Premier League clubs splashed a record-breaking £129.9 million to pay agents’ fees in the last 12 months and Liverpool tops the list.
The league released figures which showed payments to agents have soared almost 13 per cent year on year, while Liverpool spent most (£14.3m) on agent fees among the 20 teams.
Manchester United are second in the list with £13.9m and Manchester City sits third with £12.4m.
Surprisingly the biggest increase in agent fees was registered by Arsenal, their fees raised from £4.3m to £11.9m.
As manager Arsene Wenger virtually didn’t go for any signings except Petr Cech in that time, major portion of the extra money might have spent on renegotiating the player contracts.
Manchester United’s spending for the fees surged by £5.9m last year when Louis van Gaal signed Anthony Martial and Memphis Depay.
However, Liverpool’s agent fees remained constant from one year earlier, highlighting recently axed manager Brendan Rodgers’s blunt attempts to fill the gap left by Suarez.
Interestingly, dramatic cuts in Chelsea and Tottenham’s spending highlights some concern, the list shows down from £16.8m to £12m for the Blues and from £11m to £6m for the Spurs.
But Manchester City’s spending fell marginally, despite splashing more than £150m on Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne this summer.
The three promoted sides were the lowest spenders as expected, as Norwich City and Bournemouth paid only £2.4m and £2.3m, respectively, ahead of Watford who spent only £1.6m.
Statistically the last 12 months have seen 172 inbound transfers and loans to the Premier League, as clubs spent a staggering £1 billion on players in a calendar year for the first time in English football. Apart from the inbound ones, 573 outbound transfers and loans and 542 new or updated contracts were witnessed.
The total spending on agents’ fees rocketed from £115m a year earlier and £96m 12 months before that.
An overall downward trend in agent’s fees demonstrates the amount of money agents take out of Premier League is no longer out of control. Actually it follows the introduction of the Premier League’s own version of Financial Fair Play back in 2012, which was designed to partly curb the amount of money going to third parties like agents.
Premier League agents fees 2014-15:
Liverpool: £14,301,464
Chelsea: £11,961,206
Manchester United: £13,881,814
Manchester City: £12,429,380
Arsenal: £11,928,584
West Ham: £7,049,001
Tottenham: £5,987,052
Newcastle: £5,946,031
Southampton: £5,391,172
Stoke City: £5,308,545
Aston Villa: £4,986,058
Crystal Palace: £4,719,931
Everton: £4,479,432
Swansea City: £4,250,030
Leicester City: £4,057,727
Sunderland: £3,404,540
West Bromwich Albion: £3,342,217
Norwich City: £2,484,285
Bournemouth: £2,328,862
Watford: £1,620,229