EPL Injury Costs Raise Concerns About Demand On Players

Premier League clubs have paid £134.2M ($186.2M) in wages to injured players so far this season, with ManU "topping the list by shelling out" more than £15.8M ($21.9M), a study revealed, according to Shrivathsa Sridhar of REUTERS. Insurance broker and risk consultant JLT Specialty, which compiled the study, said that the cost of injuries was "on track to surpass last year’s total" of roughly £175M pounds for the season, "raising concerns about demands on players even though the number of injuries is down." JLT Specialty Head of Sport Duncan Fraser said, "With many of the soft tissue injuries being down to fatigue, these figures will raise questions about fixture pile-ups, especially with the rising costs involved." Although ManU's injury count stood at 20, "well below" West Ham United's 41, it paid more because of "the club's big salaries and the severity of injuries." EPL leader Man City is in "good health" with only 16 injuries and a total of 442 days out, the second-lowest behind Southampton (REUTERS, 2/13).