Tigers blame £2.27m agents bill on high-profile signings

HULL CITY were one of the region’s big spenders on agent fees in the last 12 months.

The Championship club spent £2.27m on fees over the last 12 months, from October 1 2010 to September 30 2011 in comparison to £227,176 at Sheffield Wednesday and £25,850 at League Two side Rotherham United.

The Tigers’ pay-out is inflated though by payments dating back to high-profile signings made in 2008-09 like Jimmy Bullard, Paul McShane and Seyi Olofinjana.

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Of the £2.27m, only £330,000 relates to fees concerning the current Tigers squad, acquired since the club was taken over by the Allam family.

A Hull statement read: “In accordance with FA Regulations Hull City AFC have to disclose that a total of £2,274,574:29 was spent on agent fees in the period 1st October 2010 to the 30th September 2011.

“Only £330,000 of this total is related to signings made under the new Allam family ownership, this figure relates to our new signings in the last year. £1,950,000 was spent last year on agents’ fees for signings made in 2008-09 under the previous ownership and relates specifically to the signings of Paul McShane, Jimmy Bullard, Kamel Ghilas, Seyi Olofinjana and many others from that era.

“The club would like to reiterate that £330,000 was spent on accumulating the current squad including the signings of Matty Fryatt, Jack Hobbs, Jay Simpson, Cameron Stewart, Corry Evans and many others.”

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Elsewhere, Sheffield United forked out £184,523 on agent fees and Doncaster Rovers paid £152,096 although that is small change compared to the Premier League big-spenders.

Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool were the top-spenders on agents’ fees last year as the top-flight clubs shelled out a total of £71.8m, latest figures have revealed.

City, unsurprisingly, topped the payments table with a total of £9.7m paid to agents followed by Spurs on £7.6m, then Liverpool on £7m.

The total in the top flight of £71.8m is the highest since the Premier League decided in 2008 to publish club-by-club spending on agents – in 2009 it was £70.7m.

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The three lowest spenders included two promoted sides Swansea (£248,000) and Norwich (£710,00), with Wigan having spent £659,000.

Club-by-club spending on agents’ fees between October 1 2010 and September 30 2011: Man City £9.7m; Tottenham £7.6m; Liverpool £7m; Chelsea £6.5m; Newcastle £6.3m; Arsenal £4.6m; Man Utd £4.5m; Blackburn £4.2m; Sunderland £3.7m; Aston Villa £3.2m; Everton £2.9m; QPR £2.5m; Stoke £2.2m; Bolton £1.9m; West Brom £1.3m; Wolves £1.1m, Fulham £0.9m; Norwich £0.7m; Wigan £0.66m; Swansea £0.24m. Total: £71.9m.

The amounts shown include payments made by clubs on behalf of players.