By Chris Wright
“Loadsamoney!”
Premier League figures released last night show that, between the 20 top-flight clubs, £67.1 million was paid to middle-men and agents between October 2009 and September 2010 – with Chelsea and Liverpool topping the individual list (£9.2 million and £9 million spent respectively), a surprisingly long way ahead of Sheikh Mansour‘s exercise in nouveau-riche über capitalism (£5.6 million).
Of the top three spenders, Chelsea’s outlay is slightly down on last year’s postings, whereas Man City have halved their outgoings which are down from a staggering £12.8 million according to the previous set of results – however, Liverpool’s total has risen by £2.4 million during the same period.
Newly promoted Blackpool sit bottom of the individual stakes, having only spent £45,000 on agents and brokers last year.
The list in full…
Arsenal – £3,660,199.00
Aston Villa – £2,279,536.50
Birmingham – £1,518,529.09
Blackburn – £1,623,232.92
Blackpool – £45,000.00
Bolton – £3,549,316.72
Chelsea – £9,293,751.48
Everton – £3,599,040.51
Fulham – £2,087,373.55
Liverpool – £9,032,528.49
Manchester City – £5,952,261.33
Manchester United – £2,312,726.00
Newcastle – £2,417,776.00
Stoke – £2,196,968.50
Sunderland – £4,421,990.72
Tottenham – £5,361,229.87
West Brom – £614,195.73
West Ham – £3,419,089.99
Wigan – £2,461,500.00
Wolves – £1,291,794.00
Total – £67,138,040,
Initial thoughts? £67 million will keep you in ill-fitting pinstripe suits, abhorrent smelling cigars, ridiculous trouser braces (seriously, who – other than the rotary club chairman – wears braces anymore?) and spivvy leatherette briefcases for an awfully long time!
(via BBC Sport)