According to figures by the Football Association (FA), Premier League clubs paid almost £320m in agents’ fees from 1 February 2022 to 31 January 2023.
English clubs have outspent the rest of Europe by a long way in the last two transfer windows, with Chelsea alone spending almost £600million on player purchases.
The Blues bought Mykhailo Mudryk, Enzo Fernandez and Wesley Fofana, all joining since last summer for a combined fee of nearly 200 million pounds.
Chelsea was not alone in their lavish spending. Manchester City and Manchester United also splashed the cash on expensive buys, Erling Haaland, Lisandro Martinez, Anthony and Casemiro. In addition, Liverpool bought Darwin Nunez for a substantial sum, while Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Wolves spent heavily on players.
However, one element of the transfer market rarely spoken about is the role of agents and the financial settlements they demand brokering deals between clubs and players.
A new release by the FA shows that Premier League clubs spent close to £320 million on agent fees from February 2022 to the last window. However, the report revealed by the BBC also shows that despite Chelsea’s reckless spending in the past two windows, the Blues aren’t top of the list.
Who then has spent the most money on agents? Check out the list below.
- Manchester City: £52.5m-The club that has spent the most on agent fees in the last year is Manchester City. The Cityzens bought at least seven players over the two transfer windows.
- Chelsea: £43.16m–Chelsea, who made 15 significant signings, including loans, are the next highest at £43.16m.
- Liverpool are next, having paid £33.69m.
- Manchester United are number four, with an outlay of £24.73m for intermediaries.
- Arsenal are number five, having spent close to £17k on agent fees. The Gunners signed the likes of Oleksander Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, and Fabio Vieri in the last two summers.
- Tottenham Hotspur are next with an outlay of £16,137,103 for agent fees. The North London side signed Richarlison, Djed Spence, and Yves Bissouma in the period reported.
True to name, the Premier League top six spent the most in agent fees. Of the reported total sum, the top six spent almost £190 million, representing nearly 60% of the total sum spent on intermediaries.
Below them, are is the list of the next biggest spenders.
- Aston Villa-£15,623,203
- Leeds United-£15,310,814
- Everton-£13,542,845
- West Ham United-£12,030,438
- Newcastle United-£10,784,029
- Leicester City-£10,282,967
- Crystal Palace-£9,796,296
- Fulham-£8,758,854
- Brighton-£8,583,317
- Southampton-£6,319,675
- Wolverhampton Wanderers-£6,186,765
- Brentford-£5,560,192
- AFC Bournemouth-£5,058,871
- Nottingham Forest-£4,353,186
