Nr 2 and 3

With 10 days left of summer transferwindow 2013 number two and three are done. Even though cash is not huge there are allot of upside to these transfer;

Nr2: more or less one month ago I wrote about my first failed transfer. Thinking back about it, it was one of most stressful moments of my life I think. Anyway leaving this eastern europe country both me and the player were really upset. In this sketchy world players are always suspicious against agents, deals often break were both club and players are agreed but agents get to greedy. I assured the player this was not the case and I promised him I will not sleep until this was delivered. Said and done, it is a top player so the interest has been quite intense, but always failing at the finishing line for different reasons. At one point I felt the collaboration was doomed and jinxed. 

Anyway, Monday we signed for the vice champion of a scandinavian side. Money is not as good but the sporting challenge is far better. Players is super happy ! 

Nr3: young striker with good cv were I got mandate from an agent. Speaking and emailing lots of directors in my geographic region. Strangely enough the interest was quite small, even to the point we decided to send the player on a weeks trial. He did well but the club felt he was to similar in style too the other forwards they already got. Transfer deadline closing in I took more desperate measures. Finding out from a journalist friend a clubs key striker was out on injury the rest of the season. So I direclt text the sporting director (I already presented the player 1 month before with no response), suddenly they are very interested and the Director is super friendly. I play ball and very quickly we agree terms. We even sign electronically through mandate and scan the contact.

the contracts on both players are quite short which makes the potential future commission better. First of all i got ok paid for such a short contract, secondly if they perform we are in good position. Both salary and commission wise... 

Although the biggest upside to this is that I achieved my own personal goal, 3 transfer my first window. Now sixth gear and maybe maybe I can make a fourth one... 

the art of waiting

generally there are far more upsides to my newly acquired occupation but there is one thats is eating me from the inside = waiting. 

I dont know if its not in my nature to patiently just wait for a counter response but its pure torture. I think for most new agents the big obstacle its the opposite; be out there, aggressive and just interact without thinking. Suddenly you are in a environment were you have to speak to players, agents and sport directors you usually just read about in the sports-pages. If you overanalyze this and act to humble in most cases you will be eaten. In one of my first posts I wrote that humbleness is something i have left behind me, this rule was for me has not been hard to act upon. Whats much harder is to try to stop myself to get the latest info, news or total control of situation. These are not negative things but the constant stress of seeking total control can make you look desperate. Also on a personal level its not a nice feeling. This "habit" is definitely a downside that I will have to learn to cope with. Both for my clients sake and for my psychological health. 

An concrete example is that I would guess I press update on my email, downwards swipe on wattsup and viber at least 200times/day. 

peace

a day

one of the mostly frequently asked questions i get when peeps that find out iam a football agent;
- so how do you actually spend your days ?

Well, not much different from what I used to do on a day off from my previous finance job.
There is no hour I have to be at the office but i try to wake up around 09 (to have some sort of self discipline). First thing is i check all my communications tool (sms, email, whatsup, viber etc) then still lying in bed quick read through all headlines. An hour later iam in the office and days when i am not travelling are very much relaxed. We chat about footy, transfer, booze and girls. Drink heavy amounts of coffey and once/twice a week we sit down in a organized meeting. Agenda is deals that are closer, we give each other tips on how to handle different scenarios. We "lay puzzles", often one agent has contact with a club that is looking for a specific player or vice versa. Through an excel sheet I created (some use of my old work) we then try to match supply with demand. First step is if I personally have that player profile, secondly if none of the agents within our network then lastly we go to outside agents we know and cooperate well with.

Between these chats, headlines readings and result follow up:
- Work on securing those deals that are close by travelling, phone calling and emailing.
- Lay out leads on players and clubs through cold email and calls
- Scan through other agencies players lists, in order to find people that have good players to collaborate with
- Browse through all the "junk email" you get only by being listed on the FIFA website. Mainly scouts from all over the world emailing me that they found the new Drogba in africa or Messi in south america.
- Deleting all the email from countless players saying that they are proffesional and want help with there career.