Six managers.
Six increases.
Agent and intermediary fees as a percentage of gross transfer spend, across each managerial era since 2009. The staircase only goes one way.
Under Ferguson's final four seasons, agent and intermediary fees represented a comparatively small share of transfer spend. By the Van Gaal era, United were already the highest spenders on agent fees in the Premier League — close to double any other club in the October 2015–February 2016 FA disclosure window. By the Solskjær era the absolute fees had risen further, and FA disclosures for 2022–23 showed United paying approximately £24m in agent fees. The trend is not attributable to any single manager. It is consistent across six eras, across different recruitment philosophies, and across two distinct ownership structures.
Methodology note. Agent and intermediary fee percentages per era are estimates derived from FA mandatory disclosure records, Swiss Ramble analysis, and contemporaneous reporting. FA disclosures are published per six-month window, not per managerial era, so era-level percentages involve aggregation and approximation. The directional trend — rising fees across successive eras — is confirmed by FA disclosure data. Absolute confirmed figures: United were the highest-spending Premier League club on agent fees in the October 2015–February 2016 window (Van Gaal era); approximately £24m in 2022–23; approximately £33m in 2024–25. Percentages shown are approximate and should not be cited as precise sourced figures.