Introduction

In a previous episode of this series concerning the world of agents, we assessed the summer transfer window through the lens of an agent. As the winter holidays have come and gone and we move into a new year, in most countries around the footballing globe, the winter transfer window has opened.

By name and by concept, the summer transfer window and the winter transfer window may be placed into the same bracket. However, the reality is that these two windows take on starkly different characteristics. In this blog we will once again take the perspective of an agent in approaching and operating within the winter transfer window and highlight the biggest contrasts with the summer equivalent.

The Winter Transfer Window

The winter transfer window occurs across different national football associations over different time periods. These are outlined in the graphic below:

As you can see, for most national associations, the winter transfer window takes place during the middle of the season and often in the month of January. I will detail the exceptions to this later on in the blog. Inevitably, as the window lasts only a month rather than spanning across three months, business is slower and there is a significant difference in the volume of deals that take place in the winter window compared with the summer, pre-season window. This is reflected in the graph below which shows the disparity between the spending of the top 5 European leagues in the summer and winter windows. These are typical figures taken from before the impact of COVID-19 dramatically altered the financial expenditure in transfer windows:

Another factor which creates a more stagnant market is that clubs are typically more reluctant to spend significant sums of money on major transfers mid-season unless there is a drastic urgency. There are, as is the case in most aspects of football, exceptions that go against this general pattern. For example, Ferran Torres moved from Manchester City to Barcelona for a fee of around €55million in the January window of the 2021-22 season. It is important for agents not to dismiss transfer opportunities and to ignore this as an option entirely as the football market is unpredictable and if a club is desperately interested in a specific player, there is no law preventing them pursuing a deal in the winter window.

Nevertheless, the common pattern in the winter window is that the kind of opportunity that clubs are looking for are loan deals. One way in this materialises is a club that is looking for a particular player profile or position to join the squad until the end of the season. Perhaps this may be to replace a long-term injured player or to fill a glaring gap in the current squad. Targeting loan deals means that the club can patch over the urgent need for now and then carry out a thorough investigation leading up the summer window and finding a permanent solution.

The Role of the Agent

As an agent, you can begin to assess and predict how the winter window may play out well before it opens. It is very common for discussions to happen and offers to be made well before January. The best agents have an in-depth knowledge of the current football market and will be able to make fairly accurate estimates as to the kind of player, or at least the position, which clubs will be looking for when the window does begin. Constantly and relentlessly monitoring the market benefits your savviness as an agent. You can identify club needs that link with particular players that you are able to access or even your own clients and you can make the deal happen. This will also enhance your reputation and relationship with clubs as you will approach them with a purpose and a preexisting understanding that they are likely to be interested in your opportunity.

It is better to approach a club with a meaningful opportunity rather than to be seen as wasteful of their time. For example, you may have spotted that a club has two central-defenders injured and another hasn’t quite been performing at the required standard in the lead up to the January transfer window. Furthermore, there aren’t an abundance of academy-graduate options available to them that they can trust at first-team level. This club is unlikely to be prioritising strikers as they have had no trouble in the goals department and their attacking options have been playing well. It is futile to offer this club a forward player but the chances are, they will be interested in bolstering their defensive options until at least the end of the season. This can present an opportunity for you as an agent to broker deals and perhaps for a client to find a loan move. The best case scenario could be that you are able to bring a client on a loan deal in the winter window with an option or obligation to buy at the end of the loan included in the contract. If your client impresses at the new club and fills the void they needed, this can then materialise into a permanent transfer, perhaps in the following summer window bringing you additional income and will be appreciated by your client.

Alternatively, a club may be more concerned with offloading players from their squad in order to enhance their match fitness and experience. This is particularly the case with younger players in squads who are still developing and adjusting to men’s football. Clubs tend to be willing to source suitable loan deals for these players if they have not been able to give them consistent game time in the first half of the season. If you are the agent of such a player, you need to assess whether this is a positive career step for the client.

