Does Spending More On A Footballer’s Agent Translate To Actual Success On The Pitch?

Agents. Crucial tools that are constantly used to negotiate and sign players in the modern football landscape. While they can help and guide their players on decisions and next destinations, they can also demand a hefty fee when their player signs on the dotted line.

In the modern market, clubs are not only paying a fee and wages for a new signing, but they now must budget for agents – paying high funds for simply a player’s advisor. So what teams in England are spending the most on agents, and how are they performing this season in comparison to those who spend less?

The Premier League

In the Premier League, teams are no strangers to the idea of agents, with many teams paying incredible amounts on their fees. Teams vary in their financial differential and spending as the Premier League combines for a spend of £409.1m. It is not as simple as whoever spends the most in the transfer window - spends the most on agent fees. But as always in English football, the top six giants have an advantage compared to the rest.

Top Spenders: Chelsea (£60.4m)

Chelsea top the spending table with a reported The Blues having made several signings under the reign of Todd Boehly, adding Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Filip Jorgensen to their roster this summer. Enzo Maresca’s side’s signings totalled a reported £276m, with the London club also taking a hit due to agents - paying £60.4m. When looking towards Chelsea’s under the Italian boss, it is hard to say that Boehly’s deals have been value for money, with Dewsbury-Hall and Jorgensen struggling for minutes while Joao Felix has left on loan for AC Milan and Pedro Neto has been the pick of the bunch, scoring four and assisting four for Chelsea this season. With all things being considered, it is hard to see the spending of the Blues as ‘sustainable’ as Chelsea may have dropped their agent fee outgoings by around £15m, they have remained as the Premier League’s king-pins for the second season in a row and having spent over £300m, quality over quantity could be the plan at Stamford Bridge next season.

Manchester City follow in second, with the Sky Blues paying £52.1m in agent fees to sign and keep some of Europe’s greatest talents at the club. Pep Guardiola’s side have not needed to dig deep in the transfer market – the Spaniard, with a plethora of elite talent already at his disposal, and Erling Haaland being the anomaly. However, after a poor start to the season, the Citizens splashed out on reinforcements in Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush, and Abdukodir Khusanov, raising their agent fees to £52.1m.

Mid-Table: AFC Bournemouth (£16.4m)

Slap bang in the middle of the table is the Cherries, a surprise, due to the size and history of the club to sit above teams such as Nottingham Forest and Everton. However, the Cherries have continued to work smart in the transfer market to punch above their weight in the Premier League. The summer window was an example of that, Dean Huijsen walking through the door for a fee of under £20m, the Spaniard joining the club as an unknown 19-year-old, and during his debut season at the club, becoming one of the most desired young central defenders in Europe. Spending £16.4m on agent fees, the south coast side sit just £2m behind giants Tottenham Hotspurs, despite having players with significantly lower wages. Nevertheless, having top talent at the club in players such as Illia Zabarnyi and Ryan Christie – contracts are a key topic of discussion for Bill Foley, with agents gaining a large chunk as their client puts pen to paper. Typically seen as a feeder club and due to their domestic success this season, Bournemouth will possibly have to sell and sign, causing record deals and agent spending fees to be likely to rise in the coming years for the Cherries.

Lowest Spenders: Ipswich Town (£6.3m)

Gaining back-to-back promotions and Premier League football after a 22-year hiatus, Ipswich Town were also going to have to spend big money and sign a number of different players. Kieran McKenna’s side did that, putting pen to paper for Jaden Philogene, Omari Hutchinson, Jacob Greaves, Liam Delap, Dara O’Shea, Sammie Szmodics, Jack Clarke, and many more. The Tractor Boys splashed an estimated £152m on shiny new toys, but as five games remain in the season, it was still not enough. Despite an increased spending rate caused by promotion, Ipswich sit bottom of the league in agent fees, being separated by those who are established and the elites by a comfortable margin.

Which Sides Are Doing The Worst Compared To Their Agent Fees?

It probably will come as no surprise that the club that is performing the worst compared to how much they spend on their players’ agents is Manchester United. In the summer they spent big on Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, and their agents certainly didn’t come cheap either. Add that to the inflated wages that Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund earn, and you have a serious financial crisis at Manchester United.

Here’s an idea Sir Jim Ratcliffe, instead of firing the dinner ladies, how about you stop paying agents £38.4m. Clubs like Nottingham Forest and Fulham are doing very well without having to spend excessive amounts on player agents, so why not take a leaf out of their books? Well the answer is because they are Manchester United, and I'm not saying that as a 'big-headed' answer either. Players and agents know that United will spend big, an so they inflate their fees as much as they can while dealing with big clubs.

How Does The EFL Compare?

