Chelsea have once again topped the Premier League charts for agent fee spending, shelling out a staggering £60.4million to player representatives over the past year. The figure, published on Monday by the Football Association, highlights the continued financial muscle – and arguably, mismanagement – under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital regime, even amid ongoing concerns about the club’s overall recruitment strategy.
The data covers the period between February 2, 2024 and February 3, 2025, and reveals that Chelsea spent more on agent fees than any other top-flight side. That £60.4m outlay is almost equal to the entire agent fee spending of the Championship (£63.2m), and while it does represent a £14.7m drop from their record-setting £75.1m the previous year, it still dwarfs the figures posted by their Premier League rivals.
Manchester City came closest, spending £52.1m, followed by Manchester United at £33.0m. Rounding out the top five were Aston Villa (£25.1m) and Newcastle United (£24.4m), with Arsenal (£22.8m) and Tottenham (£18.4m) also racking up significant, though considerably lower, totals. At the other end of the spectrum, newly-promoted Ipswich Town were the lowest spenders in the division, with just £6.2m spent on agent-related transactions.
The FA made clear that the figures may include payments related to transfers agreed prior to the start of the reporting window, stating: “Payments included in these figures may have been made in relation to transactions that were entered into before the first date of this reporting period. As a result, the total payment figure per club will not necessarily relate directly to those transactions listed involving a football agent registered in England for the same period.”
Even so, Chelsea’s eye-watering total only adds to the scrutiny around the club’s financial strategy since Boehly’s takeover in 2022. With over £1.5 billion spent on transfers and contract fees during that span, the West London club continues to make headlines not only for who they sign, but how much they pay to do it.
This latest revelation arrives at a time when Chelsea are under pressure on multiple fronts. On the pitch, Enzo Maresca’s side have underwhelmed for large parts of the season despite flashes of promise and a late push for Champions League qualification. Off the pitch, there’s growing unrest among supporters frustrated by a bloated and inconsistent squad, one that many feel has been assembled at astronomical cost without a clear footballing identity.
Critics will point to the fact that, despite such extravagant agent spending, Chelsea remain well short of the standards they set during the Roman Abramovich era. Several of the club’s high-profile signings over the last 18 months have struggled to live up to their price tags or justify the lucrative contracts that often accompany them – deals that inevitably carry hefty agent fees.
Meanwhile, in the Championship, Leeds United were the only club to break the £10m barrier, splashing £18.8m in agent-related costs – more than several Premier League sides. Burnley were next on £5.3m, while Huddersfield Town (£1.2m) and Fleetwood Town (£284,000) led the way in League One and League Two respectively.
For Chelsea, the headline figure of £60.4m on agent fees is yet another chapter in a saga that has seen them spend heavily with limited returns. And while some fans might argue it’s the price of ambition, others will see it as just another example of a club throwing money at problems it can’t seem to solve.