Chelsea boast a squad market value of €1.02 billion. This article reviews the Chelsea players salaries for 2023 (Updated)
Todd Boehly’s Chelsea have had a season to forget, having ended up in a disappointing 12th-place finish at the end of the Premier League campaign.
Despite the heavy investment from the Boehly-led consortium of more than €600 million in the transfer market last summer, the West Londoners disastrous season saw them finish in a lowly 12th place as they will miss out all European competitions next season.
The Blues will be hoping to bounce back next season following the arrival of their new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
However, the club will reportedly sell a host of high-profile stars to usher in a new era at Stamford Bridge beginning next season.
This article reviews the top 10 Chelsea players’ salaries and reveals who earns the most amongst the Blues’ first-team roster.
Chelsea have a combined squad market value of €1.02 billion as per Transfermrkt.
Who is the highest-paid player at Chelsea?
As of May 2023, Raheem Sterling is the highest-paid Chelsea player.
The former Liverpool and Manchester City forward takes home a mouth-watering £325,000 every week.
But who are the Top 10 highest-paid players at Chelsea?
Below is a list of Top 10 highest Chelsea player salaries in 2023 according to verified figures from Capology.
Revealed: Top 10 highest Chelsea player salaries (2023)
10. Marc Cucurella - £175,000 per week
Marc Cucurella Saseta is a 24-year-old Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the Spain national team.
Cucurella who currently has a market value of €40 million as per Transfermrkt, of made his senior club debut at Barcelona, but spent most of his time there in the reserve team.
He later went on to play over 100 La Liga games for Eibar and Getafe, before joining Brighton & Hove Albion in 2021.
He spent one season with Brighton before joining Chelsea in 2022 on a six-year contract.
The fee was reported to be worth an initial £55 million, potentially rising to £62 million in add-ons.
Cucurella’s deal saw him become one of the highest-paid footballers in the Chelsea player salaries as the Spaniard takes home a weekly paycheck of £175,000.
9. Enzo Fernández - £180,000 per week
Enzo Jeremías Fernández is a 22-year-old Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the Argentina national team.
As of June 2023, Enzo has a market value of €85 million as per Transfermrkt, the highest in the Chelsea squad.
As an academy graduate of River Plate, Fernández made his first-team debut for the club in 2019, before spending two seasons on loan with Defensa y Justicia.
There, he enjoyed a successful campaign and helped the team win the Copa Sudamericana and Recopa Sudamericana, before returning to River Plate in 2021.
Following his return, Fernández established himself as an integral player for the club, and won the 2021 Argentine Primera División with River Plate.
He signed for Portuguese Primeira Liga side Benfica in the summer of 2022.
However, having played only six months for Benfica and won the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina, he was purchased by Premier League club Chelsea in January 2023.
Chelsea purchased Fernández for a package worth £106.8 million after a final agreement was reached on 31 January 2023, between the two clubs.
He signed an eight-and-a-half-year contract, valid until 2031.
Negotiations for Enzo’s Chelsea transfer reportedly lasted for over 10 hours and were led by Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali.
The fee paid by Chelsea is now a British-record transfer deal, and Benfica received an initial £30 million installment which will be followed by five further payments.
Enzo Fernandez’s Chelsea deal also saw him become one of the highest-paid footballers in the Chelsea player salaries as the Argentinian takes home a weekly paycheck of £180,000.
8. César Azpilicueta - £180,000 per week
César Azpilicueta Tanco is a 33-year-old Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Chelsea, where he is also club captain, and the Spain national team.
As of June 2023, Azpilicueta has a market value of €8 million as per Transfermrkt and is one of the highest paid players at Stamford Bridge.
A youth product of Osasuna, Azpilicueta spent three seasons in La Liga before switching to Marseille, winning four major honours with the French club.
On 24 August 2012, Chelsea completed the signing of Azpilicueta for an undisclosed fee, reported as £7 million.
Azpilicueta won the Europa League in his first season with the club and a domestic double two years later.
He has made 500 appearances for Chelsea and is currently sixth on their list of all-time appearances, no other non-English player has played more times for the club.
Azpilicueta captained Chelsea to win the Europa League in 2019, the Champions League in 2021 and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021.
Azpilicueta’s current contract at Chelsea expires in June 2024, and he is one of the highest-paid footballers in the Chelsea player salaries as the Spaniard takes home a weekly paycheck of £180,000.
7. João Félix - £195,000 per week
João Félix Sequeira is a 23-year-old Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Chelsea, on loan from La Liga club Atlético Madrid, and the Portugal national team.
As of June 2023, Joao Felix has a market value of €50 million as per Transfermrkt and can also play as a winger or an attacking midfielder.
