Chelsea’s mammoth spend on agent fees revealed as Premier League teams ranked

Chelsea are enduring a rotten run in the Premier League but they’ve claimed the title that matters, with no top flight club spending as much as them on agent fees for the second season on the bounce. Carefree, wherever we may be…

The Football Association released the figures on Monday which showed the Premier League teams spent a combined £409.1m on fees, down from £409.5m in the previous period.

The data covers a period between 2 February 2024 and 3 February 2025, encompassing the summer and winter windows this season, and shows Chelsea spent a little over £60m for agents to facilitate transfers for the men’s team.

That’s more than they spent on one single player, with Pedro Neto their most expensive flop at £54m, while a further 11 flops arrived in permanent deals, along with loan flop Jadon Sancho, whose move from Manchester United looks set to become permanent at the end of the season.

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Neto, Sancho and free transfer Tosin Adarabioyo are the only three of the 13 players to have played regular football under Enzo Maresca this season, while Joao Felix – the second most expensive signing of the summer – is now failing on loan at AC Milan.

The Blues spent the most of any Premier League side, although that figure is down on their 2023/2024 outlay of £75.1m.

Manchester City again spent the second most on agents – just over £52m – followed by Manchester United with a £33m spend.

Aston Villa (£25m) and Newcastle (£24.3m) complete the top five biggest spenders, with Arsenal (£22.8m) and Premier League champions-elect Liverpool (£20.8m) following behind.

West Ham (£19m), Tottenham (£18.4m) and Brighton (£16.5m) make up the rest of the top ten, while Ipswich prop up the table having paid just £6.2 on agents despite spending the seventh-most this season (£130m).

Chelsea were also comfortably the highest spenders on agents in the Women’s Super League, with the champions paying £622,604 to intermediaries.

That’s nearly triple the amount of the second-highest spenders, Manchester City – £288,628 – with the 12 WSL clubs paying a combined £2.1m to agents.

This means Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea were responsible for 28.6% of the division’s spending.

Premier League agent fee table in full:

1. Chelsea – £60.3m
2. Manchester City – £52.1m
3. Manchester United -£33m
4. Aston Villa – £25.1m
5. Newcastle – £24.4m
6. Arsenal – £22.8m
7. Liverpool – £20.8m
8. West Ham United – £19m
9. Tottenham Hotspur – £18.4m
10. Brighton – £16.6m
11. Bournemouth – £16.4m
12. Brentford – £14.8m
13. Wolves – £13.5m
14. Nottingham Forest – £13m
15. Fulham – £12.8m
16. Crystal Palace – £12m
17. Leicester – £9.8m
18. Everton – £9.2m
19. Southampton – £8.9m
20. Ipswich Town – £6.3m