Injury crisis cost Manchester United almost £40m in wasted wages last season as Chelsea also hit hard

Injuries cost Manchester United almost £40million in wasted wages last season, but Newcastle United topped the Premier League injury list with 76 instances, according to a report.

The latest edition of the Howden men’s European football injury index showed an increase last season of 4 per cent from the previous campaign in the total number of injuries suffered by teams in Europe’s five major leagues, with the headline number rising to a total of 4,123.

There was an average of 0.97 injuries suffered per games in Europe’s major leagues, with United’s 75 injuries costing them £39.5m in wages paid to players recovering from injuries and therefore unavailable to play.

Newcastle suffered the highest number of injuries among Premier League clubs with 76, while Fulham players sustained the fewest with 27.

The club with the highest average cost of each injury, when taking wasted wages into account, was Chelsea, who forked out £540,000 per injury.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all suffered fewer injuries in the 2023/24 campaign than the previous term, while both Manchester clubs saw their tallies increase.

£610m was spent in wasted wages across the five leagues, a record high since the annual report was first launched shortly after the 2020/21 season.

The Premier League experienced a 3 per cent decline last season in the total number of injuries, from 944 down to 915, while La Liga’s injury count shot up by 32 per cent.