Ciaran Morrison

Sun 12 April 2026 21:30, UK

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Chelsea’s sporting directors should be held accountable for not doing their job properly after the club spent the highest amount on agent fees.

That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes clubs shouldn’t be relying on agents.

Payment from Premier League clubs to agents rose by 13% in the past year, with Chelsea spending £65.1million.

Five other Premier League clubs spent over £30m on agents, whilst it was the third consecutive year that Chelsea had topped the list.

This is despite Chelsea’s latest financial accounts showing that the Blues posted a £262m pre-tax loss, with the club having spent over £1billion on players since 2022.

Sporting directors ‘passing the buck’ as agent fees soar

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – says that he would be “asking questions” of his sporting directors if he was at Chelsea.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness believes agent costs need to be “kept under control.”

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “In basic terms, the sporting director should be doing all the work that good agents can do.

“They will come and give you all the scouting reports. But you don’t want a sporting director to be relying on agents. They’ve got to be doing that work themselves. We’ve got to see who is passing the buck and who’s not really doing their job.

“If I’m at a club where there’s a big number, I’m going to be asking questions of my sporting director and my technical team as to why it’s so high. Because if they’re doing the work properly, it doesn’t have to be that high.

“They should be able to put agents back in their box in terms of commissions. So it’s a big question mark these costs, and they’re big numbers, so they’ve got to be kept under control.”  

Chelsea reveal stance on letting Enzo Fernandez leave

Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Chelsea will accept offers for Enzo Fernandez this summer.

Chelsea would want a substantial fee to let the midfielder leave, whom the club bought for £107m in 2023.

Fernandez’s recent comments have fuelled speculation that he wants to leave Chelsea, with Real Madrid now linked with a move for the 25-year-old.