The FA have just released their data on the amount that clubs spent on agents and intermediaries in the summer and winter transfer window – and Chelsea are miles ahead of the competition.
The Blues spent a jaw dropping £75.14m on this sort of payment, with their nearest rival Man City on just £60.26m, and most clubs at £20m or below. Only four clubs in the league spent more than £25m – but Chelsea spent more than three times £25m.
You can see the full list in the image embedded here, with this bar chart really illustrating how comically large our spending was:
Chelsea paid the highest amount of fees to agents & intermediaries compared to other Premier League clubs for the 2023-24 season.#CFC spent £75.1m ($93.2m) on fees paid to agents & intermediaries — in figures published by the FA — between February 1, 2023 to February 1, 2024.… pic.twitter.com/v76zejzLqD
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) April 12, 2024
It’s hard to see what that spending got us really. We got a massively overpriced Moises Caicedo, whose agent was very involved in the deal, lots of young players from South America, a goalkeeper from the MLS.
Given we were buying mainly unproven players from outside the Premier League, it’s hard to get your head around how any agents were able to get such leverage on us. It has created yet another financial black hole that will have to be filled by selling players.
