The most paid Southampton FC player over the previous eight seasons, estimated at £100k per week.

After 11 years in a row in the Premier League, Southampton is currently in the second division.

For the first time since their promotion in 2012, the Saints returned to the Championship after finishing last in the top flight in the previous year.

But over the previous eight seasons, the Saints’ league standing had begun to deteriorate; from 2017–18 to 2022–2023–all of those seasons saw the Saints finish in the bottom half of the Premier League.

As a Premier League team for such a long time, Saints had several elite players who were also paid extremely high salaries.

Here, we examine the individual player who, throughout the course of the previous eight seasons, was making the highest weekly salary (these salaries are determined using Capology).

For the previous eight seasons, who was Southampton’s highest earner?
James Ward-Prowse was the player making the highest weekly salary during the previous eight seasons, according to Capology estimates.

The central midfielder, who had previously been making £45,000 a week, is rumored to have been on £100,000 per week after signing a new contract with the team at the beginning of the 2021–22 season.

Before he moved to West Ham United last summer, his estimated weekly salary was £100,000 per week.

For Southampton, Ward-Prowse was an incredible player who was well worth the money.
The 29-year-old, who was well-known for his amazing set-piece delivery, was a standout performer for Saints, particularly in his last few seasons when he increased his goal production.

Having attended St Mary’s since he was eight years old, Ward-Prowse made his League Cup debut against Crystal Palace in October 2011.

On his second appearance of the season, he scored his first goal in an FA Cup victory over Coventry City.

Along with Jack Stephens, Calum Chambers, Luke Shaw, and Saints, he signed his first professional contract with the team after Saints were promoted to the Premier League in 2012.

With the promotion to the premier league, Ward-Prowse was given more first-team opportunities. The south coast club made it back to the top division in their debut season, and he played in 15 league games.

Ward-Prowse established himself as a starter in the 11 during the 2013–14 season after agreeing to a new five-year contract. He participated in 34 of the team’s 38 league games during that campaign.

Ward-Prowse was rewarded with two more contracts in January 2015 and May 2016, respectively, for his sustained success. In March 2017, he received his first senior call-up for the England national team, making his debut in a defeat by Germany.

When Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg requested to leave the team in June 2020, Ward-Prowse would eventually be asked to be the team captain. He was rewarded with yet another five-year contract in August 2020.

Throughout his final several seasons at the team, there was increasing talk of a possible exit due to Saints’ consistent bottom-half results.

In the summer of 2021, Southampton turned down a bid of £25 million from Aston Villa, which prompted him to sign a further five-year contract, his last one.

Following a 15th-place finish in 2021–22, Saints finished bottom of the Premier League and were relegated back to the Championship the following season. Understandably, this created a great deal of speculation about Ward-Prowse’s future, which ultimately resulted in his £30 million trade to West Ham.

Though many of the Saints’ high-paid players may not have proven they were worthy of their contracts, Ward-Prowse will undoubtedly continue to be regarded highly by Saints supporters in the future.