Agents or intermediaries is an inseparable part of the modern football industry. Players without networks need agents to find the right club for them, on the other hand, clubs also need agents to find players with certain criteria. For their role as intermediary between players and clubs, agents often get very paid very high, especially in England.
As quoted from BBC, Premier League clubs paid more than 260 million pounds only for agent fees throughout the 2018-2019 season, an increase of 49 million pounds from the previous 12 months.
Liverpool is the club that paid the biggest agent fees, which reached 43 million pounds, followed by Chelsea with 26 million pounds, and Manchester City with 24 million pounds.
Championship Division clubs spent a total of 50 million pounds for agent fees, an increase of around 8 million pounds from the previous year. Approximately 35 percent of total agent fees were paid by Stoke City, Swansea and West Bromwich Albion that have played in the Premier League in previous years.
League One clubs spent a total of 5.5 million pounds for agent fees, which half of it spent by Sunderland who have played in the Premier League. While League Two clubs spent 940 thousand pounds for agent fees.
Agent fees are increasing while player purchases are decreasing. This means that commissions rate received by agents are increasing.
Overall, English football clubs spent around 318 million pounds on agent fees this season, an increase of 60 million pounds from the previous season. In the 2017-2018 season, the total spending for new players of Premier League clubs reached 1.9 billion pounds, while in the 2018-2019 season the figure dropped to 1.4 billion pounds. Total spending for new players is decreasing while agent fees are decreasing, this means the commission received by agents from each purchase increases.
Increasing agent fees in the midst of the financial difficulties of clubs in the lower league (League One, League Two) caused unrest among fans and stakeholders. When intermediaries received more than clubs and players, means we need to do something. Because clubs and players of grassroots football are the main pillars who support the Premier League.
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