Ultimately, like the footballers they represent, football agents have the same “passion”, but not the same income at the end of the day. If the majority officiate in the more minor divisions, on smaller-scale operations, others are responsible for the most expensive transfers on which they receive their percentage bonus.
Commissions for agents which increase in Ligue 1
The Ligue 1 transfer window is not that of the Premier League, French clubs do not (or not all) have the means of their rich English neighbors. However, activity is not slowing down and even this summer, although marked by the endless discussions on the question of TV rights, incoming movements were numerous and sometimes in high financial proportions.
The ranking of Ligue 1 clubs which have paid the most commissions to agents over 6 years highlights the most active and highlights the disparities between the rich, first and foremost PSG and other more modest ones. These are the official data that we have noted, as reported in the individual accounts of the DNCG, over the period 2018-2023.
A record season for LOSC under the governance of Gérard Lopez
They do not include Olympique Lyonnais, which does not specify this in its financial reports. Otherwise, the Gones club would naturally be in this ranking. They do not include either, since the subject is limited to Ligue 1, the Girondins de Bordeaux. However, the Marines, today relegated to the amateur world, would occupy seventh place between AS Saint-Etienne and OGC Nice, at 23.78 million euros over the period.
This cumulative top 10 weighs a little over 538 million euros, for an average close to that of LOSC. Note precisely about the Lille club, which it beat, not to say exploded, its record during the 2019-2020 season (23.407 million euros against 2.752 million in 2023 for comparison), at a time where the owner was Gérard Lopez. The same one who today leads the Girondins de Bordeaux, fallen to National 2.
The 10 Ligue 1 clubs that paid the most commissions to agents over 6 years*
10. RC Lens = 11,149 M€
9. Montpellier HSC = 16,959 M€
8. Stade de Reims = €19.118 million
7. AS Saint-Etienne = €20.703 million
6. OGC Nice = 29,456 M€
5. Stade Rennais = €42.195 million
4. LOSC Lille = €55.007 million
3. Olympique de Marseille = €62.964 million
2. AS Monaco = 98,997 M€
1. Paris SG = 179,28 M€
* Due to its unique structure in Ligue 1 as a listed club, Olympique Lyonnais does not declare the details of the commissions it pays to agents in its account lines.
