One of the biggest undertakings of the post-pandemic economic climate at Juventus has involved getting an incredibly bloated wage bill more under control. Not only was Juve’s payroll easily the highest in Serie A, but it was competing with some of the highest in all of the world, and certainly wasn’t as sustainable as it used to be before the pandemic for very obvious economic reasons.
Last season, Juventus didn’t have the highest payroll in Serie A — and it’s the same this time around.
According to
Calcio e Finanza earlier this week, Juventus’ payroll for the 2025-26 season will be ranked in the same place in Serie A as it was last year — right behind Inter in second place. Juventus’ gross payroll is estimated to be just under €123 million this season, with a net total of €70.4 million. While both figures are significantly down from where Juventus’ payroll was at during the pre-pandemic days and the season or two after the 2020 lockdown, the club’s wage bill is actually noticeably higher this year compared to last, according to Calcio e Finanza, with a 12.5% increase for the new campaign.
As we are all well aware, Dusan Vlahovic and his Serie A-high €12 million net salary still weighs heavily on the Juventus wage bill, with summer signing Jonathan David (€6 million) and Gleison Bremer (€5 million) the only players on the roster to be making €5 million or more this season.
It’s also noted that Juve were also the second-highest spending team in Serie A during the summer mercato, although much of that had to do with players — goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, defender Pierre Kalulu, winger Nico González, etc. — brought in last summer or winter on options and obligations to buy. AC Milan were the highest spending Serie A club this summer, dishing out over €160 million to try and refresh their roster with a certain Max Allegri back on the sidelines at the San Siro.
With it being noted that Juve’s wage bill is higher this season than it was during the 2024-25 campaign, it’s also worth mentioning that one of the club’s lowest earners, Kenan Yildiz, is expected to be in for a big bump in what he earns on a year basis. As has been reported throughout the summer, Juventus and Yildiz’s camp are working on a contract extension through 2030 with the young No. 10 expected to see his net salary hit in the neighborhood of €4.5 million, putting him level salary-wise with Teun Koopmeiners and just behind Bremer and David in terms of those Juve players signed past the summer of 2026. (Vlahovic is currently in the final year of the deal he signed when he arrived from Fiorentina in January 2022.)
As part of the Calcio e Finanza reporting, Juventus’ new signings besides David make the following:
- Loïs Openda: €4 million
- Edon Zhegrova: €2.5 million
- Joao Mario: €2 million
Another player who was signed on a permanent basis, Francisco Conceição, is just outside the top five in terms of Juventus’ highest earners at €3.8 million net.
