tbt & nr7

its thursday (through-back) and the month of february is coming to an end. For me this means two things:

1. Without being sentimental but more since its #tbt, its exactly one year ago I went to my second hometown to totally isolate myself. It was 8 weeks before my FIFA exam and I had quit my job and really gambled everything on one card. Honestly I had no real back-up plan and looking back at it the pressure I put on myself was massive. On top of that I had not told that many friends/family that I actually had quit and was writing the exam. I told people I was away on business but really went into serious study mode:
- 7 weeks of intense studying
- 8 hours/day including saturdays
- no substances

On exam day I was quite nervous but managed to pull myself together, the nervs kicked in after the exam. More exactly the 48 hours I was waiting for my federation to give me the result, terror.


2. Number two or in fact nr.7. Tomorrow my seventh transfer will 99% be done, its already official on the clubs webpage but 2 big details are missing. We are negotiated and are totally agreed. My contract between the club and agent, and players signed employment contract. The player is from Asia and is young, since it will take him 3-4 days to travel to the club and sign live they prompted on electronically signing the contract. So I have sent him his contract and tomorrow morning the player will print, sign, scan and email it to me. Then I will wait for the club to do the same with the agent/club agreement. I trust the chairman but I will not take any risk in sending the players contract in beforehand, in theory when they have the player-contract there is no incentive of signing our agreement.

Again its a player from the academy I work with, going to a domestic championship club. Unfortunately a club in this league neither has the budget or will to pay any agent commission, nor does the player make the money I would feel comfortable being remunerated my 10%.  My end will come if the player explodes, I have 15% of next sale (including FIFA training compensation).


Looking at the seven transfers I have done in the past 9 months, they were all very different. Different structure, background, commission, country, key factors etc.
This is the whole tickle, contrasts.

 

winter turning to spring

similar to the summer window also january started slow. The stress knowing that the market is active, agents move their players and you not delivering is stressing. In other words the whole January was hard, deals breaking down last second, unluck, high expectations and bad timing made my stomach turn inside out. Now mid Feb everything feels much better, have done 3 so far. Here comes a quick recap on each case:

1. One of the players I tried moving already this summer was sitting on a ending contract and it was now or never for him to make a shot at europe. On top of that I did not have an representation agreement signed with him which means I am also racing against other agents offering him different deals. Everything was lined up in beginning of January for a mid size club in eastern europe, agreed in terms of contract and agent fee and after just setting the last practical details in terms of dates the club suddenly is not convinced. The dont pick up my phone calls or respond to emails, this is never a good sign. I slowly realize they are looking at other options and at the same time the player getting more stressed, this one had the potential to become a nightmare. 

Out of the blue some random dude informs the player that another team in the same league are interested and that he can help. I act with full aggressiveness to secure I own the situation and take 100% charge, call the coach, president, team officials making sure they understand I and nobody else represent the player. We go down together and visit the club, quite quickly agree then fly back to sign. 

For me a big important deal done, for the player a great move both financially in from a sporting perspective. 

Important also that is makes a good statement for other players I want to sign. 

2. An academy player signing his first pro contract. Arranged a 2 week trail for 2 kids from the academy I work with. Both really made a great impression, unfortunately the club could only afford one of them. He signed a 2 year deal with a domestic Championship club. The club is a small budget club so there is not even worth mentioning any agent provision and the player salary is small as well (I would never take mny from a young player like this). My financial benefit is if the kid explodes and moves, I have 30% of future financials such as transfer fee or training compensation. 

3. For me a very underrated player, which club was relegated from the top tier. As many relegated clubs they suffer tremendously financially. My player which I had signed already this fall had a quite high salary and everybody knew he was way too good to stay. I had 2 clubs on the line both willing to make substantial offers (remember that 95% of all transfers these days are free agents). The selling club honored the situation and was realistic in their demanded price and everything went very smooth. Although my player was top 3 most expensive player they have ever bought... 

In these scenarios when 2 clubs want the player the loosing club will always get disappointed and pissed at the agent, so also in this case. My relationship with them is now spoiled, but thats a part of it. 

So even though the winterwindow is not closed yet I have done 6 transfers my first 2 windows. A result I should be very happy with, but as with everything my appetite is just growing. Maybe I can squeeze in 1 more deal this window, that would be fab. 