Serving the Client and the Club

Often, your role will be to offer your services to the club, as well as your client, in finding a loan agreement that best serves the interests of the client. You will need to consider the standard of the football at the prospective clubs as well as their coaching system. In some cases, it may actually be favourable to try to avoid a loan if the player is developing well at the current club and is flourishing under the coaching staff. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be the case that a loan move is too much of a step down in level for young players and this stalls their development. It can be better for them to stick with the higher club, learn from the coaches and the better players around them and make the most of the game time and opportunities they do get. However, my advice would be that in most cases, a loan move is a good option for a young player if they are struggling to break into the first team at their current club. It will expose them to a greater experience of mens football and at a young age, this is the best time for their development so it is important that they are playing football.

As the agent, you need to understand your client, their style of play and their interests well. This knowledge will not only enable you to find a club in which the player will be able to flourish but also will ensure that they are happy with the move themselves. If the system at the club is not one that will suit your client nor are they particularly motivated in moving there, this can create an issue and the second half of the season can be wasted if you commit to a flawed loan move in the winter window. A loan deal mid-season needs to be carefully considered and communicated with the clubs and the player.

Another important factor to be aware of is the performance and success of the club in the first half of the season. This can often indicate and hint at what  their intentions might be in the winter window. Some clubs may be very content with their season thus far and are pushing above their expectations and are not in any kind of hurry to find new players. However, as well as clubs that have had injury problems, the most likely to be looking for players in the winter windows are ones that are either pushing for trophies or promotion, or those that are set to be involved in a relegation battle. These are two, very different, desperate situations.

For those facing relegation, a push in the January window can help them bring in one or two key players that can make the difference in keeping the club from going down. They may also have had a change in manager before the winter window, who is implementing a new system at the club to try and change their fortunes and needs the right players added to the squad to carry out their plans. At the top end of the table, the clubs that are targeting promotion, play-offs, European qualification or maybe even the title, may have a couple of areas which they believe, if improved, could help them get over the finish line where they want. Identifying the clubs that fit into these categories can also help you as the agent to narrow down the opportunities that may be available to you and your clients if they suit what the club is looking for.

The key is to be smart and savvy. The window is short but it can also be very busy if you have the nous to identify and seek out the most favourable opportunities for you and clients. Use your contacts and knowledge of clubs to analyse the market and carry out due diligence well in advance of the window. This increases your chances of being active and successful in a slow January window.

The ‘Winter’ Window in The Americas

As I mentioned, the winter window, in the majority, is a shortened mid-season window to allow clubs to make quick and often temporary adjustments to their squads before completing the second half of the season. However, there are exceptions to this and this is the case in two major markets, Brazil and the US. In these national associations the ‘winter’ window usually doesn’t open until the end of January as it closes in others. This is because it is a pre-season window, just like the summer window elsewhere as the timings of their playing seasons are different. Hence, these windows are also around 3 months long and will remain open until the latter stages of april.

The implications of this for an agent is that if you are not based in these regions, once the January window is closed, you should not stop working. There are two major football markets that are just opening for business so it is an opportunity that should not be missed. It is vital that you consider and plan some potential deals that may present themselves by looking into these markets. This falls under the advantage of being a global agent. Having connections in each corner of the football globe can help you to access deals and sources of income, even when the main transfer windows are closed.

It is vital to be aware that if the window is shut in European markets for example, the player is not able to sign into a club in these regions but they are able to leave. Consequently, as the agent you can still move a client into a window that is still open even if they are transferring from one that is now closed. This is a significant factor in finding a next step for your client and possibilities that are available even when the window is shut in their current market.

In these markets, you can speak with contacts and clubs as well as carrying out your own research to find whether there is any potential for you to conduct business during the winter pre-season window. You have three months to find clubs that are looking to improve their personnel before the beginning of their campaign for the year. It could be an exciting possibility to move a client abroad and to an upcoming and thriving market such as the MLS in the US. If your client is dissatisfied with their current situation, they will appreciate that you continue to work for them even after the usual windows are shut and are trying to find them a new beginning in a new league and country.

