Transfer Deadline Day: From super negotiators Jorge Mendes and Mino Raiola to player power, what it’s really like to be a football agent
Cesare Marchetti, of Deadline Day Sports Agency, lifts the lid on what football agents around the world will be doing as the window swings shut
IT'S the day which keeps fans glued to Sky Sports News and frantically scrolling through their club's Twitter feed.
But for football agents, it would appear the less breaking news the better on tomorrow's Transfer Deadline Day.
A quiet 24 hours means it has been a successful transfer window – that business was wrapped up long before the cut off deadline.
Cesare Marchetti, football agent and founder of international professional football agency Deadline Day Sports, explains: “Transfer Deadline Day isn’t a day that you want to be busy on. On Deadline day it is usually panic buys or loans that go through.
“Sky Sports and the media peddle this myth about ‘Jim White’ Deadline day. Transfer Deadline day is more of a marketing day for the media. Clubs, agents and players don’t want to be doing rushed deals on deadline day in an ideal world.”
Sometimes a deadline day deal cannot be avoided, as negotiations drag on or a club has to make an emergency last dip into the player pool to cover an unexpected shortage.
Wayne Rooney, Luis Suarez, Mesut Ozil and Fernando Torres are all members of the ‘Deadline Day Movers’ club.
But generally the idea is that anything that happens on D-day is ‘down to situation rather than choice,’ according to Marchetti, who prefers to spend his day helping clubs to loan out players.
He added: “Every agent would move their clients at the start of the window in a perfect world and clubs would do their business as early as possible.
“If you have a player who hasn’t moved and you are still speaking to clubs, then of course it is stressful as you have limited time to conclude a deal.”
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Representing a footballer can mean big business, football super agents claiming a bigger cut of profits that ever before.
Think Jorge Mendes – the notorious negotiator who was famously gifted a Greek Island as a wedding present in 2015 by megastar and client Cristiano Ronaldo.
Then there is Mino Raiola who earned a £23million cut of Paul Pogba’s world record £89million transfer to Manchester United – which could rise as high as £41million, according to Rafael Buschmann and Michael Wulzinger’s Football Leaks: the Dirty Business of Football.
Such perks do not apply to the majority of football agents though.
Marchetti revealed: “I don’t have a private jet for a start.
“Mino Raiola and Jorge Mendes are so powerful because they have the best players on the planet. Clubs need to keep them happy and when Mino or Jorge call a club the sporting directors listen.
“My working life is vastly different because my players are not world superstars yet, so I need to spend a lot more time building relationships with clubs and trying to convince clubs to take a punt on a player.
“Also financially, when Mino or Jorge move a player their agent fee is seven figures, sometimes eight – in the case of Pogba, whereas currently I am working on four and five figure fees for my clients.”
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Being an agent is not easy. Marchetti lists his six key attributes to possess if you want to be successful: patience, business acumen, football knowledge, social skills, strong work ethic and passion.
It also pays to be savy and play to your strengths.
He said: “Clubs will always make a low offer and pressure you to sign, however if they want your player then you should always be able to agree a mutually acceptable deal.
“The biggest problem is usually between two clubs agreeing terms of a transfer.
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“The Super Agents have an easier job because they the best players, so clubs actively contact them, so they have less proactive work to do. The less well known your players are, the more work you have to do to get them a move.
“There is another myth that agents force players to sign for a club. The player has the power. If a player doesn’t want to join a club, then he doesn’t sign. The player makes the final choice on everything.”
His dream client would be Juve’s five-time Ballon D’Or winner Ronaldo but for now, Marchetti is building up his portfolio, based between Italy and the UK.
In September 2013, then aged 27, he became one of the youngest Licensed Football Agents in the
World.
He has gone on to work with a number of clubs across Europe and lists his proudest deal being in February this year when he helped defender Bodvar Bodvarsson join Polish Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Bialystok.
Capped four times for his country, the move saw Bodvarsson become the first Icelandic player to play in Poland.
No sooner than that deal was concluded, Marchetti was on to the next.
Just as he will be immediately after this week’s transfer window swings shut.
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He concluded: “Football is a 24/7 business 365 days of the year. You are constantly looking after your clients, watching games, meeting clubs, discussing players and contracts and looking for new clients.
“Most of work for the transfer window is done outside of the transfer window.
“The summer window will start as early as December if you have players who are out of contract in the summer.
“You start the winter window from the day the summer window shuts. You have different transfer windows across Europe so you are always working on something.”
No rest for the wicked.