Premier League Clubs Spend A Record £174m As Agent Fees
REUTERS/Albert Gea
Premier League clubs paid a record £174m to players’ agents between February 2016 and January 2017, according to reports from BBC.
Since the start of Premier League’s current £8.3bn-worth three-year TV deals, there has been a severe boost in the amount of money the clubs paid to the agents of their players during the 2016 summer transfer window as well as the 2017 winter transfer window.
The top-tier English clubs paid a combined total of £174m to agents – a rise of 38% from the amount of last season, which was close to £130m. Furthermore, England’s second tier, the Championship, altogether spent £42.4m on agents, marking an increase of 62%.
Manchester City was the English club to spend the highest amount on agents (£26.3m), closely followed by Chelsea (£25.1m), and then their inter-city rivals, Manchester United (£19m).
Liverpool, who led the Premier League charts in terms of agent fees last year, have seen their spending go down from £14.3m to £13.8m, which makes them the fourth highest spenders in the country. Arsenal complete the Top 5 in this chart, with their total being close to £10.2m.
Hull City, who were promoted to the Premier League at the start of the 2016-17 season, spent £1.9m on agents – the least amongst the top tier clubs.
However, the FA has explained that the overall £174m total does not represent the total agent fees agreed for the deals that were only completed during the 2016 summer transfer window and the 2017 winter transfer window, due to the fact that most agent fees are usually paid in stages. Therefore, the total comprises of installments from the current as well as previous deals.