Exactly 1 year ago I gambled and quit my job, applied to take a license and sat alone for 2 months straight and just studied. Looking back, best decision ever.  

 

 

Watching live conference from our latest transfer

1 month left, tick tack

Feels like time is running out, looking back at some earlier posts I wanted to have recap on the post from late September "Prep for 2014". Basically my strategic plan was to work on 3 points in order stay alive both in the short and long run. These 3 points were:

1. Collaboration with an academy:
Visiting the UK based academy I was just so impressed with resources that are used on these young kids. Comparing to my country of residence it is just day and night, anyone doubting football business is big deal should travel around in Europe seeing how much money is invested in kids.
Anyway, after some negotiations i managed to convince the academy director an agent is a necessity in order to get players out to pro clubs. He gave me his blessing and I got to work.
Back in my office I started contacting suitable clubs (there are several parameters to take into consideration when picking a club, such as; to they play young players, do they historically sell young players, coach mentality, club environment good for youth, level of league etc.). One of the conditions from the academy was that the club should cover all costs in regards to trails, in pro football this is not the standard. Opposite it always the agent/player that players that stands for this cost.
Also from the Academy side a prerequisite was that I as an agent do not take any commission from the first transfer, thats understandable.
Selling the academy and services to the suitable clubs I managed to arrange 3 trials for these young lads. First one was negative, the next 2 have been at their club for 2 weeks and yesterday the trainer was positive in an interview to the newspaper. We will have feedback today (please please).
I really have invested allot of time and cash on making me the agent for this academy so deeply hope they produce some interesting players..
Whats innit for me? Well I will write representation contract with the players and try get in a sell on clause for my self on next transfer.

2. Attacking players with ending contracts:
This I thought was a well performed point from my side. Together with a colleague from the agency I work with we had 12-13 good players were contracts ends, in other words helping transferring 5 out of those would be an ok result. This has not really worked out the way I wanted, mainly for 2 reasons. It is commonly known both by players/clubs/agents that it is a clubs market and that they determine the conditions (we have touched upon this subject before). Therefor half of those 12-13 players got offered new deals directly after the season ended, 2 months before the window open with a tight deadline. Players know it is not easy to find new clubs these days and therefore chose the safe option to directly extend the deal...
Secondly feedback from clubs is that the cant give any concrete offers for January before mid December, budgets are very tight and if they already have signed a player and lets say 2 crucial players get injured the last weeks of the year they will not have room in the budget to replace the injuries. Clubs wait until last minute, this of course makes the agent work much harder and players stressed.

2. Asking clubs for lists:
When I say lists I mean demand lists from clubs on what they will be looking for. This point has gone really well, and I have managed to get in contact with many clubs from UK, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Scandinavia, Ukraine, Greece etc. Problem is that I cant provide the players the clubs demand. Often I present a player were I know their agent which makes me have to split the potential commission. This is ok as long as you know the other agent well and no one tries to rip each other off..  


Two other points:
-There will be no new years celebration this year, need to be in the office 1 Jan in morning..

-David Russel movie The Fighter is on telly tonight, cant wait

dizzy & tv scouting

still after almost 6 months acting as a player agent i am amazed by how some days can just implode... Feels like every second day is totally different, yesterday I got all phonecalls, emails and contacts responded and planned out they way I wanted. Today totally opposite, few responses and negative feedback. In the very beginning I thought it was all about luck if someone got back directly when emailing a player presentation but I realize more and more that timing and tactics are essential. I have learned when before getting in touch things to bare in mind:

- Did the team lose the evening before (people are going to be negative)

- Is the person in mind or club travelling somewhere (trying to get hold of player, director, coach travelling is hard)

 - Is it a red day or holiday, try to get in touch with an Israeli club on yom kippur

- dont speak to directors about players if the coach is about to leave or get fired

- dont call people before 10.00 nobody within football picks up

there are just numerous of things to think through before you get in contact with someone. Today I was to dizzy/unconcentrated to think and got shit done. 

My agent colleague Zaid Eideh told me to write a couple lines in regards to what makes a player interesting for me as an agent and if there is any difference watching footy in my profession as oppose to a fan. Well there is at least one big difference. 

