Simon Jordan slams the staggering £38.4m paid in agent fees, demanding the Premier League increase scrutiny on Villa Park’s finances.
Aston Villa’s meteoric rise under Unai Emery has been the feel-good story of the Premier League but Simon Jordan is warning that the “feel-good factor” shouldn’t mask a staggering set of financial accounts.
Following the release of the FA’s latest clearing house report, it was revealed that Villa’s spending on intermediary fees has skyrocketed to £38.4m over the last 12 months.
That figure places them second only to Chelsea (£65.1m) and ahead of traditional “Big Six” heavyweights like Manchester City and Manchester United.
Jordan’s argument the numbers that shocked him
Chelsea’s financial figures for the year ending June 2025 dominated Premier League headlines this week. A pre-tax loss of £262.4m (surpassing Manchester City’s previous record of £197.5m set in 2010-11) represented an extraordinary and deeply uncomfortable headline number for the West London club.
However, speaking on talkSPORT on Thursday, Simon Jordan made the case that another club’s figures deserved equally serious examination.
“Chelsea have spent £65m on agents’ fees on transactions worth £600m in and out,” Jordan stated. “Go and look at Aston Villa, who’ve done £70m worth of transfers and £57m sales, and paid £38m in agents’ fees. That’s 25 per cent. While the numbers look horrible for Chelsea, they’re not that enormous.”
That proportional comparison is striking and significant. Chelsea’s £65m agent spend came against £600m of transfer activity, roughly 10% of transaction value. Villa’s £38.4m was spent against just £127m of combined transfers: a ratio of approximately 25%.
The scale difference is considerable and demands honest scrutiny.
The full Premier League agent fee picture
The agent fee data published this week places Villa’s expenditure in sharp relief against their Premier League rivals.
The Midlands club recorded the second-highest agent fee spend in the division, behind only Chelsea, despite operating at a fraction of the West London club’s overall revenue and transfer activity.
| Club | Agent Fees 2025-26 | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | £65m | £600m transfers in/out |
| Aston Villa | £38.4m | £127m combined transfers |
| Manchester City | £37.36m | — |
| Liverpool | £33.88m | — |
| Chelsea pre-tax loss | £262.4m | Premier League record |
| Villa total revenue | £392.99m | Deloitte Money League |
Manchester City spent £37.36m and Liverpool £33.88m both significantly lower than Villa’s figure despite their considerably greater financial resources.
Furthermore, those clubs operate with revenue bases that dwarf Villa’s, making the Midlands club’s proportional agent fee commitment even more notable when examined objectively.
Why this matters: the financial context
Jordan’s intervention arrives at a moment when Villa’s financial position is under genuine and significant pressure.
The club were previously fined £9.5m for breaching wage regulations last summer, exceeding the 80% revenue limit that Premier League regulations impose.
That fine reflected the difficulty of competing at European level while operating under financial constraints that more established clubs navigate with considerably greater ease.
The Deloitte Money League recorded Villa’s total revenue at £392.99m for 2024-25, a significant figure that nonetheless places them well below the Premier League’s genuine financial elite.
Furthermore, that revenue figure is set to decrease this season following their transition from Champions League to Europa League competition.
Consequently, every pound spent on agent fees represents a genuine trade-off against squad investment, wage commitments, and regulatory compliance, a balancing act that becomes more complex with every passing window.
The uncomfortable truth Villa must confront
Jordan’s analysis, while uncomfortable reading, serves an important function. It strips away the narrative around Villa being a sympathetic underdog operating on a shoestring budget and replaces it with the more nuanced reality of a club spending proportionally significant sums on agent commissions while simultaneously pleading financial constraint.
That is not necessarily evidence of mismanagement the modern transfer market demands sophisticated agency relationships to compete for elite talent. However, it does reinforce the urgency of Champions League qualification above all other priorities.
Increased revenue transforms every financial ratio, reducing the relative burden of agent fees, wage commitments, and compliance costs simultaneously. The numbers demand it. The summer makes it non-negotiable.
