After assessing Premier League, Serie A and La Liga, we now focus on the relationship between sporting performance and the average annual salaries paid per player of the clubs from the German top-division Bundesliga.

As before, first, we will look at each season between 2016/2017 and 2019/2020 (until matchday 32) to analyse which clubs achieved better results between those variables. Then, we will examine the 13 clubs that remained in Bundesliga during these seasons and how they performed compared with how much they paid on average per player.

2016/2017

In the season of 2016/2017, Bayern Munich won the competition while also presenting the highest annual average salary per player.

Freiburg achieved the 7th position in the competition with only the 3rd lowest average salary amount per player. On the other hand, Wolfsburg were the case with less success, finishing in the 16th place with the 4th highest average annual salary per player.

Bayern Munich, Ingolstadt 04 and Darmstadt 98 achieved the same position in the salaries ranking as they did in the competition.

2017/2018

In the next season, Bayern Munich was crowned champion once more with the highest annual average salary per player.

Stuttgart were the surprise, achieving the 7th position in the league with only the 15th highest salary value. On the opposite side, Wolfsburg were again the case with less success, finishing in the 16th place with the 3rd highest amount per player.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Hertha and Mainz achieved the same position in the salaries ranking as they did in the competition.

2018/2019

In the previous edition of the Bundesliga, it was not different and Bayern Munich won the competition once again while presenting the highest annual average salary per player.

Fortuna Dusseldorf achieved the 10th position in the competition with the 16th highest salary value. On the other hand, Schalke 04 were the case with less success, finishing in 14th place with the 4th highest average annual salaries per player.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Augsburg and Nurnberg achieved the same position in the salaries ranking as they did in the Bundesliga.

2019/2020

With 32 matches played, Bayern Munich were close to being crowned champions one more time – and eventually would be – with the highest annual average salary per player of the league.

Freiburg were performing incredibly well in the 8th position in the competition with the 3rd lowest salary amount per player. On the other hand, Werder Bremen were, at that moment, the case with less success, occupying the 17th place with the 9th highest average annual salaries per player.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Hertha and Paderborn have, thus far, presented the same position in the salaries ranking as they did in the Bundesliga.

2016/2017 to 2019/2020 – Which club profits more from the players’ salaries

Finally, we analysed the performance and salaries of the 13 clubs that took part in the Bundesliga between 2016/2017 and 2019/2020 (until matchday 32).

The giant Bayern Munich are the club with the highest average annual salary per player. Freiburg are the club with more success when comparing sporting performance and salaries since, on average, they achieved the 11th place with only the 17th highest average amount per player.

Sources: sporting intelligence; football-industry.com; zerozero.