According to new data released by the FA, Chelsea spent more money on agent fees than Arsenal and Tottenham but it was Manchester City who topped the charts. The report states that Premier League clubs splashed an eye-watering £318.2 million on agent and intermediary fees this season, which is a 16.7% jump from last term.
However, the aforementioned increase is far less significant than the season-on-season English top-flight transfer fee spend. In 2021/22, Premier League clubs spent £1.44 billion on new players but, in 2022/23, that number almost doubled to a whopping £2.8bn.
But, it must be said that Chelsea single-handedly contributed to around 20% of the total English top-flight transfer spend after shelling out in the region of £600m on the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Wesley Fofana. As for Arsenal, they nearly eclipsed the £200m mark with the arrivals of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabio Vieira - among others too.
Tottenham didn't spend as much on new players as their London rivals, though Daniel Levy still managed to fork out over £150m on the likes of Richarlison, Cristian Romero and Yves Bissouma. Nevertheless, the money spent on agent fees by Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs is somewhat correlative to the money they spent on transfers.
In third and fourth for most spent on agent fees this season behind City and Chelsea is Manchester United and Liverpool. They were closely followed by Arsenal and Tottenham in fifth and sixth respectively, with no real shocks on the cards.
However, it must be said that Brentford and Brighton conducted their business in a rather honourable fashion – but the same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Leeds United. In an interview with Safebettingsites.com, as quoted by the Chronicle Live, Vyom Chaudhary issued his verdict on the results.
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"It’s interesting to note that City tops the list of agents fees despite doing very limited transfer business during 2022-23," said the football expert. "It’s very likely, as multiple reports have suggested, that City had to spend a huge sum of money on agents to acquire Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund."
The full table of results is as follows (£million):
Manchester City 51.6
Chelsea 43.2
Liverpool 33.7
Manchester United 24.7
Arsenal 16.7
Tottenham 16.1
Aston Villa 15.6
Leeds United 15.3
Everton 13.5
West Ham United 12.0
Newcastle United 10.8
Leicester City 10.3
Crystal Palace 9.8
Fulham 8.8
Brighton 8.6
Southampton 6.3
Wolves 6.2
Brentford 5.6
Bournemouth 5.1
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