April 4 – English Premier League clubs paid agents a record £211 million in the past year, an increase of £37 million, latest figures reveal, rekindling the debate over whether they take too much money out of the game.
Liverpool were the biggest spenders coughing up almost £28 million, mainly as a result of Virgil van Dijk’s arrival from Southampton following protracted negotiations as well as the purchases of Mohamed Salah from Roma and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal.
Chelsea were the second highest spending, paying out £25 million. Then came Manchester City on £23 million. All but four clubs – Burnley, Brighton, Huddersfield and West Bromwich Albion – paid more than £5 million.
Football’s governing bodies have been debating for some time whether to introduce new regulations to curb agents’ fees, with UEFA reportedly considering whether to apply a cap.
The deals, covering year 1 February 2017 – 31 January 2018, will make startling reading for the game’s authorities. Taken as a whole, English clubs across the top five divisions, including the National League – one rung below League 2 – spent a total £257 million on agent fees, also an increase of £37 million on 2016-17.
According to Deloitte, Premier League clubs spent an estimated record total of £1.9 billion on transfers over the 2017-18 season which of course had a direct knock-on effect on agents’ fees.
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