Manchester City spent £51.5 million on agents’ fees over the past year (Getty)
Manchester City paid the highest amount of fees to agents and intermediaries out of all 20 Premier League clubs over the past year.
The Football Association has published the total payments made by Premier League teams to agents and intermediaries between February 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023, with City topping the table by spending £51.5 million.
Chelsea, who have signed 16 players since last summer, are second in the Premier League spending table having paid £43.1m to agents, which is a significant increase from the £28.2m spent during Roman Abramovich’s final year in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool are third on the list after spending £33.6m, while Manchester United are fourth having paid £24.7m – a slight reduction from their £29m outlay on agents in the previous year.
Combined, Premier League clubs spent over £318.2m on agents fees, which is an increase from the £272.5m spent by all 20 teams from February 2021 to the end of January 2022.
PREMIER LEAGUE SPENDING ON AGENTS FROM FEBRUARY 2022 TO END OF JANUARY 2023
Manchester City – £51,563,571
Chelsea – £43,160,072
Liverpool – £33,691,782
Manchester United – £24,726,374
Arsenal – £16,749,072
Tottenham – £16,137,103
Aston Villa – £15,623,203
Leeds United – £15,310,814
Everton – £13,542,845
West Ham – £12,030,438
Newcastle United – £10,784,029
Leicester City – £10,282,967
Crystal Palace – £9,796,296
Fulham – £8,758,854
Brighton – £8,583,317
Southampton – £6,319,675
Wolves – £6,186,765
Brentford – £5,560,192
Bournemouth – £5,058,871
Nottingham Forest – £4,353,186
TOTAL: £318,219,426
Surprisingly, Nottingham Forest sit bottom of the spending table with their £4.3m payments to agents, despite signing 30 new players since last summer.
The fees paid to agents include permanent transfers, loan deals, new youth registrations and updated contracts.
Will Manchester City extend an already dominant era or can Arsenal’s upstarts stay clear of the field and complete what would be a remarkable triumph?
It has been a Premier League season of distractions, pop-up windows and one vast and disorientating hiatus. Exactly 34 weeks have passed since Arsenal kicked things off with a Friday night trip to Crystal Palace, a week before temperatures in London hit 34 degrees, four months before Lionel Messi was draped in a propaganda cape in Qatar, a month before Liz Truss was sworn in as temp-to-perm prime minister. Is that story still this story? Is there an actual narrative arc here? Did somebody win the league in between and we’ve all just forgotten and carried on?
The good news, as March folds into April, is that we do now have some clarity. After that hungover summer start; after the fever dream of a northern winter World Cup, an entirely disjointed digression like an hour-long magic realist segue in an annoying arthouse film; after the jet-lagged Christmas restart, and now the weary what-now of a spring international break. After all that, the season is now primed not just for a genuine title race, but for an uncluttered run to the finish.
Saturday’s game against Aston Villa will give them a chance to continue some of the momentum they generated with four unbeaten matches across all competitions before the break.
However, Villa will head to west London in confident mood having won three of their last four matches to close the gap on the top ten.
The two sides head into the clash level on points in the table with 38 points collected from their 27 fixtures to date.
Here is everything you need to know about the match, including the kick-off time and how to watch on TV and live stream.
What time does the game kick-off?
Chelsea vs Aston Villa will kick-off on Saturday, April 1 at 5.30pm.
Villa are on a fine run of form (Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
How to watch Chelsea vs Aston Villa on TV and live stream
The game will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage on both channels starting at 5pm.
A live stream of the game will also be available to Sky customers on the Sky Sports website and with the Sky Go app.
Live radio commentary of Chelsea vs Aston Villa will take place on BBC Radio 5 Live.
What happened in the reverse fixture?
Aston Villa claimed the three points in the clash between the two sides earlier in the season at Villa Park.
John McGinn finished off a fine team move after just seven minutes in the only goal of the game.
The Midlands side withstood late pressure from the visitors with academy graduates Lewis Hall and Ben Elliott both spurning opportunities for Graham Potter’s men.
Thomas Tuchel was appointed Bayern Munich boss last week (Photo: Getty)
Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed that he found out he was sacked by Chelsea in a ‘shock’ meeting the lasted just a few minutes.