Championship: Leeds United (£18.8m) and Oxford United (£572,808)

The Championship might be the second tier of English football. However, there is a huge drop off in agent fees as the division has approximately spent £63m on fees this season. While signings continue to be plentiful, teams often lose their ‘big guns’ and must sign young or out of favour talent to reach the big leagues before spending large sums.

Leeds United dominate the division in agent fees, the Whites having spent £18.8m, a reported £5.5m increase from the previous season. Joe Rodon, Largie Ramazani, Jayden Bogle, and Ao Tanaka were among the permanent players through the door, alongside Wilfred Gnonto, who notably signed a new deal at the club. With an alleged £32m spent on transfer deals and a further £18.8m on agent fees, a loss of £50m could be a large loss for a Championship side in the second season of their parachute payments. However, following a strong season, Daniel Farke’s team have secured their place back in the Premier League and back in a position to spend. On the other end of the table in agent fee spending, Oxford United sit last in the Championship, with their spending reaching £572,808. Spending a significantly diminished amount compared to the rest of the division, Oxford did not need financial power to show that they could compete in the division – Gary Rowett’s side sitting three points above the bottom three with two fixtures left to play.

As both Bristol City and Millwall haven’t been in the English top flight for many years, it comes as no surprise that their spending hasn’t been inflated too much by agent fees. They are now both pushing for the playoffs, and so their current league positions are much higher than the amount they’ve spent on agents, giving them the two best differentials in the whole league. Blackburn Rovers and Coventry City are also both near the top, which seems to show a pattern that playoff chasing clubs tend to have a well balanced budget. At the other end, Luton Town are right near the bottom, as they were relegated from the Premier League last season, and the amount a club needs to spend to be able to stay in that division is quite frankly ridiculous. They are the seventh highest spenders on agent fees in the whole league, yet are battling this season to avoid relegation.

League One: Huddersfield Town (£1.1m)

As always in the English football pyramid – the players, the finances, the sponsorships, the fanbases, and even the agent fees decrease as they trickle down. In League One, there aren’t many big money or marquee signings – teams mostly utilising the free or loan markets when it comes to squad additions.

A total of £7.5m has been spent in League One on agent fees. Huddersfield Town top the tree in England’s third tier, spending £1.1m on agents. The Terriers spent a reported £5m on incomings over this season’s two windows, Joe Taylor and Dion Charles being the standout names, with the duo costing a combined £4m. However, despite a sixth of their spending being placed onto agent fees and leading the league, Huddersfield sit 9th in the table and eight points away from the playoff spots as two games remain in the season, outlining the muted impact of financial spending in the lower leagues of the EFL.

Leyton Orient are certainly the biggest success story in this factor in League One this season. They haven’t spent much time in the league, and could even earn promotion with one of the lowest budgets in the league. They have the best differential of all league one team, marginally better than Wycombe who are also looking to get promoted this campaign.

League Two: Fleetwood Town (£284,407)

Finally, at the bottom of the pyramid, sits the teams that fight for their lives in the EFL each season in League Two. A mere £2.7m has been spent by clubs in League Two this season, a third of the spending of the bottom team in the Premier League in Ipswich Town, and almost nine times less than the Championship’s highest spenders in Leeds United.

Fleetwood Town lead the fourth tier, with £284,407 spent on agent fees this season, Pete Wild’s side having not spent on player transfer within the transfer windows – Zach Medley, Matty Virtue, and MacKenzie Hunt being the notable additions on free transfers. While dominating the agent fee spending charts, it has not quite translated into points and a potential promotion for Fleetwood, the Fishermen sitting 15th in the League Two table after a season of inconsistent results. This puts them right near the bottom for their differential, with only Carlisle United worse off. This is likely down to the fact that they were in League One just 12 months ago.

Bromley have spent by far the least in the league on their players’ agents, however they are comfortably mid-table this season, much to the surprise of many League Two fans who had them to go straight back down into the National League following their promotion last campaign. The club should now be seen as a model for those coming up from the non-league trying to survive in one of the most cut-throat leagues in the world.

The Gap Between The Premier League And EFL

There are several reasons for the widening gap between teams in the top-flight of English football compared to the teams in the two lower divisions of the EFL and teams from the Championship that gain promotion to the Premier League.

Player quality is the obvious answer, England’s top clubs have an increased ability to gain and attract top players from other clubs while also being able to keep them at the club for longer durations. However, alongside this, and to be able to get these players, clubs have to spend money, and that is where the main differences lie. A reported £483.6m was spent by clubs in English football on agent’s fees in the 2024/25 season, and a reported £409.1m was by Premier League teams. The clear comparison is the top of the top-flight in Chelsea (£60m) compared to the top of the second tier in Leeds United (£18m), as the Premier League almost possesses a three-time advantage. But as you look down the EFL leagues, money and agent fees continue to get smaller at an unsustainable rate, and with the gap between the Premier League and League Two in all departments of finances, it is hard to see any potential fairytales like AFC Bournemouth in the future.