Chelsea's 3-2 win over Newcastle United on Monday night underlined the absurdity of their season this year, as they have seemingly managed to flip from brilliant to terrible on a match-to-match basis.
Mauricio Pochettino has a team full of promising youngsters, but he hasn't been able to get a consistent tune out of them for more than a couple of weeks at a time.
That said, a few starters, such as Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher, have improved their reputations over the campaign.
However, as crucial as the Englishman has been this season, one of his teammates with far fewer appearances this year, earns four times as much per week.
Conor Gallagher's salary at Chelsea
Gallagher joined the Blues' youth setup at just six years old and, bar a few loan moves, has been with the club ever since.
A boyhood Chelsea fan, the Epsom-born ace made his full debut for the first team in a Premier League clash away to Leeds United in 2022. While the result was far from ideal, he would play another 44 games for the Blues, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
GK – Edouard Mendy
RB – Reece James
CB – Thiago Silva
CB – Kalidou Koulibaly
LB – Marc Cucurella
CM – Jorginho
CM – Conor Gallagher
RM – Ruben Loftus-Cheek
LM – Mason Mount
ST – Kai Havertz
ST – Raheem Sterling
His importance to the team and overall effectiveness have grown massively this year. He has 37 appearances, four goals, seven assists, and has even captained the side on 17 occasions.
However, despite playing so many games for the west Londoners this season and scoring important goals, like the winner against Leeds in the FA Cup, the Englishman remains one of the worst-paid starters at the club, taking home £50k-per-week.
Now, while that is a frankly unimaginable amount of money for the vast majority of people, it isn't in the world of football, especially when one of Gallagher's teammates is earning four times as much as him.
Ben Chilwell's salary at Chelsea
The Chelsea man in question is Ben Chilwell, who joined the club from Leicester City in August 2020 for around £50m.
Now, the former Foxes star is clearly a talented player. After all, he wouldn't have 19 England caps and 168 Premier League appearances to his name if he wasn't, but it would be hard to call his move to Chelsea a success as things stand for one key reason: his injuries.
2020/21
2
84
7
2021/22
1
178
45
2022/23
2
117
20
2023/24
3
108
19
Total
8
487
91
Across his four seasons at Stamford Bridge, the "unlucky" full-back, as journalist Paul Brown described him, has missed a total of 91 games – an average of 22.75 – and spent at least 487 days on the sidelines – an average of 121.5.
It's still happening to the 27-year-old today, as he was forced to miss the game on Monday night due to a knee injury. This situation would be less of a problem if the club hadn't invested so much in the Milton Keynes-born gem.
Transfer Fee
£50m
Total Wages
£35.6m
Total Cost (so far)
£85.6m
Appearances
103
Cost per Appearance
£831k
Minutes
7324
Cost per Minute
£11.6k
Goals
9
Cost per Goal
£9.5m
Assists
12
Cost per Assist
£7.1m
Goal Involvements
21
Cost per Goal Involvement
£4m
His £50m transfer fee, combined with the 136 weeks he earned £190k and the last 49 weeks in which he's been earning £200k, means the club has spent a whopping £85.6m on his services so far.
That translates to roughly £831k-per-appearance, £9.5m-per-goal, or £4m-per-goal-involvement, which feels like a lot of money for not much in return.
Ultimately, Chilwell is still a quality left-back, but if he can't stay fit for even half a season, it seems absurd that he should be earning four times as much as Gallagher, and it might be time for Todd Boehly and Co to cash in and find a full-back who can play 35+ games a season.
Wage Burners
Football FanCast's Wage Burners series explores the salaries of the modern-day game.