Parasites 

Fleetwood spending the third most is astonishing. How is that sustainable for them. 

Cambridge at 15k seems like a typo on that articles behalf. Very low number, especially with how many ins and outs they've had 

Very aware of the money issues within English football, but some of those figures are still shocking. Must be so many dodgy financial situations going on behind the scenes of some clubs. 

golfaddick said:

I still don't understand why clubs pay agents. Agents should get paid by the player. Only way you should perhaps pay an Agent is maybe for a "finders fee". 

Exactly, its my main beef with the whole sleazy set-up. In normal business recruiters are paid only by employers. No way by 'candidates'.

The PFA wanted to break it up so that an agent was paid only by clients while the PFA would set up a unit to look after players. 

Bedsaddick said:

Parasites 

 Are they though? So long as they're getting the best deals for their clients they're doing the same as any recruiter.

This also applies for the question on why the club pays them and not the player. The worker doesn't pay the recruiter, the business recruiting the worker does. 

Dazzler21 said:

Bedsaddick said:

Parasites 

 Are they though? So long as they're getting the best deals for their clients they're doing the same as any recruiter.

This also applies for the question on why the club pays them and not the player. The worker doesn't pay the recruiter, the business recruiting the worker does. 

Undoubtedly there are some (probably many) agents that are wrongun’s but the profession as a whole helps to level the balance of power between young men/boys who may not have tons of experience or people they can call on to help in the negotiation of relatively significant contracts and football clubs who have resources dedicated to the matter. 

Off_it said:

PragueAddick said:

se9addick said:

Dazzler21 said:

Bedsaddick said:

Parasites 

 Are they though? So long as they're getting the best deals for their clients they're doing the same as any recruiter.

This also applies for the question on why the club pays them and not the player. The worker doesn't pay the recruiter, the business recruiting the worker does. 

Undoubtedly there are some (probably many) agents that are wrongun’s but the profession as a whole helps to level the balance of power between young men/boys who may not have tons of experience or people they can call on to help in the negotiation of relatively significant contracts and football clubs who have resources dedicated to the matter. 

If people think agents are dodgy but football clubs would always act with upmost integrity if they weren’t there then they are sadly mistaken. 

That’s generally true, of course, but glosses over the specific business model of football agents, which involves practices for which “conflict of interest” doesn’t begin to cover it. Revenue stream from players and from clubs, and from each other.  Nothing to stop them and nothing to declare. You can read articles in The Athletic about deals at elite levels which involve chains of agents in different countries, all taking their “cut” and for what professional practice exactly? Then, shall I mention Mohammed Sala (RIP) ? 

Then there is the question of what professional skills you bring as an agent. Since there are no “qualifications”, you just pay a small fee to the FA for registration, the answer can quite easily be “fuck all”, and yet they are all apparently doing very well for themselves. There are other professions for which being a rat up a drain is an essential attribute, but few legal ones where it is the only essential attribute.

The answer is regulation, wholesale, but the trouble is, it has to be at global level, which means FIFA. So that’ll go well….

Emiliano Sala

Ta. Getting to the age where I should always check up less familiar names before posting.🙁

Given those agent fees then are spending on players is about league 1 midtable,  not top 6 as people have said. 
So we should not be to disaponted by the squads  performance. It is only a little below where we might expect given the money spent on the squad.

PragueAddick said:

se9addick said:

Dazzler21 said:

Bedsaddick said:

Parasites 

 Are they though? So long as they're getting the best deals for their clients they're doing the same as any recruiter.

This also applies for the question on why the club pays them and not the player. The worker doesn't pay the recruiter, the business recruiting the worker does. 

Undoubtedly there are some (probably many) agents that are wrongun’s but the profession as a whole helps to level the balance of power between young men/boys who may not have tons of experience or people they can call on to help in the negotiation of relatively significant contracts and football clubs who have resources dedicated to the matter. 

If people think agents are dodgy but football clubs would always act with upmost integrity if they weren’t there then they are sadly mistaken. 

That’s generally true, of course, but glosses over the specific business model of football agents, which involves practices for which “conflict of interest” doesn’t begin to cover it. Revenue stream from players and from clubs, and from each other.  Nothing to stop them and nothing to declare. You can read articles in The Athletic about deals at elite levels which involve chains of agents in different countries, all taking their “cut” and for what professional practice exactly? Then, shall I mention Mohammed Sala (RIP) ? 

Then there is the question of what professional skills you bring as an agent. Since there are no “qualifications”, you just pay a small fee to the FA for registration, the answer can quite easily be “fuck all”, and yet they are all apparently doing very well for themselves. There are other professions for which being a rat up a drain is an essential attribute, but few legal ones where it is the only essential attribute.

The answer is regulation, wholesale, but the trouble is, it has to be at global level, which means FIFA. So that’ll go well….

FIFA have tried to regulate it and have been working on it for the last 5 years and it was supposed to start in October 2023.  It's still rumbling on because of "restriction of trade" protestations from large agencies in Spain,Germany,  France, UK, Denmark and Brazil.  So it's been left to the National FA's to decide which of FIFA's Football Agent Regulations are in scope and which are out.  So now Agents are working on a clusterfuck of a mixture of rules and regs.

The primary source of complaint was FIFA's proposal to introduce a salary cap on what an Agent could take and that this should be paid by the player and not the club.  This is going to the highest courts and will rumble on for years to come so at present there is no cap to the percentage an Agent can take provided it is agreed beforehand.  FIFA Proposed a limit of 5% up to $200k and 3% for anything above that)

As far as saying agents "Just pay a fee" that's how it used to be.  Since last April FIFA restarted their FIFA Football Agent examinations and you have to pass in order to operate as a FIFA Agent.  Following the protestations of the FA you now need to be registered with both FIFA and The FA in order to operate as an agent.  The FIFA Exam has around 700 pages of reading material to learn.  You also need to have an Enhanced DBS Cert.  For the FA you need to complete their online CPD's every year and have a different Enhanced DBS Cert to enable you to work with minors over here.

I sat and passed there FIFA Agent's exam last April and it was no cakewalk.  I understand the passrate for the 2 exams so far is below  50% but there's no official result yet from the Sept 23 exam for some reason.

I am well aware how Agents are perceived and I must admit that the majority of those I have met through various courses etc I can see why.  But that's is why I want to operate in a more ethical manner.  I don't want to unsettle players and have them agitate for a move constantly - I want to match a player with a club and see that relationship flourish.  The way I see it is if a player is happy and settled you'll get the best out of them and everybody wins.

I've been attending games for over 40 years but I've spent the last 5 years attending games as much as possible to learn about the different levels in the region and to keep an eye on some of the better players out there.  I've spent thousands of pounds of my own money on Wyscout, tickets, courses, training, petrol etc to make sure I meet with people that can help me learn the right way and the wrong way.

So whilst I agree there are many leeches in the industry I would also like to point out that there are people trying to get involved in the game that face a constant battle to be heard because of these negative connotations that there are with this profession.  Some of us however love football, love to analyse it and can also help players with the softer side of things and that is exactly what my intentions are.