Tuchel was dismissed by Todd Boehly last September – just over a year after he had won the Champions League for the Blues – and replaced the next day by Graham Potter
He has now gone into further detail about what went down at Stamford Bridge and revealed that he was relieved of his duties in a short meeting with the chairman.
‘It was a shock. I felt it, strangely, when I drove to the training centre,’ Tuchel said in his pre-match press conference ahead of his Bayern debut on Saturday.
‘The meeting we had felt unusual – and it turned out to be a very short meeting. It was 8am, or something, and it lasted three to five minutes. I was also not in the mood to talk longer.
‘The decision had been made and, honestly, it was a shock for all of us. We had a feeling that we were in the right spot at the right time.
Todd Boehly came under fire for sacking Tuchel (Photo: Getty)
‘We felt that we could achieve big things and we wanted to stay longer – it was as simple as that.’
At Bayern, Tuchel replaces Julian Nagelsmann who was himself shockingly sacked last week despite the club still being in contention for a treble of trophies.
35-year-old Nagelsmann is now the leading contender to replace Antonio Conte at Tottenham after the Italian too left his role during the international break.
As for Tuchel, he could not have been handed a more difficult start to his Bayern career as he comes up against his former club and Munich’s arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund.
This match could well decide the Bundesliga title with Dortmund one point ahead of Bayern at the top of the table with just nine games left to go.
GRAEME SOUNESS: When Antonio Conte sat down with Daniel Levy at the start of the season, a top-four finish would have been the target. Tottenham are currently fourth. So, why are they in turmoil?
In previous years, the showdown in Manchester would have serious title consequences for both teams, such has been their unrivalled dominance of English football in recent years.
However, only Manchester City will head into the game with their Premier League title aspirations on the line with Liverpool currently languishing down in sixth place.
Exclusive live radio commentary will be available to listen to on talkSPORT, with the build-up getting underway from 11am.
What happened in the reverse fixture?
Liverpool snatched the win in the meeting between the sides back in October.
Mohamed Salah scored a sensational individual goal with just under 15 minutes remaining on the clock, deftly controlling Alisson’s long kick before spinning past Joao Cancelo and firing past Ederson in front of the Kop.
Earlier in the match, Guardiola was left irate when a Phil Foden goal was ruled out by VAR after Erling Haaland was adjudged to have fouled Fabinho in the build-up.
The defeat against Jurgen Klopp’s men ended City’s unbeaten start to the season and left them four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
The Italian branded his players ‘selfish’ and accused them of not wanting to ‘play under stress’ following another poor result in their bid to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League.
But Richarlison has branded the claims as ‘lies’ and has revealed he sent a message of support to Conte following his departure.
‘Questioning and criticising me as a player for my performance is part of football and I got it,’ Richarlison wrote on Twitter.
Antonio Conte left Spurs by mutual consent on Sunday evening (Shutterstock)
‘However, telling lies about me, I don’t accept! I’ve always had a lot of respect for Conte and for all my coaches.
‘He helped me a lot in my coming to the Spurs and, whenever we had a problem (even if it was public) we solved it based on conversation and professionalism — and this he can confirm.
‘I wasn’t a mutiny leader against him, it was quite the opposite.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t deliver as much as he expected of me and I didn’t do enough for him to stay.
‘When he left, I sent him a message thanking him for everything and wishing him the best cause that’s what he deserves!
‘On the other hand, the journalist responsible for this awful lie did not even do the least which would be talking to my PR or listening to me. Bad professional and bad character! And shame on you, Tyc Sports!’
Get in touch: contact Rob with your thoughts on the game
Pre-match entertainment
Bad news for Chelsea: Millie Bright, who injured her knee in last week’s first leg, hasn’t recovered in time for tonight’s game. But there’s much better news for Lyon: Ada Hegerberg is fit enough to start on the bench.
Emmanuel Frimpong (right) spent 13 years at Arsenal from 2001 until 2014 (Picture: Getty)
Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong admits he loves seeing Tottenham ‘in a crisis’ and enjoys watching them crumble.
The Gunners are currently top of the Premier League and 20 points clear of their north London rivals.
Spurs finished above Arsenal last season to claim the fourth and final Champions League spot after a late collapse from Mikel Arteta’s team, but the tables have turned this term and the Gunners are eight points clear at the top.
Tottenham, meanwhile, face a battle to land a top-four spot and recently sacked boss Antonio Conte after he hit out at the club in an extraordinary rant.
