Chelsea spent a staggering £75.1million on agents’ fees in the 2023-24 campaign – the highest sum ever revealed for payments made by a Premier League club to intermediaries in a single season.

Football Association figures released yesterday, covering the period from February 1, 2023 to February 1, 2024, showed how significantly the London club outspent their rivals. 

It followed a summer of lavish spending by Chelsea, having signed Moises Caicedo, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer and more in multi-million pound deals.

Their figure of £75.1m was more than all of the clubs in the Championship, League One, League Two and National League added together, which totalled £69.7m collectively. 

The Premier League’s overall total was £409.6m, up from £318.2m the previous year.

Chelsea topped Premier League table for spending on agents from February 2023 to 2024

After Chelsea, Manchester City were the next highest spenders on £60.6m, followed by Manchester United on £34m, Liverpool on £31.5m and Arsenal on £24.7m. 

At the other end of the Premier League table, Luton paid the least money in agents’ fees at £2m.

The confirmation that Chelsea spent so much will only add to the scrutiny on their financial situation amid speculation that they will struggle to pass the Premier League’s PSR rules.

Rivals are convinced that they need to sell at the end of this season to avoid a breach, though Chelsea insiders have disputed this. 

Manager Mauricio Pochettino has said he wants to add to his squad once the next transfer window opens, with the club hoping a late push can see them sneak a European position. Everton are the visitors to Stamford Bridge on Monday.