By
Ivan cordovilla
Player agents are the fourth leg of each transfer.
In theory, they are employees of the footballers themselves, but they
have so much influence over them that the will of the stars does not always prevail over theirs
.
The clubs, both those who sell and those who buy, know that keeping them happy will mean, in many cases, keeping the player happy.
FIFA should recognize us and treat us appropriately.
No one from FIFA has been in my office or had a conversation with me.
If you ask the players what they want, they are in favor of the agents.
There are never any complaints about agent fees from players
Barnett
No one is aware that they have more and more power in the football transfer market. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, a study was published indicating that agents had charged € 590 million in transfer fees.
FIFA is working to regulate its activity.
In this new regulation, which is expected for January 1, 2022, FIFA will demand compliance with certain requirements to obtain the agent's license, the rights and obligations will be marked, there will be sanctions, the representation of minors will be regulated ... And, above all, there will be a limit on commissions.
10% of each transfer for the agents of the selling club, 3% of the player's salary for his agent and another 3% of the salary for the agent of the buying club.
Of course, the agents raised their voices against this measure and
AS
discussed the issue in a Forum of agents and representatives of footballers who explained their position.
Forum of agents and representatives in AS
But regardless of their war, what is most striking is the concentration of footballers around the big players.
Jorge Mendes and Raiola are two of the most famous, the first for having Cristiano Ronaldo on his agenda and the second for always being surrounded by controversy, but they are not the only ones.
In fact, it is an American company, Wasserman, that has the players with the highest market value followed closely by ICM Stellar Sports, Barnett's company.
And which of them has the best team?
We are going to compare them and see what elevences each representative could form.
Wasserman, the American sports marketing giant
This American multinational company entered the Spanish market with force in the
summer of 2020 with the purchase of Top Value
, a Spanish agency based in Valencia.
Thanks to this, they were made with players like Jaume Doménech, Grimaldo, Portu, Iborra, Barrenetxea ...
In this way it managed to expand into European football, but
this company is a giant in the world of representation.
For example, in the NBA they represent Westbrook, Klay Thompson or Sabonis.
And in music they bring artists of the stature of Drake, Ed Sheeran or Billie Eilish.
Eleven Kind - Wasserman
Jaume D.
VALENCIA CF
Joe gomez
LIVERPOOL
Stones
Manchester City
Laporte
Manchester City
Guerreiro
Borussia Dortmund
Valverde
Real Madrid
Dendoncker
Wolves
Aouar
Ol. Lyon
Sarr
Watford
Vardy
Leicester City
Queen
Borussia Dortmund
Reyna Borussia Dortmund
VardyLeicester City
SarrWatford
AouarOl.
Lyon
DendonckerWolves
Valverde Real Madrid
Guerreiro Borussia Dortmund
LaporteManchester City
StonesManchester City
Joe Gomez Liverpool
Jaume D. Valencia
With a total of 708 registered players, they amount to a total of € 1,440,000 in market value according to
Transfermarkt
.
This is the best eleven he could get in a game, taking into account that he would leave names like
Lenglet, Barnes, Aké, Mings, McKennie, Grimaldo, Barkley, André Gomes
on the bench
...
And it even has coaches and managers!
Koeman, Van der Sar, Eddiw Howe, Gerrard, Cocu ...
ICM Stellar SportsBarnett, the most powerful agent in the world
Jonathan Barnett is a regular in the media in Spain for all the controversy generated by the figure of Bale in Real Madrid.
However, and beyond his recurrent explosive statements, he runs one of the largest representation agencies in the world.
According to
Forbes
, he is the most powerful agent.
Eleven Type - ICM Stellar Sports
Unai Simon
Athletic
Dest
Barcelona
Caleta-Car
Ol. Marseille
Konaté
Liverpool
Chilwell
Chelsea
Camavinga
Real Madrid
Mount
Chelsea
Saul
Chelsea
Bale
Real Madrid
Bamford
Leeds
Grealish
Man. City
GrealishMan.
City
BamfordLeeds
BaleReal Madrid
SaulChelsea
MountChelsea
Camavinga Real Madrid
Chilwell chelsea
Konaté Liverpool
Caleta-CarOl.
Marseilles
DestBarcelona
Unai SimónAthletic
Like Wasserman, he doesn't just focus on soccer.
Barnett, who started with cricket star Brian Lara, has cast his agency, Stellar Group, on
hundreds of soccer, track, boxing, rugby and NFL professionals, and has even made a first foray into the
e-sports
.
Interview with Jonathan Barnett
Aggressive professionally but generously personal, he admitted in an interview with this newspaper that each year he donates hundreds of thousands of euros to charitable causes with his partner.
In the world of sports, however, he is known as a tough and implacable negotiator, capable of even putting a hand on Florentino Pérez himself.
Despite the fact that its largest transfer is still that of the 101 million euros from Bale in 2013,
according to its latest results, the 1,114 million euros that it has signed in its contracts have generated the company 114.8 million euros in profits .
GestifutePortugal is by Jorge Mendes
Jorge Mendes is the agent par excellence in European football.