Summary

Perhaps it is needless to say that in order to operate as an agent in football, you ought to have a wide-ranging and extensive knowledge of the markets and transfer windows. There are major points of difference between the summer and winter windows and I hope that this blog has demonstrated the nuances you need to work around in order to successfully conduct business in the January winter window. However, this blog has also highlighted that there are opportunities beyond this traditional January window and further afield. Finding the best opportunity for your clients, no matter where in the world, should be the priority and along the way there will also be the chance to broker deals and to work alongside clubs, further improving and expanding your capabilities as an agent.

Introduction

On the surface it may seem as though being a football agent is a ‘dream job’ for anyone who loves the sport. Through various mediums such as popular culture, the media and even Hollywood through Jerry Maguire, the agency profession is portrayed as an extravagant and luxurious lifestyle. The press have played a significant role in publicising the flamboyant and flashy side of agents, particularly those that represent the very top clients. This has moulded the common public perception of agents and the work that we do that is usually very different to the reality.

In this blog, we will offer an insider’s view into what being a football agent is really like. Beyond the idyllic impression that agents earn lucrative sums of money, mix with the rich and famous, manage world-class athletes and get to watch football all day long, there is far more to the job that isn’t quite as glamorous. This blog is aimed at informing and educating a wider audience about this crazy but brilliant industry we work in and highlight the importance of understanding the challenges we face and the vast volume of work that successful agents need to put in behind the scenes and beyond the glitz and glamour.

The Financial Reality

As in any industry and profession, money in football agency is hard earned. The majority of agents, particularly at the beginning of their career, will spend lots of time battling to find enough of an income to support their livelihood. In some cases, agents will work another job to supplement their income in the hope that one day they will be able to take on agency as a full time occupation. The press will only speak about the biggest agents that are involved in the biggest (and often most lucrative) deals, transfers and contracts. For the other 99% of agents, this is usually far removed from the job they are doing. The issue, of course, is that not every agent can represent top clients that earn tens or possibly even hundreds of thousands every week in the top leagues.

Getting the first client and, thereafter, the first commission income is usually the first obstacle to be faced and can be the most challenging aspect of the job. Agents can spend years grafting and grinding, developing their network, their knowledge and their capabilities as an agent yet it can be to no short-term avail and they may not earn any money from the job during this period. This is a harsh truth for many who may have entered the industry under the common belief that there is an abundance of money to be made as a football agent.

Even for an agent who is representing a client and earning good commission from them, it is impossible to become complacent and comfortable. An agent always has to be on their toes and proactive in the industry to ensure that they keep the situation that way. Clients can come and go, sometimes through no fault of the agent, and suddenly this source of income is lost. For agents that earn solely through commission, this can be incredibly difficult and they can feel an unbearable sense of pressure. If the agent is not with a larger agency that pays stable and set salaries, there is no secure and guaranteed income and losing a client can have a catastrophic impact upon an agent’s livelihood. Any profession where income is not guaranteed is a daunting one and it is a frightening part of football that agents, particularly independent ones, have to face and be prepared for.

Sometimes other financial obstacles arise that an agent may be unprepared for. For example, I have previously dealt with a club that spoke directly with the player and his family before signing his first professional contract and said that he should not use an agent. The family took the advice and my part was removed from the deal and negotiation. However, as it turned out, the club brought in their own agent who was a close friend of the sporting director instead to help him financially benefit. Agents that work unethically with club officials can be an economic burden for agents that try to conduct their business professionally and morally.

Relentless and Continual Competition

Football as a whole can be an unforgiving and turbulent environment. This is most certainly the case for football agents too. Far from being a typical ‘9-5’ job, the reality is that an agent is ‘on the clock’ 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A client can and will need to contact their agent at any hour of the day with almost any request and they need to be available to help and assist. It is difficult to succeed as an agent if a client feels as though they are uncontactable; the role of the agent is to be there to support them whenever, wherever and however.

The scope of the job is equally endless. The tasks that agents have to fulfil for clients and the challenges they may face whilst doing so are incredibly unpredictable and can be of almost any nature but will become a part of the job description and consequently, another tickbox in the criteria to fulfil to be a successful agent. In short, no two days will ever be the same. This can often be a considerable difficulty for an agent. The sheer extent of obligations to clients, the day-to-day turbulence and the immense unpredictability of the profession can be difficult to come to terms with and can be a daunting mental battle.