Félix initially trained at Porto's youth academy, before moving to rivals Benfica in 2015.
He began playing for the latter's reserve team a year later and was promoted to the first team in 2018, making his debut at age 17.
He helped Benfica win the league title in his first and only season with them, and was awarded Primeira Liga's Best Young Player of the Year and the Golden Boy award.
In 2019, at age 19, Félix signed with Atlético Madrid for a club-record transfer worth €126 million (£113 million), the fourth-most expensive football transfer, the second-most paid for a teenager, and the highest fee for a Portuguese player leaving the domestic league.
In his second season at the club, he helped the team win the 2020–21 La Liga, which ended the club's seven-year league title drought.
Félix started the 2022–23 season, on 15 August, providing a hat-trick of assists for the first time in his career as Atlético beat Getafe 3–0 away from home.
In the process, he became the third Portuguese player to provide three assists in a match in La Liga.
The following matches were preceded by a dispute over Félix's relationship with Diego Simeone, where Félix lost his place in the starting line-up and became the club's fifth-choice attacker behind Ángel Correa, Antoine Griezmann, Alvaro Morata and Matheus Cunha.
His relationship with his manager deteriorated further on 10 October, during a Champions League group stage match against Club Brugge, where in the second half of the match, Simeone sent him to warm up three times, only to leave him on the bench.
Afterwards, he proceeded to ask his famous super-agent Jorge Mendes to find him a new club in the winter transfer window, with this episode sparking his desire to leave the club.
During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, on 6 December, Atlético's CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín confirmed the club's intention to sell Félix amid concerns over his playing time under El Cholo.
In the 2023 January transfer window, Félix joined Premier League club Chelsea on loan for the remainder of the 2022–23 season, extending his contract with Atlético to 2027 before the move.
The deal would see Felix become one of the highest paid footballers in the Chelsea players salary list.
However, the talented Portuguese will reportedly return to Atletico this summer as he has been allegedly deemed surplus to requirements by Chelsea’s new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
6. Wesley Fofana - £200,000 per week
Wesley Tidjan Fofana (born 17 December 2000) is a 22-year-old French professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Chelsea.
As of June 2023, Fofana has a market value of €65 million as per Transfermrkt.
Having played for French Ligue 1 club, Saint-Etienne, Fofana joined English Premier League club Leicester City in October 2020, signing a five-year contract.
The transfer fee paid to Saint-Étienne was reportedly up to £36.5 million.
In August 2022, Fofana joined Premier League club Chelsea on a seven-year contract for a reported initial fee of £70 million, plus £5 million in add-ons.
He scored his first ever Premier League goal against Leeds United on 4 March, in a 1-0 home victory.
Fofana’s long-term contract with Chelsea saw him become one of the highest-paid footballers in the Chelsea players salary list.
5. Ben Chilwell - £200,000 per week
Benjamin James Chilwell is a 26-year-old English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team.
Chilwell has a market value of €35 million as per Transfermrkt, as of June 2023.
Beginning his career at Leicester City, Chilwell had a loan spell with Huddersfield Town, before returning to the club in 2016 after signing an extension.
Chilwell signed for Leicester's Premier League rivals Chelsea on 26 August 2020 on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee reported by BBC Sport to be £45 million.
He made his debut on 23 September, providing the assist for Olivier Giroud's goal in a 6–0 home win against Barnsley in the third round of the EFL Cup after he came off from the bench.
With Chelsea, he has won the UEFA Champions League (2021), the UEFA Super Cup (2021), and was he was named in the UEFA Champions League 2020-21 Squad of the Season.
Having recently signed a new contract with Chelsea, the Three Lions star’s contract will expire in the summer of 2027.
Chilwell is one of the highest-paid footballers in the Chelsea players salary list.
4. Reece James - £200,000 per week
Reece James is a 23-year-old English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team.
As of June 2023, James has a market value of €70 million as per Transfermrkt.
James joined the Chelsea academy as a youth and turned professional in 2017, a season where he captained the under-18s to victory in the FA Youth Cup and was named Academy Player of the Season.
After a productive loan spell with Wigan Athletic in the Championship, he was promoted to the Chelsea first team upon his return in 2019.
With Chelsea, James has won the UEFA Champions League (2021) and the UEFA Super Cup (2021).
Reece James’ current contract with Chelsea expires in June 2028, and he ranks high in the Chelsea players salary list.
3. N'Golo Kanté - £290,000 per week
N'Golo Kanté is a 32-year-old French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the France national team.
Considered to be one of the world's best midfielders, Kanté is widely praised for his work rate and defensive acumen.
Kante has a market value of €20 million as per Transfermrkt, as of June 2023.