Taking Cristiano Ronaldo and appearing in the photo of five Ballons d'Or justifies it well
.
And its huge portfolio of clients, especially Portuguese, make up a very complete agency.
Eleven Type - Gestifute
Ederson
Man. City
Semedo
Wolves
Ruben Days
Man. City
Fabinho
Liverpool
I cancel
Man. City
Ruben neves
Wolves
Bernardo silva
Man. City
James
Everton
Say Maria
PSG
André Silva
RB Leipzig
Cristiano Ronaldo
Man. United
Cristiano RonaldoMan.
United
André SilvaRB Leipzig
Say MariaPSG
James Everton
Bernardo SilvaMan.
City
Ruben NevesWolves
Cancel Man.
City
Fabinho Liverpool
Rubén DiasMan.
City
SemedoWolves
EdersonMan.
City
Uno de los casos más especiales de Gestifute es el del Wolverhampton. En 2016, cuando estaban en la segunda división inglesa los compró FOSUN Internacional, una empresa relacionada con el agente portugués. La inyección de dinero y la facilidad para adquirir futbolistas portugueses del más alto nivel dio sus frutos. Por ejemplo, el de Ruben Neves por casi 20 millones de euros. Cambió el Oporto por jugar en la Championship. Esta temporada cuentan con nueve portugueses más el entrenador y a todos ellos los lleva Jorge Mendes
Todos sus representados suman más de mil millones de euros de valor de mercado y, además, cuenta con entrenadores de la talla de Mourinho, Nuno Espírito Santo o Sérgio Conceiçao.
Mino RaiolaEl polémico agente que temen los clubes
Raiola is another of the most famous agents in the world, especially for his almost always controversial statements.
But it
is impossible for anyone to deny that he does his job as the best, taking his players where they want and getting huge contracts.
He has been part of this sector since the early nineties, when he became the strong man of the
Sports Promotions
agency
and since then he has not stopped growing within the world until he is what he is today.
Eleven Type - Mino Raiola
Donnarumma
PSG
Dumfries
Inter de Milan
By Vrij
Inter de Milan
By Ligt
Juventus
Wijndal
AZ Alkmaar
Verratti
PSG
Pogba
Man. United
Thuram
Borussia M.
Ibrahimovic
Milan
Haaland
Borussia Dortmund
Lush
Naples
Haaland Borussia Dortmund
Ibrahimovic Milan
LozanoNaples
PogbaMan.
United
VerrattiPSG
ThuramBorussia M.
WijndalAZ Alkmaar
De LigtJuventus
De VrijInter de Milán
DumfriesInter de Milán
DonnarummaPSG
Bajo su tutela tiene nombres que han protagonizado grandísimos traspasos en los últimos años. Hablamos de Ibrahimovic, que se fue al Barça por cerca de 70.000.000€; De Ligt, quien fue a la Juve por 75.000.000€; o Pogba, llegado al United por 105.000.000€. De hecho, Football Leaks reveló que Raiola se llevó 48 de esos 105 millones en aquella operación. Y ya se frota las manos con el próximo traspaso de Haaland, también cliente suyo.
Entrevista a Mino Raiola
“Es incómodo como un grano en el culo”, destacó en una ocasión De Laurentiis, presidente del Nápoles. Y Guardiola le acabó contestando en abril de 2018 después de muchos años con incesantes ataques: “Hace dos meses me ofreció a Pogba y Mkhitaryan. ¿Por qué me los ofreció? Si soy un hombre malo, debe proteger a sus jugadores y no llevarlos con una persona como yo, con un perro. Compararme con un perro está mal. Hay que respetar más a los perros”. Por supuesto, también ha tenido desencuentros con sus propios futbolistas, dejando de representar a Insigne, Lukaku o Hamsik.
CAA Base LtdLos especialistas en la Premier League
It is more difficult to assign a known visible face to this agency, but it is one of the strongest in Europe, especially in England, where it was born in 1997. Now they have offices in Paris, Milan, Madrid, Portugal, Belgium, Japan, Australia, United States, Brazil and Uruguay.
They represent more than three hundred people including players, coaches, sports directors and experts.
To get an idea of the strength they have on the islands, in the summer of 2017 they negotiated about 15% of all transfers that were made in the Premier League.
Eleven Type - CAA Base
Schmidt
Vegalta Sendai
Walker
Man. City
St. Juste
Mainz 05
Varane
Man. United
Trippier
Atlético de Madrid
Chalobah
Watford
Dele there
Tottenham
Maddison
Leicester
Zaha
Crystal palace
Sadiq
Almeria
Are
Tottenham
SonTottenham
Sadiq Almeria
ZahaCrystal Palace
Maddison leicester
Dele AlliTottenham
ChalobahWatford
TrippierAtlético de Madrid
VaraneMan.
United
St. JusteMainz 05
WalkerMan.
City
Schmidt Vegalta Sendai
“I have been with CAA Base since I was 17 years old and they have supported me both on and off the field as I became the player I am today,” says Kyle Walker, who starred in a € 52,000,000 transfer in 2017 to Manchester City.
Along with him, there are many great Premier League footballers who are in his client portfolio.