Post by Les on Apr 4, 2019 19:03:13 GMT
www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/pay-darron-gibsons-sunderland-sacking-16079277
Pay-off in Darron Gibson's Sunderland sacking, as agent's fees exceed transfer fees again
Darron Gibson was sacked by Sunderland for a drink-driving offence - but his agent received a payment for the contract cancellation (Image: MDM)
Sunderland have spent more on agent’s fees than the rest of League One combined over the last two transfer windows – and the figures do not include the record signing of Will Grigg from Wigan Athletic.
The Black Cats bought the centre-forward for a fee of £3m, potentially rising to £4m, comfortably the biggest fee ever paid by a third-tier club.
The Football Association has released its figures for spending on agent’s fees for the period from February 1, 2018 to Janaury 31, 2019 – ie principally the last two transfer windows. But the three signings Sunderland made on January’s deadline day – Grigg and the loans of Lewis Morgan and Kazaiah Sterling – are not included.
Even so, it shows the Black Cats still have work to do as new owner Stewart Donald struggles to get finances on a more realistic footing.
The numbers are down £1.4m from the previous year, when Sunderland were the Championship’s second biggest spenders in that regard. Nevertheless they have paid more to “intermediaries” than the rest of their division combined, and nearly six times as much as Barnsley, who are second in that respect.
Their £2,873,033 was the 25th biggest spend in English football’s top five divisions over the period, higher even than Cardiff City’s. The rest of the Premier League are above them, as are Stoke City, Swansea City and West Browmich Albion, all relegated from the top flight last summer.
The overall League One total was £5,559,679.
The figures range from Liverpool’s £43,795,863 – almost £17m more than the next most lavish club, Chelsea – to the £500 spent by Conference clubs South Shields, Alfreton and Boston United in the Conference.
Agent fees by club
Intermediary fees (by value)
Liverpool £43,795,863Chelsea £26,850,552
Manchester City £24,122,753
Manchester United £20,759,350
Everton £19,116,370
West Ham United £14,414,845
Leicester City £12,720,618
Arsenal £11,181,730
Tottenham Hotspur £11,141,255
Watford £10,894,179
Afc Bournemouth £10,295,433
Newcastle United £8,868,027
Fulham £8,234,360
+Stoke City £7,229,515
Crystal Palace £6,976,425
Brighton & Hove Albion £6,859,429
Wolverhampton Wanderers £6,479,714
Southampton £6,151,107
+Swansea City £5,551,168
+West Bromwich Albion £5,139,526
Huddersfield Town £5,023,807
*Derby County £4,293,410
*Burnley £3,975,928
*Aston Villa £3,427,818
*SUNDERLAND £2,873,033
Cardiff City £2,802,375
= Relegated from the Premier League in 2017-18
* Football League club throughout the period
Some of the spending was a hangover from the Ellis Short regime. The American owned Sunderland until last May, overseeing consecutive relegations from the Premier League to League One in the last two seasons.
Although there are no figures attached to individual deals, cancelling Jack Rodwell’s contract was one of the transactions agents profited from. Rodwell was earning £70,000 a week in last season’s Championship after his agent agreed a contract without the relegation clause which cut the pay of all his team-mates’ upon demotion.
Interestingly, Darron Gibson is also included, but not Papy Djilobodji and Didier Ndong, sacked after failing to report for training during the early part of pre-season and the 2018-19 campaign.
Gibson’s sacking was seen as a principled stand after last season's incident when he was three times over the drink-driving limit, but involved a pay-off – to his agent and therefore presumably the player. Gibson was in the last few months of his Stadium of Light deal.
The agent of Sam Brotherton, a New Zealand defender signed in 2017 and released without a senior appearance, was also paid.
A payment was made to Wahbi Khazri’s agent to facilitate his loan to St Etienne. The winger was signed by Sam Allardyce when the Black Cats were in the Premier League.
Sunderland paid agents to buy Jack Baldwin, Luke O’Nien and Charlie Wyke, to aquire Jon McLaughlin, Dylan McGeouch, Glenn Loovens, Tom Flanagan, Reece James, Chris Maguire, Alim Ozturk, Grant Leadbitter and Max Johnstone on free transfers, and to loan Jerome Sinclair (whose deal was cut short after half a season) and Jimmy Dunne. There were two payments to Max Power’s agent because Sunderland signed him on loan in August having missed the deadline for a permanent signing, then bought him in January.
There were also new contracts for Academy of Light-reared youngsters Ethan Robson, Luke Molyneux, Lynden Gooch and Bali Mumba.
Donald took over in May promising to get a grip on the spending which put Short’s Sunderland into more than £120m of debt. On his first day, right-hand man Charlie Methven famously declared: “The p***-take party is over.”
Perhaps not just yet.
The transfer fees for Baldwin, O’Nien and Wyke were undisclosed, but it is safe to assume that for the second annual report running, they have spent far more on agent’s fees than actual transfer fees.
One pleasing aspect is that of the 24 transactions listed, the 19 with an intermediary attributed involve 16 different agencies, suggesting no group has an undue influence, as is the suspicion at some clubs.
Next season’s figures, the first with only Donald at the Stadium of Light helm, will give a better indication of whether Sunderland can shake their unwanted image as soft-touch negotiators.