Kanté made his senior professional debut with Boulogne in 2012, appearing as a substitute in one Ligue 2 match, and played an entire season in the third division the following year.
After that he joined Ligue 2 side Caen on a free transfer, finished third and won promotion to Ligue 1. He stayed with the club for one more year.
In 2015, Kanté joined Leicester City for a fee worth £5.6 million.
Kanté was an integral part of the Leicester City team that went on to become surprise Premier League champions in 2016.
The following year, he joined Chelsea for a fee worth £32 million and again won the league, making him the first outfield player to win consecutive English league titles with different clubs since Eric Cantona in 1992 and 1993.
With Chelsea Kante has won the FA Cup, the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Individually, Kante has been awarded the Premier League Player of the Season, the PFA Players' Player of the Year, the FWA Footballer of the Year, the UEFA Men's Midfielder of the year and the Trophées UNFP for Best French Player Abroad twice.
A dynamic, diminutive, and disciplined player, Kanté is known for his relentless energy and excellent ball-winning abilities as a box-to-box midfielder in the centre of the pitch.
This is attributed to his strong positional sense, off the ball movement, and ability to read the game.
Primarily, Kante is known for his tactical awareness, intelligence, anticipation, and the defensive aspect of his game, his ability to tackle and regain possession, intercept passes, and block shots.
Kanté is also capable of playmaking from inside his own half and is an efficient passer on the counter-attack, helping kick start attacking plays immediately after winning back the ball.
He is also quick up and down the pitch and often makes late attacking runs into the box.
Kanté has been effective in both disrupting an opponent's possession play in the final-third as well as springing swift counter-attacks from the midfield.
The France midfield maestro’s contract with Chelsea expires this month, and he is expected to renew his contract with the West London outfit.
Prior to his contract expiry, Kante ranked very high amongst the highest-paid footballers on Chelsea players salary list in 2023,
2. Kalidou Koulibaly - £290,000 per week
Kalidou Koulibaly is a 31-year-old professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the Senegal national team.
Koulibaly has a market value of €25 million as per Transfermrkt, as of June 2023.
Koulibaly began his professional club career with French team Metz in 2010, before moving to Belgian club Genk in 2012, winning the Belgian Cup in his first season.
He joined Italian Serie A club Napoli in 2014, where he won the Supercoppa Italiana title; he also won the Coppa Italia in 2020.
In July 2022, Koulibaly signed for Premier League club Chelsea on a four-year contract for a fee reported to be in the region of £33 million.
On 6 August, he made his Chelsea debut in a 1–0 away league win over Everton.
Koulibaly scored his first Chelsea goal in his home debut on 14 August, flashing home a powerful volley in a 2–2 home league draw against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
A large, aggressive, quick and physically strong yet elegant player, Koulibaly is recognised for his aerial prowess, anticipation, positioning, tackling, character, technique and passing ability as a defender.
He has been recognised as the best African centre back in recent years and has also been praised by pundits for his overall solidity as a player and his ability to make interceptions.
Koulibaly is also a versatile defender as he can play both in his usual role as a central defender, or as a full-back on either the right or left flank, in both a three or four-man defence.
He has even been deployed as a defensive midfielder.
Koulibaly’s current deal with Chelsea runs out in June 2026, and he is the second highest-paid player at Chelsea.
1. Raheem Sterling - £290,000 per week
Raheem Shaquille Sterling is a 28-year-old English professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team.
As of June 2023, Raheem Sterling has a market value of €60 million as per Transfermrkt.
Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, Sterling moved to London at the age of five.
He began his career at Queens Park Rangers before signing for Liverpool in 2010.
He was awarded the Golden Boy award in 2014.
In July 2015, following a lengthy dispute with Liverpool over a new contract, he was signed by Manchester City in a transfer potentially worth £49 million, the highest transfer fee ever paid for an English player at the time.
He went on to help Manchester City win back-to-back Premier League titles in the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons.
In the 2018–19 season, he was named to the PFA Premier League Team of the Year and won the PFA Young Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year.
On 13 July 2022, Sterling signed for Chelsea on a five-year contract for a fee of £47.5 million.
Sterling plays as a winger, attacking midfielder or striker, although he is more comfortable as a natural winger.
Sterling has been praised for his adaptability and ability to play wide, at the tip of a midfield diamond and centrally, offering flexibility.
Known for his pace, low centre of gravity, and dribbling skills, Sterling also possesses considerable upper-body strength, which aids him in withstanding challenges, and retaining possession, despite his small stature.
Raheem Sterling’s current deal with Chelsea will run out in June 2027, and the Three Lions star is the no.1 highest-paid player at Chelsea.