The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The soccer unemployment lists: players without a team one month after the market closes

2022-10-01T10:36:57.478Z


Soccer players who were highly valued in their day do not find accommodation: "It is the most difficult time for an agent"


The last days of the summer market tend to be the days of greatest effervescence in world football.

Rumors, inscriptions on the horn and even financial "levers" that make what seemed impossible possible.

The sports directors try to complete the puzzle of their squad while the intermediaries look for the best contract for their client and the best commission for themselves, all against the clock.

But there are times when the agreements do not arrive and the players cannot find accommodation before September 1.

So much so that some players, who were once highly valued on the market, are free a month after the closing of the transfer window.

David Aranda, a representative at

YouFirst

, one of the largest agencies in the world, affirms that when a player is left without a team “it is the most difficult moment for an agent”.

The case of the Mexican Giovani Dos Santos is especially striking.

He was a promise at La Masía, where he was compared to Ronaldinho for his hairstyle and his way of playing and after passing through Villarreal, Los Angeles Galaxy or América de México, he has been free since 2021 without announcing his retirement at any time.

“Many times there is a lack of measure in expectations on the part of footballers and agents.

There is always a tendency to want a little more than what they offer and that is a risk”, points out the agent.

The English league has led transfer spending this summer with 1.8 billion euros according to FIFA figures.

Daniel Sturridge triumphed there a few years ago (who scored 22 goals for Liverpool in the 2013-2014 season), Eliaquim Mangala (for whom Manchester City paid Porto 45 million euros in 2015) and Danny Drinkwater (one of the the referents of the champion Leicester, who arrived at Chelsea in 2017 in exchange for 38 million).

The three continue without a team a month and a half after the start of the big leagues.

The same thing happens to Ben Arfa, ex PSG and Newcastle among others.

The pandemic and its aftermath have caused a reduction in the investment in transfers of the clubs, which is especially appreciated in Spain.

La Liga has spent almost four times less than the Premier this summer.

Héctor Méndez, director of the

HMFootball Sport Management agency,

points out that “first level clubs are no longer as buoyant and offer players less than before”.

Simone Zaza during his time at Valencia, in a file image. Kai Försterling (EFE)

Simone Zaza, an Italian international who played for Valencia for a year and a half, is one of the best-known free players with a past in the Spanish championship.

Others who are without a team after passing through La Liga are the Colombian Santiago Arias (contract ended with Atlético de Madrid), Feghouli (former Valencia and Almería) and Laguardia (who was captain of Alavés in recent seasons).

Nor has Diego Perotti found accommodation, who after playing for Sevilla made a career mainly in the Italian league, with an outstanding stint at Roma.

The transfer window will be closed until January 1, 2023, but all these players could still sign for a Spanish league club.

They meet the first condition, being without a team since July, but the team that receives them must meet the second: have some free card from the 25 professionals that the competition marks so that they can play.

All the First Clubs comply with it except Girona, Almería and Real Sociedad.

You can no longer incorporate players in case of serious injury, something that could be done in previous seasons.

Héctor Méndez points out that when the market closes “everything becomes more difficult” for those he represents.

Foreign clubs outside the major leagues are an attractive destination for some players.

Well into September, Juan Mata signed for the Turkish Galatasaray, while Marcelo and James Rodríguez signed for the Greek Olympiacos.

However, David Aranda emphasizes that these countries "do not serve as a refuge for everyone."

To manage these difficult times for footballers, both agents agree that the world of representation is having to reinvent itself.

The image of the representative who is in charge of everything is giving way to much larger companies, which address both the soccer player's sporting destiny and other aspects, such as legal coverage, image management or sports psychology.

Regarding the difference in behavior between young people and veterans in such a situation, Aranda points out that "every footballer is a different world", while Méndez does not make distinctions either: "Veterans can lose hope or know how to carry it thanks to experience and young people have more desire to reverse the situation or consider themselves an

ugly duckling

.

The important thing is to accept the situation and not harm the rest of your career”.

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on

Facebook

and

Twitter

, or sign up here to receive

our weekly newsletter

.

Source: elparis

All sports articles on 2022-10-01

You may like

News/Politics 2024-01-30T19:09:32.248Z
News/Politics 2024-03-07T14:26:51.100Z
News/Politics 2024-03-07T14:16:19.126Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.