CHELSEA remain top of the agent payments charts this season – but even the Blues have slashed the amount they splash out to intermediaries.
The Stamford Bridge club paid out £60.4m to players’ representatives over the course of the current campaign according to figures lodged with the FA.
That is a 20 per cent cut on the £75.1m Chelsea laid out last term, with all of the Big Six reducing their agents bill.
Chelsea paid out to agents representing 44 players – 26 of whom are still to make their first team bow – as well as the agent of former boss Mauricio Pochettino.
While the Blues spent more than £200m across the two windows, many of the payments related to previous deals completed since Roman Abramovich was forced to sell to the Todd Boehly-led consortium in 2022.
Manchester City’s £60.6m bill last term was reduced to £52.1m, Liverpool dropped £10.6m to £20.9m with small falls at Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs.
That contributed to a slight overall drop in spending of £455,000 across the 20 top flight clubs to a total of £409.1m.
Eight of the clubs who stayed up last season – Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Newcastle, West Ham and Wolves increased their fees to agents.
Brentford, whose total rose from £8.1m to £14.7m, recorded the biggest rise by any club.
And agents fees rose across all three divisions of the EFL.
The total for the Championship stood at £63.2m this term compared to £61.3m in 2023-24, with a £2.4m rise to £7.6m in League One and an increase of £300,000 to £2.7m in League Two.
Leeds United spent the most by far with £18.8m – significantly more than second-highest spenders Burnley with £5.3m.
In contrast, Oxford United splashed out just £572,808 on agents fees.
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