Which clubs have the longest contracts
Athletic Bilbao have the longest contract book in Europe's big five — 4.90 years of commitment for every pound they pay — against 1.31 at Hull City. Across all 94 clubs, £20,313,300 a week runs out when 2026/27 ends.
Each club's figure weights every player by what he earns, so it is the average length of a pound of the wage bill rather than of a contract. Squads here run from 16 players to 82, and weighting is what makes those comparable. Measured from the first day of 2026/27 across the 2,974 players whose deal is still running.
How long each league is committed
Weighted years remaining across every priced squad in the division
| LEAGUE | YEARS | CLUBS | PLAYERS | WEEKLY BILL | ENDS 2026/27 | SHARE | BY 2027/28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 2.95 | 20 | 1,004 | £38m | £8.0m | 21% | 42% |
| La Liga | 2.77 | 19 | 381 | £13m | £2.8m | 22% | 49% |
| Bundesliga | 2.54 | 18 | 503 | £16m | £3.4m | 21% | 50% |
| Serie A | 2.43 | 20 | 652 | £16m | £4.4m | 26% | 53% |
| Ligue 1 | 2.29 | 17 | 434 | £8.8m | £1.8m | 20% | 60% |
| Big five | 2.70 | 94 | 2,974 | £92m | £20m | 22% | 48% |
The five divisions sit within 0.66 years of each other, and the clubs inside them span 3.59. Contract length is a club policy far more than a league one.
Tied down longest
Weighted years remaining on the wage bill
| CLUB | YEARS | PLAYERS | ENDS 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| | 4.90 | 23 | 6% |
| | 4.39 | 68 | 6% |
| | 3.56 | 41 | 6% |
| | 3.43 | 22 | 12% |
| | 3.40 | 59 | 23% |
| | 3.26 | 66 | 8% |
| | 3.09 | 60 | 32% |
| | 3.08 | 32 | 10% |
| | 3.07 | 36 | 16% |
| | 3.05 | 36 | 8% |
Running out soonest
The same measure, from the other end
| CLUB | YEARS | PLAYERS | ENDS 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| | 1.31 | 39 | 72% |
| | 1.57 | 25 | 48% |
| | 1.58 | 21 | 55% |
| | 1.64 | 18 | 50% |
| | 1.64 | 17 | 54% |
| | 1.66 | 18 | 62% |
| | 1.66 | 22 | 46% |
| | 1.67 | 23 | 56% |
| | 1.68 | 34 | 49% |
| | 1.69 | 18 | 45% |
Long book, busy summer
A long average does not mean a quiet window
Both columns of the table below are worth reading together. A club near the top of the ranking with a heavy 2026/27 share has tied down a core and is letting the rest go; one near the bottom with a light share has already renewed and is short because the deals it holds are short, not because they are ending.
Every big-five club by contract length
Tap a column heading to re-rank, or a club to see its squad and wages
Frequently asked questions
Which club has the longest contracts in European football?
Athletic Bilbao, at 4.90 years across the 23 players in their squad whose deal is still running. Chelsea are second on 4.39 and Brentford third on 3.56. The average across all 94 big-five clubs is 2.70 years.
Which club has the shortest contracts?
Hull City, at 1.31 years. 72% of their wage bill — £222,270 a week — is on a deal that ends when 2026/27 does.
How is contract length worked out?
Every player in the squad is weighted by what he earns, so a club's figure is the average length of a pound of its wage bill rather than the average length of a contract. Squads here run from 16 players to 82 — the source carries full English academies and little of Spain's — and weighting by wage is what makes those two comparable. Length is measured from the first day of 2026/27, not from the day the page was built, so the figures do not drift between builds.
How much wage runs out this summer?
£20,313,300 a week across the big five, which is 22% of the £92,028,532 a week those squads earn between them, and £1,056,291,600 across a full year. Serie A has the largest share running out.
Why does a long contract book matter?
It sets how much of a squad a club can change and how much leverage it has when it does. A player entering the last year of a deal can be sold cheaply or leave for nothing a year later, so a short book forces a club to sell, renew or lose. A long one costs more to unwind — the wage is owed either way — but nothing walks out of the door unpaid for.
Which players are counted?
The 2,974 players in big-five squads who carry a wage and a contract date still running in 2026/27. A further 905 carry a date that has already passed, which is a deal the source never refreshed rather than a contract with no time left on it, and they are left out of the averages. Clubs with fewer than 12 priced players are not ranked, which excludes 2 clubs.
Where to next
The same contracts, cut a different way
This page is the whole book at once. To see one year of it, with the players named, browse the deals by the year they run out. Or look at what the Premier League pays, every league we track, or this season's transfers.





























































































