The Premier League on Tuesday gave us a look at what clubs have been spending on agent fees and the like. Chelsea are at the top of the list.
Shocking.
The club spent a cool £9,293,751.48 over the past year on satisfying the middle-men. That number is down slightly from the year prior (£9,562,223), but not drastically. Not even close. It's disappointment to be honest. I mean, how in the hell have we spent that much?
Let's look at what kind of business we've done in 2010. We purchased two players (Yossi Benayoun, Ramires). That's it. We signed Michael Essien and Nicolas Anelka to extensions. Of the four players released, just one was still under contract (Deco). So where are all these fees coming from?
Did Ramires' co-ownership debacle have a hand in that final number? If not, we're drastically overpaying these scumbags. I tend to think not since we spent a similar amount the year prior when we signed four players, one on a free transfer.
If anybody has insight into why we are paying these outlandish fees, let us know. Below is the entire league table with regard to spending. Very nice work by Blackpool, by the way.
Club totals (in order of spending)
Chelsea £9,293,751.48
Liverpool £9,032,528.49
Manchester City £5,952,261.33
Tottenham Hotspur £5,361,229.87
Sunderland £4,421,990.72
Arsenal £3,660,199.00
Everton £3,599,040.51
Bolton Wanderers £3,549,316.72
West Ham United £3,419,089.99
Wigan Athletic £2,461,500.00
Newcastle United £2,417,776.00
Manchester United £2,312,726.00
Aston Villa £2,279,536.50
Stoke City £2,196,968.50
Fulham £2,087,373.55
Blackburn Rovers £1,623,232.92
Birmingham City £1,518,529.09
Wolverhampton Wanderers £1,291,794.00
West Bromwich Albion £614,195.73
Blackpool £45,000.00
Bonus video: That other RAWSE is right. We 'blowin' money fast' over here.