FA have released the total agent fees spent by every Championship club between February 2025 and 2026, where Southampton sit

The FA have released the total agent fees spent by every Championship club between February 2025 and 2026, where Southampton sit second-highest.

Only Ipswich Town spent more on agent fees than Southampton out of Championship clubs between February 2025 and 2026.

The Saints account for 12 per cent of the £69.6m paid to agents by current Championship sides in this period, totalling £8,381,358.

This includes the 2025 summer transfer window, overseen by Johannes Spors when Will Still was manager, as well as the 2026 winter window during the Tonda Eckert era.

How the numbers compare

Ipswich Town were the leaders in agent fee expenses in the Championship, spending a whopping £11.7m, compared to Sheffield Wednesday, who invested just £500k in this area between last February and the same month this year.

The Saints were the second-highest spenders on agent fees among all 24 clubs, spending £8.3m, and even had a higher expenditure in this department than Premier League club Burnley.

However, the Premier League surpasses the Championship overall, with £460m being spent on agent fees in the top flight, with leaders Chelsea spending over £65m – almost as much as the second tier clubs combined.

It’s more financial evidence to prove that the Premier League is becoming a closed shop, spending seven times more than Championship clubs on agents.

The damning reality

The damning reality for Southampton is that, despite spending £8.3m on player wages, this is only down by £600k from the year prior, when they were in the Premier League – a damning indictment of the poor effort that the club made trying to avoid relegation.

Without a clear transfer strategy or sporting director, the Saints had shoddy windows in both the summer of 2024 and winter 2025, leading them to that 12-point embarrassment of a relegation under Russell Martin, Ivan Juric and Simon Rusk, respectively.

While the Saints were one of the smaller fish in the Premier League at the time, it shows that spending money correctly on good footballers is the answer to success in avoiding the drop.

Now, with a sporting director in Johannes Spors and a clearer direction, the Saints are just under half a million pounds in agent expenses off what they were paying in the Premier League.

If they are to achieve promotion again, which remains a goal for this season, Sport Republic must understand that putting your money where your mouth is is the key.