Frimpong has been enjoying Spurs’ downfall as he told Casino Bonus CA: ‘I think [Conte] was begging to be sacked, he has just decided he had enough.
‘Let’s not forget, Conte is not stupid and he knows exactly what he is doing.
‘To attack the club and to attack the owner in the manner that he did made it inevitable he was going to get sacked.
‘It’s good to see Tottenham is in a crisis because they’ve been finishing above Arsenal recently and it had started to annoy me!
‘Long may it continue, if Daniel Levy then resigns as well I can see Tottenham crumbling and Arsenal taking full control.
‘They’ve been playing in the Champions League and they have this lovely stadium which, as an Arsenal fan, I’m quite jealous of.
‘So it’s good to see everything crumbling down, in typical Tottenham fashion. I just don’t like Tottenham at all man!’
Asked if he was saying that as an Arsenal Invincible, Keown added: ‘No – but now that you mention it – I think Arsenal have played a part.
‘The fact that Arsenal are 20 points clear of Spurs and this time last year they were both in the run-in for the top-four places puts Spurs under enormous pressure.’
Roy Hodgson admitted that it was a 'really big surprise' to be asked to come out of retirement to manage his former club Crystal Palace as they battle relegation from the Premier League. The 75 year-old has returned to the Selhurst Park dugout for the final 10 matches of the season after Patrick Vieira, who replaced Hodgson in July 2021, was sacked following a 12-match winless run in all competitions.
His managerial career has spanned more than 45 years and includes stints at Internazionale, Blackburn, Fulham, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Palace, while he has also led the national sides of England, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Finland. Hodgson has managed six clubs in the Premier League, taking charge of 382 games and already holds the record for being the competition's oldest manager.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola faces a familiar foe in Jurgen Klopp (Picture: Getty)
IF THERE’S one team Manchester City don’t want to meet when they are without two of their best players it is Liverpool.
The Reds have already beaten the defending champions in the Premier League this season – a 1-0 victory at Anfield in October – and they lifted the Community Shield with a 3-1 triumph at Wembley in August.
City gained revenge with a 3-2 Carabao Cup success at the Etihad Stadium in December but Pep Guardiola still has a losing record against Jurgen Klopp.
The Spaniard has been beaten a dozen times in 27 meetings in all competitions when facing his German opposite number, winning on just ten occasions.
No other manager has fared better against the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach, who enters a must-win match against his nemesis possibly without injured star striker Erling Haaland and definitely missing Phil Foden, who is recovering from an appendix operation.
City must take maximum points to prevent Arsenal potentially moving 11 points clear at the top of the table if they win at home to Leeds later in the day.
Liverpool, who have injury concerns over striker Darwin Nunez, are currently seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham with two games in hand.
After wiping the floor with Manchester United in a 7-0 annihilation in front of the Kop, the Reds stumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth.
They were then knocked out of the Champions League when beaten by a similar scoreline at the Bernabeu as Real Madrid strolled to 6-2 aggregate win.
But that defeat to the Cherries was the first time in seven top-flight matches Liverpool had conceded a goal, so City may face a frustrating time in the lunchtime battle.
Klopp’s crew are big to win outright at 23/5 with Unibet, while the Reds +1 goal to triumph catches the eye at 7/5 with Bet Victor.
Mohamed Salah can score against City (Picture: Getty Images)
Mohamed Salah became Liverpool’s record Premier League goalscorer with two in the romp against United and he is 10/1 with Sky Bet to open the scoring and 10/3 with the same firm to find the net at any time.
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Jorginho's late strike, which ricocheted off the bar and into the net via an unknowing Emi Martinez, sparked wild scenes in the away end - and, seemingly, the press box opposite.
Liverpool are strongly linked with a transfer while Bayern Munich – managed by former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel – have also entered the race for Mount, with his current deal at Stamford Bridge is due to expire in the summer of 2024.
‘That’s what fans die for. Fans love that. He’s such an incredible player. I certainly would not be selling him as he is such a phenomenal player.’
Chelsea are looking for at least £50m for Mount, who has been voted the club’s Player of the Year for the last two campaigns. He has made a total of 192 appearances for Chelsea to date, registering 33 goals and 37 assists.
Mount has 36 caps for England and is highly rated by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate.
