Premier League clubs spend £320 million on agents in a single year

The Football Association (FA) has revealed that top flight clubs spent £318.2 million on agents’ fees in the year ending 31 January 2023.

The biggest spenders were Manchester City, who paid out an astonishing £51.7m on agents’ fees. During the period they sprung Erling Haaland from his Borussia Dortmund contract by paying his £51.2m release clause and it is assumed that there were also vast agents’ fees involved in the deal.

Under new ownership Chelsea spent big in January and racked up £43.2m in agents’ fees over the course of the year. Liverpool (£33.7m), Manchester United (£24.7) and Arsenal (£16.7m) complete the top five biggest spends on agents’ fees.

The amount spent on agents has risen substantially in the past year and the latest league-wide total is 17% higher than the figure of £272.6m recorded the year before.

When Premier League clubs began publishing details on agents’ fees in 2015-16, the total outlay across the whole league was less than £47m.

How much did my club pay in agents’ fees?

In 2015 FIFA introduced new regulations requiring associated clubs to publish their total spend on agents and other intermediaries. The influence of agents in the transfer market has risen exponentially in recent years.

Here’s the full list for Premier League clubs across the period 1 February 2022 to 31 January 2023...

AFC Bournemouth - £5,058,871

Arsenal - £16,749,072

Aston Villa - £15,623,203

Brentford - £5,560,192

Brighton & Hove Albion - £8,583,317

Chelsea - £43,160,072

Crystal Palace - £9,796,296

Everton - £13,542,845

Fulham - £8,758,854

Leeds United - £15,310,814

Leicester City - £10,282,967

Liverpool - £33,691,782

Manchester City - £51,563,571

Manchester United - £24,726,374

Newcastle United - £10,784,029

Nottingham Forest - £4,353,186

Southampton - £6,319,675

Tottenham Hotspur - £16,137,103

West Ham United - £12,030,438

Wolverhampton Wanderers - £6,186,765