Newcastle have admitted the club took “a financial gamble” in their bid to bounce straight back to the Premier League in 2017.

The Magpies have revealed their wage bill for the 2016-17 campaign was the highest ever in the Football League.

According to stats compiled by Albion fan and football finance expert Kieran Maguire, Rafa Benitez operated with a total wage bill three times that at the disposal of his Albion counterpart Chris Hughton.

Toon spent £112.2 million on wages during a campaign which, in terms of the title, went down to the last five minutes.

Newcastle’s annual accounts for the year ending June 30 2017 show annual losses of £90.9million after paying £112.2m on wages.

“An immediate return to the Premier League was vital to restore the financial stability and future prospects of the club,” Newcastle’s managing director Lee Charnley told the club’s official website.

“With the support and backing of the owner we took what was, in essence, a financial gamble on securing immediate promotion.”

Charnley said the club’s financial approach following relegation from the Premier League in 2016 was “only made possible by the continued financial support of our owner, who injected a further £15m interest-free loan into the club in 2017.”

Moussa Sissoko, Georginio Wijnaldum and Florian Thauvin departed after the drop to the second tier, but more than £50 million was spent on 12 new players ahead of the following season in the Sky Bet Championship.

Newcastle’s wage bill in 2016-17 was the eighth highest in the country.

Albion’s ranked 24th in the country and fourth in the Championship with a wage bill of £40.4 million but almost a quarter of that was due to promotion bonuses paid to staff throughout the club.

The amount Albion spent on wages throughout the season was below that of Toon plus Aston Villa, Norwich, Derby and Fulham, teams they beat to promotion.