right-back, right midfielder Cameroon
12 Ben Johnson £43,000£43k £2,236,000£2.2m Stoke City 25 Full-back, right midfielder England
13 Soungountou Magassa £43,000£43k £2,236,000£2.2m West Ham United 21 Centre-back, defensive midfielder France
14 Louis Beyer £40,000£40k £2,080,000£2.1m Burnley 25 Centre-back Germany
15 Morato £39,000£39k £2,028,000£2.0m West Ham United 24 Centre-back Brazil
16 Nasser Djiga £39,000£39k £2,028,000£2.0m Wolverhampton Wanderers 22 Centre-back Burkina Faso
17 Chris Mepham £37,000£37k £1,924,000£1.9m West Bromwich Albion 27 Centre-back Wales
18 Yerson Mosquera £36,000£36k £1,872,000£1.9m Wolverhampton Wanderers 24 Centre-back Colombia
19 Bright Osayi-Samuel £35,000£35k £1,820,000£1.8m Birmingham City 27 Right-back, wide midfielder Nigeria
20 Tariq Lamptey £35,000£35k £1,820,000£1.8m Queens Park Rangers 24 Full-back, right midfielder Ghana
21 Toti (Toti Gomes) £34,000£34k £1,768,000£1.8m Wolverhampton Wanderers 26 Centre-back Portugal
22 Bashir Humphreys £33,000£33k £1,716,000£1.7m Burnley 22 Centre-back England
23 Rodrigo Gomes £33,000£33k £1,716,000£1.7m Wolverhampton Wanderers 22 Wing-back, winger Portugal
24 Calum Chambers £32,000£32k £1,664,000£1.7m Cardiff City 30 Centre-back, defensive midfielder England
25 Dennis Cirkin £31,000£31k £1,612,000£1.6m Queens Park Rangers 23 Left-back England
26 Santiago Bueno £31,000£31k £1,612,000£1.6m Wolverhampton Wanderers 26 Centre-back Uruguay
27 Jack Stephens £30,000£30k £1,560,000£1.6m Southampton 31 Centre-back England
28 Joe Worrall £30,000£30k £1,560,000£1.6m Wrexham 28 Centre-back England
29 Zak Vyner £30,000£30k £1,560,000£1.6m Wrexham 28 Centre-back England
30 Mads Roerslev £29,000£29k £1,508,000£1.5m Southampton 26 Right-back Denmark
31 Liberato Cacace £29,000£29k £1,508,000£1.5m Wrexham 24 Left-back, left midfielder New Zealand
32 Alfie Doughty £28,000£28k £1,456,000£1.5m Millwall 25 Full-back, defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder England
33 Branislav Ivanović £28,000£28k £1,456,000£1.5m West Bromwich Albion 36 Centre-back Serbia
34 Christoph Klarer £27,000£27k £1,404,000£1.4m Birmingham City 25 Centre-back Austria
35 Ben Davies £27,000£27k £1,404,000£1.4m Bolton Wanderers 29 Centre-back England
36 Connor Roberts £27,000£27k £1,404,000£1.4m Burnley 29 Right-back Wales
37 Chiedozie Ogbene £27,000£27k £1,404,000£1.4m Lincoln City 28 Right wing-back, right winger Ireland
38 Hjalmar Ekdal £26,000£26k £1,352,000£1.4m Burnley 26 Centre-back Sweden
39 Hugo Bueno £26,000£26k £1,352,000£1.4m Wolverhampton Wanderers 22 Left-back, left midfielder Spain
40 Sam Byram £25,000£25k £1,300,000£1.3m Middlesbrough 31 Defender, right midfielder England
41 Jack Stacey £25,000£25k £1,300,000£1.3m Norwich City 29 Right-back England
42 Japhet Tanganga £25,000£25k £1,300,000£1.3m Sheffield United 26 Centre-back England
43 Keven Schlotterbeck £25,000£25k £1,300,000£1.3m Southampton 28 Centre-back Germany
44 Dael Fry £24,000£24k £1,248,000£1.2m Birmingham City 27 Centre-back England
45 Ethan Laird £24,000£24k £1,248,000£1.2m Birmingham City 23 Right-back England
46 Nat Phillips £24,000£24k £1,248,000£1.2m West Bromwich Albion 28 Centre-back England
47 Charlie Taylor £23,000£23k £1,196,000£1.2m Derby County 31 Centre-back England
48 Ashley Phillips £23,000£23k £1,196,000£1.2m Middlesbrough 20 Centre-back England
49 Aaron Cresswell £23,000£23k £1,196,000£1.2m Stoke City 35 Centre-back England
50 Lucas Pires £22,000£22k £1,144,000£1.1m Burnley 24 Left-back, right winger Brazil

