Manchester United have won the fewest points per £1 million spent on wages this season, while Tottenham Hotspur have won the most, according to a report in The Times.
The analysis of last year's financial results for the 17 clubs who remained in the top flight also highlighted the vast difference in resources between the so-called big five and the rest, with United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all spending around £200m or more on wages in the 2015-16 season.
#thfc Analysis from @TimesSport, showing that Spurs won the most points per £1m spent on wages, and Man Utd the fewest. pic.twitter.com/45o85lk2mY
- Dan Kilpatrick (@Dan_KP) May 16, 2017
Runners-up Spurs spent about half that, £104.6m, paying £1.3m per point earned this season, the best in the Premier League. The figures are further confirmation of the impressive job done by Premier League Manager of the Year nominee Mauricio Pochettino and the club's chairman Daniel Levy.
United, by contrast, had a wage bill of £232.2m, the highest in the division, and paid £3.57m per point. The figures also reflected badly on David Moyes' Sunderland, who finished rock bottom but boast a wage bill similar to mid-table clubs Everton, Southampton and Leicester City.
Sunderland paid £3.5m per point, while Ronald Koeman's Everton, who have a nearly identical wage bill, finished third behind Bournemouth, with £1.38m per point.
The analysis does not rank Hull City, Burnley and Middlesbrough, the promoted trio, in the same way as their wage bills applied when they were in the Championship and are not comparable to those in the top flight last season. Liverpool therefore had the biggest year-on-year wages increase of all clubs, up 25 percent, ahead of City and Arsenal.
Of the big five, Manager of the Year nominee Antonio Conte's Chelsea performed best, paying £2.56m per point. The figures also show that Paul Clement, another contender for the managers' award, over performed but Swansea rank poorly due to their struggles before his appointment in January.