It takes a certain character and person to willingly and successfully commit themselves to such a lifestyle. It requires a lot of sacrifices and a unique degree of passion and desire to work in the industry. Many things that can be taken for granted in other professions do not quite work the same in agency. For one, holidays without a phone or laptop and complete breaks from work are difficult to manage. Usually, a client will still need the agent during this time and there may be ongoing discussions and deals that cannot be completely avoided and delayed for a prolonged period. An agent must accept this reality and will hopefully have a supporting and understanding family around them to help balance the lifestyle. It can become incredibly draining and mentally taxing to feel as though you can never fully switch off from work. It is vital that agents find a way of switching on and off efficiently to protect themselves and look after relationships with family and friends whilst also being able to successfully operate as an agent.

An important factor to note that further complicates things is that the profession is incredibly competitive in almost every aspect. Every part of the job involves some form of competition with other agents or other professionals in football. It is an industry where the volume of work and purposeful dedication an agent invests into it directly correlates with their career success in financial terms and beyond. The mental challenge that agents face is that for every hour they are not working or are not contactable, there may be plenty of other agents out there who are. From the process of signing a client to trying to get a deal over the line, agents are under constant pressure and in direct competition with colleagues. Other agents may want clients that are already signed or want to be part of a deal and a lapse in professionalism and focused dedication may mean an agent loses out on an opportunity. Some agents will try anything and everything to oust other agents and it can be an unpleasant, cutthroat environment to be a part of.

What can make the level of sacrifice and dedication required even harder is the frequency of disloyalty that you may be shown as an agent. Unfortunately, in some cases you may have put in two or more years of devotion to the career of a player but they may decide to leave you if another agent offers them money for example. The unspoken truth is that the families of players can sell their child to other agents for their own financial gain. Agents should never offer players money in my opinion as those that come for money will leave for money and it creates a toxic relationship with unstable foundations.

An extreme example of what the consequences of exchanging money may be was when I was asked by a father to pay a sum of €25,000 to continue representing the player. I was unsure what the money would have been for so spoke further with the wife who informed me the father was looking to fund his gambling addiction. Hence, I objected to sending any money. As a result, after five years of service to the player, the father changed his number and explained that they no longer wished to work with us anymore and we lost the client. This emphasises the reality that loyalty from players is very difficult to come by.

Put simply, agents do not have it easy when it comes to the actual nature of the work, exaggerated by the fact that the industry is a brutal, unrelenting and unforgiving one. A point of consolation on this is that there is actually a small protection mechanism in place for agents. If a client does leave you but, for example, they have two years left on the contract you negotiated for them, you are still entitled to this commission. This prevents your work becoming completely futile.

Problem Solving

A lot of the work that good agents do is thankless. The job demands a vast array of  extensive and occasionally laborious tasks that an agent completes behind the scenes in order to best serve their clients. What the public sees for football agents may be the photos taken at transfer completions posing with the client and is often accompanied with details of large sums of money that will be exchanged and shared between parties. What isn’t as commonly portrayed and explained is the volume of work that the agent had to put in to get to that stage.

Negotiations, discussions and addressing issues are usually processes that go on for a prolonged period and will occupy a considerable proportion of an agent’s time. It can be a stressful and demanding part of the job but is a necessary one to eventually reap the rewards. Sometimes, it can seem as though problems continually raise their heads and as the agent, you are simply moving from solving one problem to the next. A key role of the agent is problem solving and this is not a narrow field; remember a client or  anyone the agent is dealing with can raise any kind of issue that needs addressing at any time.

Another part of problem solving for agents is made more difficult by the ever evolving landscape of football and the extensive and intricate regulations surrounding the work of agents. This adds another daily or at least weekly task onto an agent’s to-do list. Keeping up with regulations and the current market is absolutely imperative for a successful career as an agent and to avoid encountering ethical and legal issues. Clients may often make requests or enquiries that require research and knowledge that the agent needs to conduct and obtain. It is hardly an exhilarating requirement of the job but it is an unavoidable and necessary one.

