Derby County v Nottingham Forest: Owners wealth, wage bill, highest paid player compared | OneFootball

The Rams have made the first step back to competing with their bitter rivals after the two went opposite ways at the end of the 2021/22 season.

Derby County and Nottingham Forest are currently at very different stages, both off the field and on it.

The Rams have returned to the Championship after two years in League One, winning promotion on the final day of the season in a 2-0 win over Carlisle United. They were relegated to the third tier in April 2022 following a campaign of administration and financial issues, but are back where they started in a much more secure position.

Their bitter rivals, on the other hand, are in a renaissance period after over two decades outside the top flight. Nevertheless, promotion to the Premier League in the same season that Derby were relegated was the start of this new era that Forest currently find themselves in.

Football League World has taken a look at the differences between the two clubs financially, including their owners' wealth, current wage bill and estimated highest earner.

Evangelos Marinakis' current net worth is higher than David Clowes'

While the two technically hold the same job title at their respective clubs, they do seem to operate in very opposite ways.

David Clowes, Derby's owner and saviour, purchased the club for £55 million in July 2022, taking them out of administration and overseeing promotion to the Championship. The boyhood supporter remains a quiet owner in the background, who does not like to be in the spotlight.

Meanwhile, Forest's Evangelos Marinakis has been in said spotlight more times than he perhaps likes to admit, most recently earning a five-game stadium ban for his behaviour following his side's 1-0 defeat to Fulham in September.

Nonetheless, the Greek's net worth is far higher than his East Midlands rival's, according to Forbes. Marinakis apparently has a worth of $3.8b (£2.9b), however, there are conflicting reports with some stating it to be as low as £489m.

In comparison, as per The Sunday Times Rich List 2024, Clowes and his family have an estimated net worth of £360 million, making them the 348th most wealthy people in the UK.

Derby's wage bill is estimated to be nearly six times less than Forest's

Although there is just 14 miles between the two cities, they are unsurprisingly light-years apart in terms of current estimated wage bills.

The Premier League has been kind to Forest financially, and it will not come as a shock to see that they pay their players a lot more than their Championship rivals do.

Marinakis is calculated to be paying out £1.22m-a-week on wages to his players, working out to nearly £60.5m-per-year, as per Capology.

While it must be stressed that this is an estimate, the fact that the Reds' outgoings on salaries should not be a surprise, and it is nearly six-times that of Derby's.

Collectively, Paul Warne's players are being paid £235,846 every week, or £12.26m-a-year, according to Capology. The Rams had one of the highest wage bills in League One last season, but it is likely that due to their past financial issues, and Clowes' shrewd way of owning, they will not be anywhere near the top of the Championship in terms of this factor.

Both Derby's and Forest's highest paid player is a summer signing

Throughout history, the clubs have had players that have worn black-and-white and red-and-white. This season is no different, with Ben Osborn returning to his boyhood club, Derby, five years after leaving the City Ground to join Sheffield United.

It is at the Rams where he is the most-well paid player, according to Capology's calculations, with the 30-year-old bringing in a weekly wage of £17,500.

The website does have Nathaniel Phillips listed as the team's highest earner, but with it unknown what percentage of his estimated £65,000-a-week contract at Liverpool, FLW has chosen Osborn to compare.

Their rivals' highest paid player, Nikola Milenkovic, was also brought in this summer, similar to Osborn. However, he does earn a lot more than the midfielder per week, with Capology calculating it as £105,000.

Marinakis' side loaned in James Ward-Prowse from West Ham United on deadline day, and just like Phillips at the Rams, he apparently tops the wage table at Forest at £115,000-a-week, but again, it is unknown how much of this is being paid by the East Midlands-based side.

The two sides are currently a world apart financially, but with Derbylooking for a new investor, the next couple of years could be interesting to see if they can finally catch back up to their most bitter rivals.