What each position earns in the Championship

Average weekly wage of the players aged 22 or over we hold a wage for

Goalkeepers £14k Defenders £18k Midfielders £20k Attackers £19k

Defenders take 34% of what the Championship pays its players of that age. The four shares add up to the whole bill, because a player who plays in two areas gives half the wage to each.

The clubs that pay their defenders the most

Every defender wage we hold at each Championship club, added together, a week

West Ham United £491k Wolverhampton Wanderers £398k Burnley £317k Sheffield United £264k Wrexham £211k Stoke City £204k Birmingham City £195k Middlesbrough £194k Southampton £188k Queens Park Rangers £165k

West Ham United pay 24 defenders £490,800 a week between them, and Edson Álvarez takes 20% of it.

The best-paid defender at every Championship club

24 clubs, 2026/27, with where each ranks among the league's defenders

Each Championship club's best-paid defender in 2026/27, the weekly wage, and that player's rank among every defender in the league.
CLUB PLAYER WEEKLY RANK
Wolverhampton Wanderers Kieran Trippier £115,000£115k 1
West Ham United Edson Álvarez £100,000£100k 3
Burnley Kyle Walker £100,000£100k 2
Sheffield United Hamza Choudhury £56,000£56k 8
Bolton Wanderers Samuel Iling £53,000£53k 10
Stoke City Ben Johnson £43,000£43k 12
West Bromwich Albion Chris Mepham £37,000£37k 17
Birmingham City Bright Osayi-Samuel £35,000£35k 19
Queens Park Rangers Tariq Lamptey £35,000£35k 20
Cardiff City Calum Chambers £32,000£32k 24
Wrexham Joe Worrall £30,000£30k 28
Southampton Jack Stephens £30,000£30k 27
Millwall Alfie Doughty £28,000£28k 32
Lincoln City Chiedozie Ogbene £27,000£27k 37
Middlesbrough Sam Byram £25,000£25k 40
Norwich City Jack Stacey £25,000£25k 41
Derby County Charlie Taylor £23,000£23k 47
Preston North End Harry Clarke £21,000£21k 57
Swansea City Cameron Burgess £20,000£20k 65
Bristol City Cameron Pring £17,000£17k 78
Charlton Athletic Tyler Bindon £15,000£15k 91
Portsmouth Josh Murphy £15,000£15k 95
Watford Soumaïla Coulibaly £15,000£15k 101
Blackburn Rovers Hayden Carter £11,000£11k 119

The best-paid defender in every men's league

43 leagues, ordered by their best-paid defender. The Championship ranks ninth.

