Kieran Maguire: Radical overhaul doomed to fail as £11m Everton outlay confirmed
Fifa’s new curbs on agent spending are doomed to fail as the likes of Everton are happy with the current state of play.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the role of intermediaries in the modern game.
The FA published on Thursday (31 March) the details of how much each English club spent on agents between 2 February 2021 and 31 January 2022.
Premier League sides spent a total of £272.6million for the year, with Everton accounting for £11m of that figure.
Fifa are set to cap agents’ fees at 10 per cent for transfer-related payments and 3 per cent for contract renewals, per The Times in December last year.
The Toffees are in dire financial straits, with losses over the last three years totalling £372m.
But Maguire insists that the Merseysiders will not be happy with the radical overhaul of the agent framework.
“I’m not convinced that these proposals will work,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“I’ve spoken to agents who think there will be lots of legal pushback.
“They are concerned that it will encourage a rise in secondary markets. Unscrupulous agents will make money in other ways.
“Most clubs like Everton don’t actually have an issue with agents. They are actually there to alert them if there is a problem with a player.
“If you have a 22-year-old who is not financially astute and isn’t happy about X, Y or Z, this is why we have intermediaries.
“The media has had a bee in their bonnet about agents and that transfers to fans. But you don’t hear the clubs themselves moaning too much about them.”
Everton’s revenue totalled £193m in 2020-21.
They are set to far exceed the financial fair play limit, although Covid add-backs and infrastructure costs will be factored into their losses.
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