Jonas Eidevall predicts a WSL side will rule Europe soon
‘With the squad we have here, we can beat any team’
Jonas Eidevall has expressed full confidence that Arsenal can overcome a 1-0 first-leg deficit against Bayern Munich and reach their first Women’s Champions League semi‑final in 10 years.
By Tuesday lunchtime 19,600 tickets had been sold for the fixture at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night. This season’s Continental Cup winners crushed Tottenham 5-1 in a Women’s Super League north London derby on Saturday, ideal preparation for the return leg against the German club.
The iconic Manchester United and Arsenal managers have had their Premier League legacies reinforced by being given the highest individual accolade the league can offer, which was inaugurated in 2020 to honour the most distinguished figures since the competition began in 1992.
But which other names have been included in the Premier League pantheon of greats?
Let’s take a trip through the hall.
Which players are in the Premier League Hall of Fame?
A total of sixteen players have been honoured so far, with eight inductions apiece in 2021 and 2022.
No player has found the back of the net more times in the competition than Shearer (Picture: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry were the first two players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in April 2021.
Shearer is the competition’s top goal scorer with 260, whilst he remains the only player to have scored over 100 goals for two different clubs – Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
Meanwhile, Henry won a record four Golden Boots during his spell at Arsenal which also included two Premier League titles.
Manchester United are the most represented team in the Hall of Fame with six player inductions, whilst Arsenal are in second-place with four.
Premier League Hall of Fame - players
2021 inductees
Alan Shearer
Thierry Henry
Eric Cantona
Roy Keane
David Beckham
Dennis Bergkamp
Frank Lampard
Steven Gerrard
2022 inductees
Patrick Vieira
Wayne Rooney
Ian Wright
Peter Schmeichel
Paul Scholes
Didier Drogba
Vincent Kompany
Sergio Aguero
Which managers are in the Premier League Hall of Fame?
Ferguson and Wenger are the only two manages to have been inducted onto the list so far.
Ferguson and Wenger are two of the finest managers the league has ever seen (Picture: PA)
The former United boss was in charge at Old Trafford from 1986 to 2013, and is the Premier League’s most successful coach with 13 titles and 528 wins from 810 games.
Wenger managed The Gunners from 1996 to 2018, taking charge of a record 828 matches with 476 victories.
The Frenchman, 73, collected three league titles across his spell in north London – one of which was the infamous invincible season of 2003/04.
The 35 year-old, who has also allegedly drawn interest from rivals Chelsea, is regarded as one of the most promising young managers around with his energetic and modern style of play.
But who exactly is the German coach recieving plenty of looks of admiration from the Premier League? Here is everything you need to know.
Who did Julian Nagelsmann play for?
Having grown up in Bavaria, Nagelsmann played youth football for Augsburg and 1860 Munich.
Spurs are reportedly keen on Nagelsmann’s services (Picture: Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
In the 2006/07 season, Nagelsmann was part of Munich’s second team but he made no appearances due to struggles with injury.
The German returned to Augsburg in 2007/08 where he was managed by former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel.
However, after injuring his knee and meniscus for the second time, Nagelsmann decided to end his playing career at the age of just 20.
Which clubs has Julian Nagelsmann managed?
Having retiring as a player, Nagelsmann stayed on at Augsburg as a scout in the first half of 2008.
Alongside a spell at university studying business administration and sports science, Nagelsmann returned to 1860 Munich as an assistant for the U17 team between 2008 and 2010.
He joined Hoffenheim as a youth coach in 2010, where he won the Bundesliga U19 title in the 2013/14 season and earnt the nickname ‘Mini Mourinho’.
Nagelsmann was promoted as Hoffenheim’s manager in October 2015 with his tenure set to begin at the start of the following season, with his appointment at the age of 28 making him the youngest manager in Bundesliga history.
However, Nagelsmann took the reigns earlier than planned after Huub Stevens was forced to resign as manager due to ill health in February 2016.
Nagelsmann has admirers all around Europe (Picture: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Under his guidance, Hoffenheim won seven of their final 14 games to steer themselves away from relegation danger – finishing just one point above the relegation play-off spot.
The team’s strong from rolled over to the following season with a fourth placed finish to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Hoffenheim were beaten by Liverpool in the play-off round and they dropped into the Europa League, but a third placed finish in the Bundesliga that season saw them seal a spot straight through to the group stage for the following year.
