Following on from our look at how much Newcastle have spent on transfers in recent years comes an investigation into the financial issue of agents’ fees. Given that Newcastle are one of the only Premier League teams in the black as far as net transfer spend is concerned, it probably wouldn’t surprise you if the Magpies spent less money on agents than their rivals; and you’d be right!
Between October 1st 2009 and September 30th 2010, Premier League clubs spent in excess of £67million on agent fees. Within this period, these clubs made 742 transactions, and although each one did not necessarily entail an agent fee, the vast majority will have done.
Fees paid to agents arise for various reasons, but are usually the result of clubs interested in acquiring or negotiating player registrations. These fees are also sometimes paid by clubs on behalf of the player involved, and are often paid to facilitate the outward transfer of players, whether it be domestic or international, permanently or temporarily.
Here is what each Premier League club spent…
As you can see, Newcastle spent less than £2.5 million on agents’ fees, which in the context of the modern game is not too bad at all. While Newcastle were in the Championship for the majority of the period of time in question, it does include last summer when they returned to the top flight.
This is one of the great things about Mike Ashley’s Newcastle model, and hopefully this summer’s signings won’t have bucked the trend. With wages becoming ever more expensive, you cannot afford to be frittering money away on agents, and while you often have to pay to get the player you want, if you can avoid doing that you’re onto a winner.
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