Amount Manchester United paid in agent fees in 2025/26

Manchester United shelled out £31.8 million in agent fees during the 12-month period ending February 2026, placing them sixth among Premier League clubs despite a sweeping cost-reduction drive led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS regime.

Figures released by The Times journalist Paul Joyce show United’s outlay accounted for 6.9 per cent of the division’s record £460.3 million total, a sum that sits awkwardly alongside the club’s well-publicised austerity measures. Since Ratcliffe assumed control, Old Trafford has undergone two rounds of redundancies that claimed 450 jobs, while even routine office expenditure has been placed under forensic review.

On the pitch, United have sought to rebalance the wage bill by moving on high-earners such as Antony, whose weekly salary exceeded £300,000, and replacing them with lower-cost acquisitions like Matheus Cunha, now earning a reported £200,000 a week. Commercially, the club staged lucrative pre- and post-season tours of Asia and the United States that yielded an estimated £15 million, while hospitality areas at Old Trafford have been reconfigured to squeeze extra revenue from season-ticket holders.

Yet those efforts are tempered by the latest agent-fee disclosure. Chelsea topped the table at £65.1 million, followed by Aston Villa (£38.4 million). Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal also landed in the £30 million bracket, with Wolves just behind United on £26 million. Newly promoted Burnley spent the least, £7.4 million.

With United expected to continue offloading expensive talent—moves that frequently involve heavyweight intermediaries demanding sizeable commissions—the club will be under pressure to drive the £31.8 million figure down when the next reporting cycle begins.