Football agents what do they do

Football agents what do they do

The role of agents in football has evolved over time. One of the main activites of football agents is to help transfer players between clubs. They actively procure clubs that are interested in buying their clients, make the necessary intermediary connections and essentially help finalize a deal between all parties. Agents will normally hold a commission fee for making this arrangement. This fee will typically range from 3% to 10% of the total transfer fee, depending on the deal between the agent and the clubs.

The process from finding an interested party that wants to buy the player to finalizing the negotiations between all the parties is an interesting one. Inumerous calls are made, e-mails are sent back and forth, SMS and Whatsapp texts are exchanged. Many times, deals are leaked to the press through intermediaries. These press leaks are commonly used by agents to apply pressure on the buying or selling parties, depending on the difficulties that arise during the negotiation process. As an example, if a world-class player is leaked as a "done deal" when the both clubs haven't finally reached a conclusion, it is very probable that the agent want to press the buying party to finalize the deal, due to surmounting pressure from the fans. While clubs concede to the pressure, other clubs don't like the involvement of the press making the negotiations even more difficult.

Jorge Mendes is one of the most famous agents in the world today. Cristiano Ronaldo is his main client. He brokered the deal from Man United to Real Madrid for a fee of 96M€. Other famous agents in football include names such as  Zahavi, Nelio Lucas or Mino Raiola. who have also been known to make enormous deals between clubs, as well as for their clients. It is very common for many of these agents to have social media accounts on Instagram, for example, and seeing them post photos on yachts and private jets with other similarly rich and famous people.

The role of football agents has become increasingly important over the past twenty years. Many football fans see agents as parasites that bring nothing positive to football. FIFA (the world football governing body based in Zurich, Switzerland) has become aware of the increasing influence that agents have and has thus created regulations that limit agents' business activity.

In conclusion, the role of the football agent is an important one and has suffered many changes throughout the years. What an agent does in football has changed dramatically. No longer is the agent merely a member of family or a friend, but is normally someone that has many years of experience and contacts in the football world. It is this experience that can land footballers multi-million euro contracts that can last them a lifetime. While talent is undoubtedly an important aspect of how well a footballer does in his carreer, it is worth next to nothing if the right agent is not working for him.

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