The figure is the second-highest in the Championship by some distance – only fellow relegated side Ipswich paid a higher total to agents (£11.7m).
Saints take up around 12 per cent of the £69,665,489 paid to agents by current Championship clubs, a figure which remains dwarfed by the Premier League total (£460m).
The £8,381,358 Saints paid takes into account deals from the summer and winter transfer windows, new contracts or scholarships, and could include fees agreed during previous windows.
Saints have seen a slight decrease in agent fees compared to the £8.9m they spent between February 2024 and February 2025 while in the Premier League.
The nearest Championship spenders to Saints are Leicester City (£5.9 m) and Sheffield United (£5m), two more clubs that held promotion ambitions.
In the Premier League, Chelsea spent £65.1 m, nearly double that of the next biggest spenders. Only Burnley paid less than Saints.
Full Championship expenditure:
Birmingham City – £2.0m
Blackburn Rovers – £0.7m
Bristol City – £2.8m
Charlton Athletic – £0.9m
Coventry City – £1.5m
Derby County – £1.4m
Hull City – £2.5m
Ipswich Town – £11.7m
Leicester City – £5.9m
Middlesbrough – £2.9m
Millwall – £2.0m
Norwich City – £4.0m
Oxford United – £1.2m
Portsmouth – £0.8m
Preston North End – £1.8m
Queens Park Rangers – £1.8m
Sheffield United – £5.0m
Sheffield Wednesday – £0.5m
Southampton – £8.4m
Stoke City – £2.1m
Swansea City – £3.1m
Watford – £1.6m
West Bromwich Albion – £1.3m
Wrexham – £3.7m