Recently, a report showing the Premier League spending when it came to agents was released. As many might expect, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, some agents have seen increased spending on their services and thus their fees. As such, there was much talk around how much Leeds United must have spent in the summer. After all, they captured some pretty illustrious names – surely some big payments were needed to make those signings possible?

You would think so, but the same FA report actually showed Leeds had the fifth lowest agency spend out of the 20 Premier League teams. Indeed, with a fee of just over £7m, only Burnley, Crystal Palace, Southampton, and West Bromwich Albion will have spent less on third party agency payments. This is a good sign that Leeds are not only getting good value for the players they sign, but they aren’t committing themselves to eye-watering third party fees to get to the front of the queue.

Like many Leeds fans, the football world has watched with joy as Leeds play a fearless brand of football. To see it isn’t built on massive agency fees is another step in the right direction. Given the much-discussed financial history of Leeds, this is a good thing to understand – this current Leeds side isn’t built on massive commissions or payments on the never-never. This is a young, affordable side that was built with the funds that Leeds actually have – that is a huge change and step in the right direction for the club as a whole.

Why did Leeds spend so little on agents?

That might seem an odd question, but today most fans expect their team is likely spending millions on agents to get deals done. Since the Premier League tends to bring in so many players from overseas, they often tend to come with a large agency entourage who want to cash in on their player arriving in such a rich league. Therefore, a spend of just £7m shows how well Leeds are doing not to get sucked in.

Many promoted teams will ‘play the game’ and spend a lot more than this on agency fees and commissions. They will look to make deals that they think will help them to get ahead, even if it costs them more than they are comfortable with. Given the history Leeds have with reckless spending, Andrea Radrizzani and co. have made sure that Leeds aren’t taking any gambles with tomorrow just to make tomorrow a touch more palpable.

With that in mind, then, Leeds fans will be happy to hear the team isn’t spending a needless excess on agents just to get deals done. Not only are the signings thoughtful, targeted, and solving clear team needs; they aren’t coming with any ghastly excessive payments or requests.

That’s a big thing to note, and very important to make sure that fans don’t need to worry that this modern, great Leeds side might be costing more than is affordable.