Premiership: annual financial review:  Players' wages in the Premiership spiralled by nine per cent last year and finance experts predict the bumper new TV-rights package will see the first £200,000-a-week footballer within three years.

The annual review of football finance by Deloitte shows the average salary of all top-flight players was just under £1 million in 2005/2006, with the biggest stars earning in excess of £6 million a year.

Dan Jones, partner of Deloitte's sports business group, said a three per cent wage fall in 2004/2005 now appeared to be just a blip in the overall upward trend.

The review also shows a huge gap between, on the one hand, wages paid by Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool and, on the other, wages paid by the rest of the Premiership.

However, spending power among all Premiership clubs is now far superior to comparable sides in Italy and Spain. Jones said: "We expect wages to go up pretty significantly over the next couple of years but we are not alarmed by that.

"We do expect the average annual earnings for a Premier League player next season will be in the region of £1.1 million and that over the next three years we will see English football's first player to earn £10 milllion per annum from a club, equivalent to £200,000 per week."

Jones said the wage rise could be explained by clubs anticipating the extra income from the £2.7-billion TV deal that comes on stream next season. That would also explain why overall operating profits were down 15 per cent - but are expected to double next season.

There is also concern at the widening gap between the Premiership and Championship clubs. The gap between the average club revenue for each league was a record £56 million in 2005/2006 and is likely to increase to over £70 million next season.

Championship clubs' total wage costs for 2005/2006 increased by five per cent to £228 million - just twice the wage bill for Chelsea.

The gap that is expanding the quickest, however, is between the Premiership and other European leagues.

Jones added: "Ten years ago there was pretty close competition between the Premier League and Serie A. Next season the Premier League is going to be one billion euros ahead of Serie A.

"That is a good endorsement of the Premier League's decision to stick to selling their rights collectively, whereas in Italy and Spain they have gone down the road of selling their rights individually."

Jones said the wave of new owners could contribute towards more restraint by clubs in terms of spending, but the new TV deal would make it possible to increase profits as well as investment in transfers and wages. He said: "The big increases in the value of the overseas TV rights are shared out equally among all the 20 clubs, which means there should be an opportunity to cut the wages gap between the top four and the rest."

Premiership clubs' total wage costs for 2005/06 increased by nine per cent - (£69m) to £854m - the year before the clubs' total wage costs reduced by three per cent for the first time in the history of the Premier League.

The wages/turnover ratio, a key performance indicator, increased to 62 per cent in 2005/06.

Five English clubs have total wages costs each season greater than £50m - Chelsea (£114m), Manchester United (£85m), Arsenal (£83m). Liverpool (£69m) and Newcastle (£52m). Tottenham were sixth (£41m).

Five Premier League clubs cut wages costs in 2005/06 - in particular Fulham (down £3.8m) and Manchester City (down £3.3m).

The highest proportional wage rises came at Tottenham (up £7.5m), Everton (up £6.1m), Charlton (up £5.3m), Aston Villa (up £5.1m).

Average annual gross annual earnings for a Premier League player next season estimated at £1.1m (2005/06: £0.9m).

Premier League revenues are set to exceed £1.7 billion next season, the first year of new broadcasting deals - £680 million higher than the next highest-earning league, Italy's Serie A.

Operating profits in the Premier League fell for the first time since 1999/2000 to £138m (down 15 per cent) and the number of Premier League clubs reporting operating losses increased from two in 2004/05 (Chelsea and Fulham) to four in 2005/06 (Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea and Fulham).

Arsenal's borrowing arrangements for their new 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium have significantly increased the club's overall debt in recent years. By the end of the 2005/06 season Arsenal's net debt was £262m, ahead of Chelsea (£180m), Fulham (£167m) and Manchester City (£94m).