Liverpool pay more money to agents than any other Premier League club

Liverpool have spent more money on player agent fees than any other Premier League club in a report issued by the FA.

Liverpool paid £26.8m to agents in the past year as Premier League spending on agent fees rose to £211m according to Football Association data from 1 February 2017 to 31 January 2018. The Anfield club acquired Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, Mohamed Salah from Roma and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal, which are believed to have contributed to the rise in Liverpool's spending. Chelsea were the next highest spenders with £25.1m paid to agents while Manchester City ranked third after paying £23.5m to agents. The report follows data released by professional services network Deloitte earlier this year which revealed that Premier League clubs spent £430million in the January transfer window, nearly double the previous record of £225million. Deloitte's Sports Business Group estimated that spending by Premier League clubs in the 2017/18 season amounted to a record £1.9billion, smashing last season's record of £1.4billion. Dan Jones,  Lead Partner of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: "Premier League clubs have taken the opportunity to refresh their squads in January before the decisive phase of the season. "International trade has flourished, with the highest ever January gross overseas outlay in Premier League history (£260m), but also the highest amount of January receipts from abroad (£185m), with names such as Coutinho and Costa leaving the UK and Laporte and Aubameyang arriving from abroad." Mino Raiola, Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba's agent, netted a whopping €27million commission for the part he played in the France international's return to Manchester United, while he reportedly pocketed £20m for his agency in the transfers of clients Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrik Mhkitaryan to the Manchester club.