Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has been discussing the fees that Wolverhampton Wanderers spent on agents during the 2019/20 season.
A report released in late June stated that during the current Premier League season, top-flight clubs paid out more than £263m to football agents (via BBC).
Of the 20 Premier League clubs, Wolves spent the eighth-lowest figure on agents by forking out just over £8.6m.
So, in the latest episode of The Price of Football Podcast, Maguire discussed the figure that had been spent by Nuno Espirito Santo’s outfit.
He said: “[Crystal] Palace paid £8m, the smallest was Burnley at £4m.
“If you take a look at the Wolves figures, most of their signings were the players that came up from the Championship.
“So, they had an absolutely fantastic squad. They ripped up the Championship in the year they came up, they do have a very close relationship with one of the super agents [Jorge Mendes].
“So, they were pretty average [in terms of fees paid to agents].”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what Maguire had to say, it seems that most of the Old Gold’s agent fees were for players who were with the club when they were promoted.
Do you believe that Premier League clubs are spending too much money on agent fees?Yes, it is ridicuous
No, I'm not bothered
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However, Wolves purchased a number of players this season who were not with them when they were promoted from the Championship (per Transfermarkt), so, it seems likely a portion of the agent fees were spent on new players, too. However, it appears that despite the strength of their squad (which currently lies in the European places), the comparatively small amount of agent fees looks to be down to the success of their transfer business as a second-tier club.