Football Agents – The New Millionaires Of The Football World

Nowadays, football has changed not only on the field, but it has changed off the field as well. Football agents such as Mino Raiola and George Mendes have become as much household names as the players they represent. So when you see agents names in the newspaper headlines don’t be suprise because they are getting more popular and more influential in today’s modern football.

Being a football agent, your duties will be to increase your client’s publicity, negotiating new jaw-dropping contracts for your players, big-money moves. Plus earning big commissions from all this hassle, which they always do behind the scenes.

Do They Get Enough Money?

The first thing I want to say is that not only the agents on the top of the pyramid get good money. For example, clubs like Salford City and Chesterfield who are playing in the National League have paid over £70.000 for agents fees, showing how this phenomenon has filtered down the pyramid.

In comparison with the big teams from the top flying leagues who gives millions of pounds for commissions and fees, these fees seem very little, but proportionally these sums of money are staggering.

Agents from the lower levels make less than the likes of Jorge Mendes and Mino Raiola, with earnings depending entirely on the quality and the quantity of their clients.

Agents in the football world are like affiliates to more prominent companies who are paying them commissions to bring more costumers and therefore more revenue. In this case, though football agents offer their clients to the clubs or negotiating their contracts with the only idea to get the best deal on the table.

In that way, both sides are happy, with the player getting six number check every single week and his agent receiving 10% of that. According to Sports Management Worldwide, agents can earn between £1,200 and £550,000 per Premier League client per year.

But that is not the only way agents can make money. They also make money from their client endorsement contracts. That is the contract which allows brands such as Nike or Adidas to use their client’s face or name for their products.

The freshes example is the surprising transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid to Juventus. According to Forbes Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo made $47 million from endorsement in 2018 which for sure boosted his agent Jorge Mendes earnings significantly.

But don’t get deluded by this staggering amount of money because only the top agents who perform on the highest level and have the best football players as their clients earn that amount of money and that’s why they are known as super agents.

As an example is the fact that Premier League clubs paid £260m to football agents during 2018-19 season which has increased with £49m on the previous 12 months. So these facts speak itself how important football agents are in today’s modern football and that clubs will try to satisfy their requirements if they want to have the best quality on the football market.

What Does It Take To Be A Football Agent?

First and foremost, if you want to become a football agent, your communicating skills have to be at the highest level, plus being good at negotiations and stubborn as a donkey. Also, you have to be resistant to the pressure of intense negotiations. Knowing how to make your clients marketable, and appear personable in front of the media.

You don’t need to pass any exams or whatsoever, but without having any knowledge of contract law and business management, you might take into a risky path. Another thing you have to do is to register yourself with the association of the country where your clients are playing, which mean that you might need multiple registrations if you have numerous clients.

So, for example, in England, the Football Association (FA) take care of this by testing any potential agents on “Good Character and Reputation” plus checking their criminal records. Ones you pass that, then you have to pay £500 initial fee and £250 annual registration fee and then you will be ready to make your reputation and name among the best football players in the world and becoming one of the top agents on the market.

In Conclusion

As I have mentioned in my previous articles, football its changing rapidly in every single direction, including their agents. New technologies, biggers stadiums, record contracts for billions of TV rights, less time for managers to show what they are capable of and football agents who are more popular than their clients.

They are earning a breathtaking amount of money through commissions and in position to twist clubs hands to get the best deal as possible for their clients. They are becoming more and more influential in this sport for good or bad.

Unfortunately, the saddest thing for all football fanatics and true fans is that this great game it’s turning into a big factory for money. The owners and players care only about their bank accounts, putting the badge and the shirt they are wearing every weekend in second place.

But one thing is sure. This bubble its getting bigger and bigger, and no one knows when it will burst.

 

Petar Leykov