Premier League clubs forked out a staggering £70m last season to agents in the transfer market.

At the height of the credit crunch, England’s leading clubs splashed almost £1.5m every week.

Mark Hughes’ Manchester City easily topped the league at £12.8m - more than £1m per month and almost £1m more than they paid Aston Villa for England midfielder Gareth Barry.

The figures will shock supporters, particularly those whose clubs talk of money being tight when it comes to strengthening their squads.

One of those teams, Liverpool, spent an astonishing £6.6m on agents.

All clubs released their figures yesterday under new league rules and the Kop sum is an amazing amount considering the lack of signings in the two windows covered by the period.

The Anfield club pleaded poverty in the summer, when Benitez recruited Italian Alberto Aquilani for £20m and Greek defender Sotiros Kyrgiakos for £2m.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, whose club spent £6m on agents' fees, said the figures were crazy.

"When I see some of the figures bandied about, it seems like we're in the wrong game. That's the game to be in," he said.

"It's incredible when I see some of the figures, just amazing. Obviously people have made an awful lot of money out of being football agents over the last few years."

The FA have demanded clubs reveal the payments to agents. These include many agents' fees that have been spread in instalments and, in some cases, commissions for re-negotiating deals.

Under the new regulations, clubs, players, authorised agents and exempt solicitors agree to the publication of the figures after November 30 each year. But the clubs do not have to state who was paid and for what deals.

An FA spokesperson said: "We are pleased that, through these new requirements, clubs are bringing greater transparency to the domestic transfer market.

"For the first time, there will be a game-wide picture of the level of spending on agents.

“The leagues and other key stakeholders have been fully supportive, following the example set by the Football League with its publication of agents fees over the last few years."