Wednesday 12 July 2017 11:03, UK
Leicester achieved their sensational Premier League title win in 2015/16 with a smaller wage bill than relegated Aston Villa, a new report has revealed.
The Foxes shocked the football world by claiming their first top-flight league title under Claudio Ranieri - just two years after securing promotion from the Sky Bet Championship.
The 26th edition of Deloitte's Annual Review of Football Finance, published on Wednesday, revealed Leicester's title triumph was achieved with a wage budget of £80m - £13m less than Aston Villa, who finished bottom of the Premier League.
That figure was also the sixth lowest in the Premier League and less than third of Manchester United's £241m, listed as the highest wage bill in the division.
Tottenham, Leicester's closest title rivals for much of the campaign, were the only side to reduce their wage bill.
Bournemouth and Watford, who had gained promotion from the Championship, maintained their top-flight status, despite having the lowest wage costs.
The review also revealed the top 92 clubs generated £4.4bn during the 2015/16, with a nine per cent increase in Premier League revenue to a record £3.6bn.
This breaks down to average earnings of £182m per Premier League club, more than the total revenue of all 22 Division One clubs in 1991/92, the season before the Premier League's creation.
