What is an undisclosed fee and why do football clubs use them during the transfer window

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Every football fan has been here. Your club signs someone exciting, and as soon as you hurry to look into the details, you see it… “Signed for an undisclosed fee.” Brilliant.

This has been the case numerous times during the recent summer transfer window, with many deadline day signings’ fees being kept a secret.

Of course, people have ways of finding out how much a player did cost and this can be leaked into the media. Eventually, we’ll discover what Championship clubs spent on their new signings.

But what exactly is an undisclosed fee, and why do football clubs hide their new players’ price tags? EFL Analysis have got you covered…

• READ MORE: Three winners and losers in the summer transfer window as Derby County go big while Gustavo Hamer misses out

Why do transfers have undisclosed fees?

There are a few reasons why clubs hide the fee paid for a player when announcing their signing or move to another team.

The first is privacy. The club and or the player might want to keep it out of the public domain to avoid media scrutiny or pressure attached to the price tag.

Secondly, it can be used as a negotiation tactic. If a club’s rivals know they are spending big bucks on players and that team tries to buy a player from elsewhere, the current club may inflate their asking price in the knowledge that the suitors are happy to drop large fees.

Another reason is that deals can be complex. A lot of transfers go beyond just a flat fee, with add-ons, signing on bonuses and other details inflating the transfer cost. This can make expressing the cost paid hard, and clubs may find it easier to just put ‘undisclosed’ to avoid confusion.

Championship spending in 2025/26 summer window compared to previous years

The second tier of English football’s biggest spenders this summer were Ipswich Town, who were recently relegated from the Premier League.

They spent a whopping £51.6million, with Southampton close behind on £48.7million. League One runners up Wrexham have spent £32.7million, an unprecedented amount for a newly promoted club in the Championship after they were estimated to be worth £150million by football finance expert Kieran Maguire.

Burnley were the big spenders in the 2024/25 summer window, splashing out £40.92m.

In 2023/24, clubs spent £314 million on new players. A total of £706m was spent on wages – the first time revenue exceeded wage costs since the 2016/17 campaign.

The parachute payments given to clubs dropping down from the Premier League have fed into the eye-watering spending in the second tier, but new money clubs such as Wrexham and Birmingham City are now contributing too.