Arsenal have been facing some tough times this season in the Premier League.
A poor run of form saw Unai Emery sacked as manager in November, with Freddie Ljungberg taking charge on an interim basis until the Gunners could finalise a move to bring Mikel Arteta in from Manchester City.
The new manager's imprint on the team has already been felt, but results have not quite followed yet, with the Gunners picking up just two wins in the last 17 Premier League matches.
But it's not just this year that Arsenal have been lagging behind some of their rivals. This season is the third-straight year of Europa League football, with chances missed to secure a top four finish.
That means a reduction in income for the Gunners - but they've still been paying out a large amount in wages.
The fourth-highest in the Premier League, in fact.
Sporting Intelligence have published the global sports salaries survey for 2019, which details the basic annual pay in the world's most popular sports leagues, not including signing-on fees, loyalty bonuses or performance add-ons.
That includes 350 teams across eight different sports, with 18 leagues across 12 different countries.
Arsenal finished 44th overall in the list, down from 39th in last year's tally, paying an average wage of £4.8million per player in 2019, behind only Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool in the Premier League.
London rivals Chelsea also paid an average of £4.8million per player - though it was fractionally less than Arsenal.
The Gunners' average weekly wage comes out at over £92,000-per-week - and with the results over the last few years, it is clear that the fans at the Emirates Stadium are not seeing the greatest return on the club's investment.
However, the gulf to the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United is still large, with United paying each player an average of £117,800-per-week, and City handing out £134,375-per-week to every player.
La Liga giants Barcelona top the global list with an average weekly pay of £188,993, ahead of Spanish rivals Real Madrid (£171,611) and Serie A champions Juventus, who are third on the list with an average weekly pay of £155,487.
The rest of the top ten is made up of National Basketball Association sides from America, with Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain the next football club on the list in 12th, with an average weekly pay of £137,450.
The top 50 of the list also includes teams from Major League Baseball and the Indian Premier League, with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in 22nd with an average weekly pay of £124,921.
According to the report, the average annual salary per player in the Premier League is £3,173,264, which is up 6.1% year on year.
This is the table for English Premier League clubs:
Rank // Club // Average annual pay
1 // Manchester City // £6,987,500
2 // Manchester United // £6,125,600
3 // Liverpool // £5,537,600
4 // Arsenal // £4,790,240
5 // Chelsea // £4,774,000
6 // Everton // £4,101,760
7 // Tottenham Hotspur // £3,961,043
8 // Leicester City // £3,352,960
9 // West Ham // £3,022,240
10 // Crystal Palace // £2,887,500
11 // Southampton // £2,299,440
12 // Wolves // £2,197,565
13 // Newcastle // £2,086,240
14 // Watford // £2,025,111
15 // Aston Villa // £1,965,600
16 // Bournemouth // £1,917,760
17 // Burnley // £1,915,333
18 // Brighton // £1,805,304
19 // Norwich City // £991,000
20 // Sheffield United // £728,000