For the client, particularly if they are a young player you are an important mentor for their career and hence, you are also considered as their personal problem solver. Your role is to address challenges they may face and to motivate and to support them in overcoming it. This may be as simple as messaging before and after a game to encourage them or to console them after a bad performance, the burden is shared with you. There are a lot of problems that may arise such as injury or mental health struggles and this becomes a part of your service as the agent to ensure there is no long term detriment to the player’s career.

The fundamental challenge that this section has outlined is that an agent need not only overcome their own problems and difficulties in their lives but that they also are required to solve the problems of others as part of the job. The best work of a good agent is predominantly done on the worst days for a client. When a client faces a bad day, week, month, transfer, contract situation, football issue, family concern or any other issue, it is the responsibility of the agent to act in a way to alleviates the problem from the player as much as possible. Taking on the additional burden of other people’s problems may not seem like a desirable task and it is the case for many that this part of the job can be overwhelming and unsustainable. However, the best agents are able to thrive under the responsibility of solving their clients’ problems. Once again, this is something that is rarely mentioned in popular culture and media when forming perceptions of football agents.

Meeting Expectations

I have already touched on a major expectation that agents face in this line of work; namely that of being available 24/7 to clients. However, it is not just the client that sets high expectations of an agent. Pressure and dependency can come from a variety of angles and an agent has the sometimes impossible task of keeping everyone happy as much as they can.

There is an extensive list of parties that are invested in and involved with the work of the agent. Of course, the client is the top priority and everything an agent does is to best serve them, but there may also be a wider responsibility to others. For example, the family members of the client will be another watchful eye on the agent and the value they are adding to the relative’s career. An agent has to handle, develop and maintain a relationship with their family and hence, has to dedicate adequate time to this or they will risk losing the client.

Then you have added pressure from another source; the clubs. This can often involve several relationships with individuals such as the Sporting Director, the coach, other players, scouts, the club doctor and more. The reputation of an agent, the way they operate and the manner in which they conduct their business is incredibly important here. However, reputation in football is as fragile as it is important. I always say that it can take years to build a good reputation and consequently, strong relationships with people in the industry, but it can take five minutes to tarnish it forever. This is arguably no truer than for football agency. Even the simplest of mistakes and errors can have a significant and lasting impact on an agent’s career success. The vulnerability and instability of these relationships, particularly with clubs and clients is an extraordinary pressure that comes as part of being an agent.

For agents working under the umbrella of larger agencies, there will be additional expectations set of them. For example, an agency will have different targets that each agent is expected to reach depending upon their exact role within the company. This places a specific demand upon the agent that becomes another aspect of the expectations they must work hard to meet, reinforcing the reality that an agent’s career is fragile and perishable. It can sometimes feel as though demands and requests are coming from all angles and an agent can become consumed by this excessive responsibility for such an array of things. It can be enormously difficult to cope with everything, keep themselves organised and stay on top of anything that comes their way. Yet for the parties, this is irrelevant. They set these tasks to the agent as it is a part of the job and their expectation will be that the agent will complete whatever it is they need. This can be a difficult challenge.

A final point to note on the level of expectation that can be placed on you as the agent is from the partners of players. The reality is that wives and girlfriends, for example, are a significant factor in a player’s life and career. They can create issues if they feel an agent is “uncontrollable” to them and is not meeting their expectations. It is not uncommon for partners to meddle and to try to remove you to bring in an agent that they can dictate to to benefit them. Often their expectations can be difficult to manage and meet and it is somethings agents have to take into consideration an handle carefully.

Summary

The work of an agent is exciting, unique and can be very rewarding in many ways. It is a privilege to be able to work in the beautiful game and alongside the athletes that make the sport of football, or soccer, what it is. However, the falsehood of the lifestyle of an agent that has been, and continues to be, fabricated by mainstream popular media can give a dangerous impression of what it is really like to work as a football agent. Our hope is that this blog highlights the important, and often unseen, parts of the profession that can be incredibly challenging and difficult. It should have shown that to succeed as an agent requires extraordinary dedication, unrelenting motivation and a particular type of person. By educating people on the work of agents, hopefully a more realistic perception of the industry will become commonplace and a greater appreciation for the role we play and the value we add to football.