Agents in football ...

I was wondering how they've got so much pull like in the Maja situation? Reading in the paper it appears agent fees alone in the prem totaled £263M last year...

... Would it not be possible (and cheaper) for them to be outlawed and replace contract negotiations using a sports attorney or solicitors???
 


Who would outlaw them?

Clubs like using them. Good relationships with the right agents lead you to potentially signing better players. And an agent fee is less than a whole analytics department to find new players.

Players like them as they maximize their money and they can do their dirty work for them. So if a move breaks down they've not burnt their bridges with their current club. Plus it allows someone else to focus on the business side so they can focus on the football.

Journalists like them as they get most of their transfer rumours from them.

Most people who work in football would be pissed off if they were 'outlawed'.

There should be stricter regulations though. The amount they can charge should be capped so they don't just offer their players to whoever is willing to pay the agent the most. They shouldn't be able to represent more than one side in a single deal. Mino Riola famously somehow represented Pogba, United and Juve in that deal. Also, the FA should charge a tariff on all fees.

You want to know something that will make you angrier, that 263m is just what the Premier League clubs had paid agents. It doesn't take into account what they charge their players, which can be up to 10% of the player's wages. When you think Premier League clubs pay about 1.25bn in wages every year, even at a conservative 5% that's an extra 62m in agents fees, and that's before considering what % of their own sign-on fees they've given to their agents. The real price of agents in the Premier League might be closer to 350m.

If the FA put a 10% tariff on agents fees that would be 35m a year from the Premier League alone that could be going back into the game.
 
Fifa should say 1 agent works for club and separate agent works for player. Player agent paid by player. Should be code of conduct to sign up to and breeches see fines then being struck off register they need to be on the work. A training badge like coaching badges would be good too.
 

Back
Top