Albion's agents' fees revealed for last two transfer windows

Brighton & Hove Albion spent more than £4 million on agents' fees over the last two transfer windows, one of the smallest spenders in the Premier League.
Jurgen Locadia joined Brighton from PSV Eindhoven in January. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)Jurgen Locadia joined Brighton from PSV Eindhoven in January. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)
Jurgen Locadia joined Brighton from PSV Eindhoven in January. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)

The FA has released figures for how much Premier League clubs paid to agents between February 1 2017 and January 31 2018.

A change in Fifa regulations in 2015 requires the FA to publish the amount every club in English football paid to intermediaries.

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Over the summer and January transfer windows Brighton & Hove Albion paid agents a total of £4.4 million.

Liverpool spent the most money on agents, £26 million, while newly promoted Huddersfield Town spent the least, £2.4 million.

Brighton unsurprisingly spent more on agents for this season than the previous one when they were promoted from the Championship. For the 2016-17 season they paid £1.5 million in fees.

In total Premier League clubs spent more than £211 million over the two latest transfer windows, £35 million more than the previous season.

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The steady rise in agents' fees has been described by former FA chairman David Bernstein as "immoral".

Representatives are now able to earn huge amounts from transfers, in some cases more than the player.

Paul Pogba's agent Mino Raiola is expected to earn more than £40 million from the midfielder's transfer to Manchester United.

However Dan Chapman, vice-chairman of Society of Football Intermediaries and Agents, said as transfer fees increase so will agents' fees.

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"The last two seasons have seen a record spend by Premier League clubs on a number of very high value transfers and so it is not surprising that there has been an increase in the total spend on agent fees too," he said.

Mr Chapman explained that the latest figures might not cover all payments, as some are spread out in instalments over time.

"This data shows payments that are being paid during the period but will often relate to transactions that took place in earlier periods.

"For example, we know from the data that reached the public domain the previous year that substantial agency fees were payable by Manchester United for their signing of Pogba, but those fees were to be paid in instalments over time.

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"In this latest set of data, some of those payments would be represented, along with payments made in respect of the more recent transactions by that club.

"The issue for consideration for us is not so much the total level of fees, but whether agency fees are being paid legitimately and in accordance with the relevant regulations.

"Unfortunately the FA data does not break down what the total spend was on fees paid to agents acting for a club, or for acting on behalf of a player. That would be the more informative data to consider."