Comparing Cody Gakpo’s wage with Man City’s top earners

Cody Gakpo, Liverpool’s £250,000‑a‑week forward, is poised to join Manchester City, with talks under way to finalise the move. The Dutch striker’s wage request matches the club’s reputation for offering some of the Premier League’s highest salaries. If the deal goes through, he could rank among the squad’s top earners.

City’s payroll power

Manchester City are believed to operate the biggest payroll in the Premier League for their playing squad, allowing them to tempt new signings with substantial salaries. Tottenham were also in the mix for Gakpo, but City have become his preferred choice and are now in talks with Liverpool to try and get a deal done.

The club’s financial muscle is underpinned by estimates from football‑finance site Capology, which notes that all salary figures are approximations and may vary from actual contracts. Nevertheless, the data illustrate why City can regularly out‑bid rivals for high‑profile talent.

Where Gakpo would sit on the wage ladder

On City’s wage bill, Gakpo’s £250,000 weekly earnings would place him joint‑fifth, level with several other key players. Only Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Gianluigi Donnarumma earn more, according to the Capology estimates.

• Erling Haaland – £525,000
• Jack Grealish – £300,000
• Phil Foden – £280,000
• Gianluigi Donnarumma – £265,000
• Cody Gakpo – £250,000
• Josko Gvardiol – £250,000
• Ruben Dias – £250,000
• Elliot Anderson – £250,000
• Marc Guehi – £250,000
• Rayan Cherki – £180,000
• Antoine Semenyo – £150,000
• Jeremy Doku – £150,000
• Mateo Kovacic – £150,000
• Matheus Nunes – £130,000
• Rayan Ait‑Nouri – £120,000
• Abdukodir Khusanov – £100,000
• Kalvin Phillips – £100,000 (on loan at Sheffield United)
• Omar Marmoush – £45,000 (on loan at Tottenham)
• Vitor Reis – £40,000
• Marcus Bettinelli – £35,000
• Nico O’Reilly – £30,000
• Rico Lewis – £25,000
• Claudio Echeverri – £15,000
• Sverre Nypan – £10,000 (on loan at Lommel)
• Josh Wilson‑Esbrand – £7,000
• Ayyoub Bouaddi – N/A
• Jeremy Monga – N/A
• Geronimo Rulli – N/A

For Liverpool, losing a £250,000‑a‑week earner means one of their highest‑paid players departs, alongside compatriots Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch who command higher wages. For Manchester City, securing Gakpo adds a proven Premier League forward to a squad already featuring some of the league’s most lucrative contracts, reinforcing their ambition to dominate domestically and in Europe.