Pay-off in Darron Gibson's Sunderland sacking, as agent's fees exceed transfer fees again
Darron Gibson was sacked by Sunderland for a drink-driving offence - but his agent received a payment for the contract cancellation (Image: MDM)
Sunderland have spent more on agent’s fees than the rest of League One combined over the last two transfer windows – and the figures do not include the record signing of Will Grigg from Wigan Athletic.
The Black Cats bought the centre-forward for a fee of £3m, potentially rising to £4m, comfortably the biggest fee ever paid by a third-tier club.
The Football Association has released its figures for spending on agent’s fees for the period from February 1, 2018 to Janaury 31, 2019 – ie principally the last two transfer windows. But the three signings Sunderland made on January’s deadline day – Grigg and the loans of Lewis Morgan and Kazaiah Sterling – are not included.
Even so, it shows the Black Cats still have work to do as new owner Stewart Donald struggles to get finances on a more realistic footing.
The numbers are down £1.4m from the previous year, when Sunderland were the Championship’s second biggest spenders in that regard. Nevertheless they have paid more to “intermediaries” than the rest of their division combined, and nearly six times as much as Barnsley, who are second in that respect.
Their £2,873,033 was the 25th biggest spend in English football’s top five divisions over the period, higher even than Cardiff City’s. The rest of the Premier League are above them, as are Stoke City, Swansea City and West Browmich Albion, all relegated from the top flight last summer.
The overall League One total was £5,559,679.
The figures range from Liverpool’s £43,795,863 – almost £17m more than the next most lavish club, Chelsea – to the £500 spent by Conference clubs South Shields, Alfreton and Boston United in the Conference.
Agent fees by club
Intermediary fees (by value)
Liverpool £43,795,863Chelsea £26,850,552
Manchester City £24,122,753
Manchester United £20,759,350
Everton £19,116,370
West Ham United £14,414,845
Leicester City £12,720,618
Arsenal £11,181,730
Tottenham Hotspur £11,141,255
Watford £10,894,179
Afc Bournemouth £10,295,433
Newcastle United £8,868,027
Fulham £8,234,360
+Stoke City £7,229,515
Crystal Palace £6,976,425
Brighton & Hove Albion £6,859,429
Wolverhampton Wanderers £6,479,714
Southampton £6,151,107
+Swansea City £5,551,168
+West Bromwich Albion £5,139,526
Huddersfield Town £5,023,807
*Derby County £4,293,410
*Burnley £3,975,928
*Aston Villa £3,427,818
*SUNDERLAND £2,873,033
Cardiff City £2,802,375
= Relegated from the Premier League in 2017-18
* Football League club throughout the period
Some of the spending was a hangover from the Ellis Short regime. The American owned Sunderland until last May, overseeing consecutive relegations from the Premier League to League One in the last two seasons.
Although there are no figures attached to individual deals, cancelling Jack Rodwell’s contract was one of the transactions agents profited from. Rodwell was earning £70,000 a week in last season’s Championship after his agent agreed a contract without the relegation clause which cut the pay of all his team-mates’ upon demotion.
Interestingly, Darron Gibson is also included, but not Papy Djilobodji and Didier Ndong, sacked after failing to report for training during the early part of pre-season and the 2018-19 campaign.
Gibson’s sacking was seen as a principled stand after last season's incident when he was three times over the drink-driving limit, but involved a pay-off – to his agent and therefore presumably the player. Gibson was in the last few months of his Stadium of Light deal.
The agent of Sam Brotherton, a New Zealand defender signed in 2017 and released without a senior appearance, was also paid.
A payment was made to Wahbi Khazri’s agent to facilitate his loan to St Etienne. The winger was signed by Sam Allardyce when the Black Cats were in the Premier League.
Sunderland paid agents to buy Jack Baldwin, Luke O’Nien and Charlie Wyke, to aquire Jon McLaughlin, Dylan McGeouch, Glenn Loovens, Tom Flanagan, Reece James, Chris Maguire, Alim Ozturk, Grant Leadbitter and Max Johnstone on free transfers, and to loan Jerome Sinclair (whose deal was cut short after half a season) and Jimmy Dunne. There were two payments to Max Power’s agent because Sunderland signed him on loan in August having missed the deadline for a permanent signing, then bought him in January.
There were also new contracts for Academy of Light-reared youngsters Ethan Robson, Luke Molyneux, Lynden Gooch and Bali Mumba.
Donald took over in May promising to get a grip on the spending which put Short’s Sunderland into more than £120m of debt. On his first day, right-hand man Charlie Methven famously declared: “The p***-take party is over.”
Perhaps not just yet.
The transfer fees for Baldwin, O’Nien and Wyke were undisclosed, but it is safe to assume that for the second annual report running, they have spent far more on agent’s fees than actual transfer fees.
One pleasing aspect is that of the 24 transactions listed, the 19 with an intermediary attributed involve 16 different agencies, suggesting no group has an undue influence, as is the suspicion at some clubs.
Next season’s figures, the first with only Donald at the Stadium of Light helm, will give a better indication of whether Sunderland can shake their unwanted image as soft-touch negotiators.