The best-paid defender in each men's league we rank defenders in, the weekly wage, and the league's average defender wage over players aged 22 or over.
LEAGUE BEST PAID WEEKLY AVERAGE
Saudi Pro League Kalidou Koulibaly £497,000£497k £40,351£40k
Premier League Virgil van Dijk £350,000£350k £69,840£70k
Bundesliga Dayot Upamecano £331,000£331k £42,331£42k
Ligue 1 Lucas Hernández £316,000£316k £27,702£28k
La Liga João Cancelo £249,000£249k £37,418£37k
Serie A John Stones £200,000£200k £36,415£36k
Süper Lig Milan Škriniar £166,000£166k £15,078£15k
Superleague Greece Stefan de Vrij £117,000£117k £10,420£10k
Championship Kieran Trippier £115,000£115k £18,082£18k
Eredivisie Lutsharel Geertruida £99,000£99k £8,088£8k
Major League Soccer Jordi Alba £85,000£85k £7,805£8k
Scottish Premiership Ben Godfrey £80,000£80k £5,860£6k
Primeira Liga Jakub Kiwior £58,000£58k £5,910£6k
La Liga 2 David López £58,000£58k £4,473£4k
Russian Premier League Matheus Reis £57,000£57k £12,772£13k
Brasileirão Série A Guillermo Maripán £53,000£53k £8,284£8k
Belgian Pro League Matteo Dams £49,000£49k £5,133£5k
League One Wes Morgan £46,000£46k £5,700£6k
2. Bundesliga Yannick Gerhardt £42,000£42k £8,296£8k
Super Liga Nicolás Otamendi £41,000£41k £3,253£3k
Danish Superliga Rasmus Kristensen £39,000£39k £5,418£5k
Ekstraklasa Attila Szalai £36,000£36k £2,883£3k
Serie B Federico Baschirotto £33,000£33k £6,876£7k
Czech First League David Jurásek £29,000£29k £1,857£2k
Chinese Super League Matheus Jussa (Matheus Isaias dos Santos) £27,000£27k £4,788£5k
Liga MX Kenedy £25,000£25k £6,926£7k
Austrian Bundesliga Stefan Lainer £21,000£21k £4,095£4k
Ligue 2 Frédéric Guilbert £18,000£18k £4,556£5k
J1 League Gotoku Sakai £15,000£15k £3,457£3k
Croatian First League Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel £15,000£15k £2,078£2k
Thai League Erik Sviatchenko £14,000£14k £2,172£2k
Eliteserien Hrannar Snær Magnússon £13,000£13k £1,630£2k
Belgian Challenger Pro League Thomas Foket £8,600£9k £1,529£2k
League Two Alfie Dorrington £8,500£9k £2,352£2k
Categoría Primera A Frank Fabra £8,300£8k £3,994£4k
Scottish Championship Leon King £8,000£8k £952£952
A-League Jacob Farrell £6,100£6k £1,262£1k
Indian Super League Anwar Ali £4,500£5k £595£595
National League Jake Rooney £4,100£4k £1,165£1k
I-League Jamie McCart £4,100£4k £547£547
Veikkausliiga Alfie Cicale £2,500£3k £646£646
Canadian Premier League Curtis Ofori £1,400£1k £443£443
Meistriliiga Modou Tambedou £484£484 £152£152

Frequently asked questions

Who is the highest paid defender in the Championship?

Kieran Trippier of Wolverhampton Wanderers, on £115,000 a week in 2026/27, or £5,980,000 a year. Kyle Walker of Burnley is second on £100,000 a week.

How much do Championship defenders earn?

The average Championship defender aged 22 or over earns £18,082 a week, and the median one £13,000. Defenders take 34% of what the Championship pays its players of that age.

Which Championship club pays its defenders the most?

West Ham United, £490,800 a week across the 24 defenders we hold a wage for, led by Edson Álvarez on £100,000.

Who is the highest paid defender in football?

Of the 43 men's leagues we rank defenders in, the best-paid is Kalidou Koulibaly of Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club in the Saudi Pro League, on £497,000 a week. The best-paid in the Championship ranks ninth of the 43 leagues on that measure.

Where to next

The same Championship squads, cut a different way

See the highest paid Championship players in every position, the best-paid player at every club, what Championship players are paid at every age, or the Championship wage bill, club by club.