At Hoffenheim, Nagelsmann became the youngest coach to manage in the Champions League aged just 31, but he left the club in 2019 to join RB Leipzig.
In his first season, he guided Leipzig into the knockout stages of the Champions League for this first time in their history before being dumped out in the semi-finals to Tuchel’s PSG.
Bayern Munich poached Nagelsmann from Leipzig for a then world record managerial transfer fee of £22m ahead of the 2021/22 season.
The manager won the Bundesliga and German Supercup titles in his first season in charge, although a shock exit to Villarreal in the Champions League quarter-finals took the shine off proceedings, and a second Supercup was duly added at the start of this campaign.
But despite reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League and sitting only one point behind Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, Nagelsmann was sacked during the March international break with the Bayern hierarchy citing inconsistency in performance as the reason behind the dismissal.
Injury looks like ruining Beth Mead’s World Cup dreams (Picture: Getty )
England are resigned to going to this summer’s World Cup without their Euros superstar Beth Mead, who needs ‘a miracle’ to be fit for the tournament.
The Arsenal attacker was the six-goal Golden Boot winner and player of the tournament as the Lionesses became European champions last year but has been out of action since rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee in November.
England boss Sarina Wiegman, who yesterday named a 25-strong squad for April games against Brazil and Australia, is not expecting Mead, 27, back in time for this summer’s global showpiece.
The inaugural Women’s Finalissima with Brazil and friendly with the Matildas will be England’s last tests before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
That comes too soon for Mead, with Wiegman saying: ‘I had a conversation with her, she’s doing well, she’s in her rehab, she’s doing good, but the World Cup is actually too early.
‘So what we said is she’s not in our plans now, just really take the time to get back well.
‘If a miracle happens and she goes so fast, then we will reconsider it, but at this moment I don’t expect that.
‘‘We’re not going to push or take risks that will cause this injury again. Of course she wants to play, but she knows.’
Three players not involved in February’s Arnold Clark Cup success have been picked, with a recall for goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, plus Manchester City’s Esme Morgan and uncapped West Ham defender Lucy Parker.
Aston Villa star Hampton has not been selected since the Euros, amid reports of ‘behaviour and attitude’ issues.
Beth Mead with her top scorer and player-of-the-tournament awards at the Euros (Picture: Getty)
Wiegman said: ‘As I said over all the other camps, she needed to sort out some personal issues. She’s done that. She has shown great performances, she has shown consistency, so I thought this is the moment to bring her in.’
There is no place for Bethany England – who has scored six goals since joining Tottenham from Chelsea in January – while Nikita Parris also misses out again.
The versatile Rachel Daly, scorer of 13 WSL goals for Villa this term, is listed as a forward having played left-back at the Euros. Chelsea playmaker Fran Kirby is out with a knee issue.
England face Brazil at Wembley next Thursday and Australia at Brentford five days later.
The chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Masters, has told MPs he cannot comment on whether Newcastle’s links with Saudi Arabia are being reinvestigated in light of a recent US court case. Newcastle were taken over in 2021 with the Saudi Public Investment Fund holding a majority stake after providing 'legally binding assurances' to the Premier League there would be no state involvement in the running of the club. A recent LIV Golf Series legal case against the PGA Tour, however, has seen the Saudis argue that PIF and Newcastle’s chairman, Yasir al-Rumayyan, should be protected from giving evidence owing to sovereign immunity laws. LIV, which is backed by the Saudi government, has stated that Rumayyan is 'a sitting member of the Saudi government' and PIF is 'a sovereign instrumentality of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia' to support its case. In doing so, it has raised fresh questions about the level of separation between PIF and Newcastle. Speaking at a digital, culture, media and sport select committee hearing, Masters said he was aware of the case but refused to be drawn on its implications for Newcastle.
But according to The Times, new Bayern boss Tuchel – who had a strong relationship with Mount during his time at Chelsea as the pair won the Champions League together – wants to bring the England international to the Bundesliga.
The Liverpool legend told BonusCodeBets: ‘I think Mason Mount would fit in with what we want. If you look at his strength as a midfield player – he attacks, he defends, he’s dynamic, he’s direct, he gets up and down.
‘This is the profile of a Liverpool player. He could fit in with what we want… I would welcome that signing if he were to come to Liverpool.’
