Fees paid to agents by men’s teams in England’s top four divisions raced past the half-billion-pound barrier for the first time this season, according to data disclosed by the Football Association (FA) on Wednesday afternoon.
Chelsea spent £65.1million on agent fees, topping the club
list for the third season running under the ownership of BlueCo, a consortium
led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly. In BlueCo’s other season at the helm,
Chelsea were the second-highest spenders on agents. In 2025-26, Chelsea
accounted for 12 per cent of the agent spend of the 92 clubs in the football
league.
In all, Chelsea have spent £272million on agent fees in four
seasons under their current owners, significantly more than anyone else in that
period bar Manchester City (£236.7m). The jump to the next highest spender in
that time, Manchester United, at £152.6m, is significant. Indeed, only three
other clubs have spent more than £100m on agents over the past four years:
Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa.
Villa were the second-highest spenders behind Chelsea. The
gulf between first and second is huge but Villa spending so much on agents in a
period when their transfer activity was muted — they spent less than anyone
else in the division last summer, though did top that up in January — is
noteworthy.
In percentage terms, the biggest increase in agent spending
in England this season came at two promoted clubs: Sunderland and Wrexham. Sunderland’s surprising ascent to the Premier
League last May set off a transfer spend which has neared £200million this
season, and their £10.6m spend on agents represented a 390 per cent increase on
a year ago in the Championship.
At Wrexham, promoted from League One last May and now
hopeful of a Championship play-off spot, their £3.7m spend on agents was a 367
per cent increase on 2024-25.
They were not, however, the biggest spenders in the second
tier. That accolade fell to Ipswich Town who, like Leeds United a year ago,
continued to pay high agent fees following Premier League relegation. Ipswich’s
£11.7million spend was roughly one-sixth of the Championship’s £69.7m
total.
Beyond the top two divisions, spending in League One grew
substantially, up 85 per cent to £14million, more than the previous two seasons
combined. Luton Town, who were in the Premier League just two years ago,
accounted for nearly a quarter of the sum. In League Two, fees dropped
slightly, down five per cent to £2.6m.
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