The 2017 Global Sports Salaries Survey (GSSS) reports that the average yearly pay this season in England's top flight is £2,642,508, which works out as £50,817-per-week.

This figure is far better than across Europe's other four top leagues, with the weekly average in La Liga being £32,309, Serie A totalling £25,492, Bundesliga offering £24,142 and Ligue 1 with £18,162.

However, while the Premier League sits ahead of its rivals in this department, the world's three best-paid clubs come from La Liga and Ligue 1.

Barcelona sit top of the pile with an average first-team pay of almost £6.6 million a year, which includes Lionel Messi's new contract, reported to be £500,000-per-week.

Paris Saint-Germain are second on £6.5m a year with world-record signing Neymar and Kylian Mbappe now on the payroll, while Real Madrid come third on £6.2m.

The Premier League has four clubs in the top 10, with Manchester United and Manchester City in fourth and fifth respectively -- both on around £5.2m -- while Chelsea and Arsenal are eighth and ninth. Bayern Munich in sixth, Juventus in seventh and Atletico Madrid in 10th complete the lineup.

United were the best-paid team in the world in last season's GSSS, but players with big contracts such as Wayne Rooney and Bastian Schweinsteiger have since been offloaded.

Success on the field for the rest of the season will likely dictate which teams end up with the biggest wage bill, with future performance-related payments and bonuses still to be taken into account.

The 2017 GSSS works out the pay of more than 12,000 sportsmen and women at 465 teams from 29 leagues across nine sports.