Sunderland spent £4.3m on agent fees in last two windows… despite buying just £1.25m worth of players
Aston Villa top Championship spending to intermediaries with hefty £5.5m
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SUNDERLAND splurged £4.3million on agent fees in the last two transfer windows – despite only forking out £1.25m on players.
The beleaguered Black Cats are battling the drop in the Championship as Ellis Short looks to offload the club.
After suffering relegation from the Premier League last season, American businessman Short is now willing to give away the club for free as long as new owners take on around £130m in debt.
With purse strings tightening for bosses this season, Simon Grayson and Chris Coleman have been restricted to loan deals with the exception of the former spending £250,000 to land Aiden McGeady from Everton and then James Vaughan and keeper Jason Steele £500k each from Bury and Blackburn respectively.
But with other players coming in on free transfers, including Callum McManaman Kazenga LuaLua and Marc Wilson along with eight loans, the Blacks Cats are only behind Aston Villa in terms of Championship spending to agents.
According to official figures published by the FA - which also detail the amount of money Premier League clubs paid agents - Steve Bruce's Villans top the league with a hefty £5.5m.
Intermediary fees paid by Championship clubs (1 February 2017 to 31 January 2018)
ASTON VILLA £5,510,180
BARNSLEY £419,638
BIRMINGHAM CITY £2,461,909
BOLTON WANDERERS £223,432
BRENTFORD £1,690,415
BRISTOL CITY £843,174
BURTON ALBION £268,490
CARDIFF CITY £2,026,917
DERBY COUNTY £2,180,305
FULHAM £2,428,175
HULL CITY £1,882,530
IPSWICH TOWN £241,969
LEEDS UNITED £1,349,452
MIDDLESBROUGH £2,538,840
MILLWALL £311,505
NORWICH CITY £2,212,410
NOTTINGHAM FOREST £1,141,512
PRESTON NORTH END £1,046,679
QUEENS PARK RANGERS £1,817,113
READING £2,850,283
SHEFFIELD UNITED £652,070
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY £1,714,130
SUNDERLAND £4,370,897
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS £2,001,023
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Similar to Sunderland, Villa have spent just £2.5m on deals to bring in Glenn Whelan from Stoke and Ahmed Elmohamady from Hull.
But with John Terry and Chris Samba coming in on a free transfers and loan deals secured for Sam Johnstone, Josh Onomah, Robert Snodgrass and Axel Tuanzebe, Villa still racked up table-topping outgoings to agents.
While Villa look set for a play-off place in their quest to return to the Premier League, however, Sunderland could drop down another flight as they sit five points from safety.
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One club tipped to go down but poised for survival are Bolton – who spent the least amount on agent fees at just £223,432.
Millwall are another low-spending side (£311,505) performing above expectations as Neil Harris' club chase a play-off place.
Despite Wolves' perceived big spending, the club have been exercising more prudence particularly on wages than people might think.
And they spent just £2m on agent fees £600k less than relegation-threatened Birmingham did.
