Yh i'm aware it doesn't add up unless the financial report includes other overheads outside of wages but sounds like it doesn't from what you said.
You seem to have done your research, so just asking out of that United link what stands out as being incorrect? I am also aware not every wage will be 100%, but considering I am comparing between clubs, I would imagine the scale is similar, even if the actual values are double or whatever.
Do you know what makes up the extra £100m from the United one I posted and the real value you mentioned?
It's not what's correct, it's how the wages are reported. For example, the ManUtd ones are max possible wages for players, do they get that every week? It includes all possible bonuses.
I'll just use the same example, when Brandon Williams signed contract, wages was reported as
Upto 65k, which means after all possible bonuses he will earn 65k.
When TAA signed his contract when he made first team, it was reported he will earn
minimum 40k. So no matter what he will earn 40k and upto what number, no one knows.
Suddenly all these sites and fans used 65k for Williams and 40k for TAA which is just wrong.
When Salah signed for Liverpool his reported wages was less than what he was earning at Roma. Fans just lap it up.
That's why for me only thing that matters is total wage bill that's reported in financial report (for City even that doesn't matter).
Few journalists report max possible wages for few clubs and only base wage for other clubs. All these capology, sportac just copies.
One more example, look at Mane wages and how everyone believed he was on 100k at Liverpool because some random guy made it up on twitter or sportac pulled it out of their arse. Guardian reported he was on 150k per week when he signed new contract. Liverpool advertise saying how their contracts are heavily based on bonuses, when ManUtd and Liverpool finished in top 4 without winning anything, difference in both wages was around 8 million.
Football is like politics, journalists run their own propaganda.