First of all want to emphasize that I have never played/coached so I have no real experience from pro football. I have not really developed an eye for scouting and looking at players from a pure technical perspective is not my strength (neither my interest). In other words I tend to avoid discussion with very technical oriented people... Anyway the way that I now watch football has changed slightly. I have realize that any player that want to perform on a ok pro level need competitve edge and thats what Iam looking for. Can he show something that nobody else on the pitch can, speed, precision, vision, passing% etc. 

The game today is to maximize the best individuals much more that team effort, how can each individual player in the optimal use their competitive edge. 

This is of course just my theory but before I did not in particular concentrate on this but now I do. 

Hope tomorrow is going to be a more productive day.

examples of emails

Recent email I have received, through my details being on FIFA.COM

Enjoy!

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Dear Agent

.

We are glad to introduce our company specialised in sport tours and travels for young people in Italy.

.

We have been operating since 1993 and since then we have dealt with more than 2,000 teams. We started with soccer and then, year after year, we added other sports following the increasing requests we received from coaches of other sports practised in Colleges and Universities.

.

We have excellent relationships with Pro Football Club in Italy and we can arrange TEAM CAMP and TEAM TOUR to any category and age group.

.

Apart from the tours, we also organise some of the most important soccer tournaments in Italy such as:

> Venice Christmas Cup (December 27-29 in Venice): 40 teams - categories: from under 13 to under 9

> Florence Epiphany Cup (January 3-5 in Florence): 40 teams - categories: from under 17 to under 9

> Terre di Siena Cup (Easter in Tuscany): 60 teams - categories: from under 17 to under 9

> Roma Cup (Easter in Rome): 60 teams - categories: from under 17 to under 9

> Milano Festival (Easter in Milan): 80 teams - categories: from under 17 to under 9

> Pfingsten Cup (Pentecost in Emilia Romagna): 80 teams - categories: from under 17 to under 9

> Mirabilanda Cup (June 19-22 in Emilia Romagna): 60 teams - categories: from under 17 to under 9

.

In case you are interested in collaborating with us, in both ways, do not hesitate to contact us

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hello mister fredrik

I'm young Senegalese player I would like your help  I'm a free agent fifa and club

I played the champion Senegal and tournaments in Europe

 I was in Europe in 2010 to play a tournament

I'm serious my name on google I would come in player sweden  on your help

I pay for my ticket and  hotel to come to test

I can send you the visa on my passport 

I am ready to come if you get me an invitation club

 my cv in french

cordially

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Hello Sir/ Ma

Hello My name is Seun Oloyede I am 16 years old ,Born in Lagos Nigeria. Am a very good Football Player , Well am looking for a Good Agent who can Manage me for as many trier in Europe and Asia for Tournament or Clubs . I have to go on a search at FI FA.com to seek for a very good Agent cos i do believe that's is the best way to Find a good Agent , so that's where i got to have your email address , hope i would be glad to hear from you soon .

My dreams is to play in Europe and be a better player , well known and famous like the professionals we see on the TV station and cables . I Play at the Central Midfielder and am very good in that , i train very harder and am always consistent athletics so i will be waiting your respond , Let me know if there is any Free Trier for your boy hope to hear from you soon , God bless you .

My Number +23470 5599 82

Best Regards

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Dear Friend,

Complement of the day to you and your love ones

I hope my email will arrive to you at good time.

My name is Ghais Mohammed from Damascus Syria.

I am 64 years old and retired. I was former personal investor & financial consultant advisers to

a Top Politician here in SYRIA.

Why I'm contacting you is to know if we can have a personal conversation.

Whatever truth you may brief me will be highly recommended.

Tell me more about your country, how good it will be to invest in your country.

Such as buying of properties, or real estate and some tourist places or any profitable investment venture that will yield good profit.

I will appreciate whatever result you may brief me.

Do let me know your idea and knowledge regarding this or any other profitable investment venture you may suggest.

I have a substantial amount and I am willing to order the transfer of the money to you for investment if you’re interested with my proposal.

In my next mail I will explain the full details of the project and interest, and then we reach an agreement on what will be your share from the money or investment.

I shall tell you more about myself when I read from you.

You may as well tell me little more about yourself when replying.

Waiting for your reply.

Thanks and best regards,

Ghais Mohammed

Damascus,Syria:

Standard Liege changing room.