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matt dickinson
January 18 2019, 12:01am, The Times
Why footballers keep it in the family, rather than overpaying agent fees
Matt Dickinson, Chief Sports Writer
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The need for an agent — and the value of one — has long been debated and Gary Neville was always likely to have an opinion. In his autobiography he asked, with typical forthrightness, why so many players still permitted representatives to trouser substantial cuts from transfers and especially contract negotiations.
“There are even some so-called super-agents,” he said. “Super at what? Counting their take? If you are renegotiating, why do you need an agent taking a slice that you’ve worked so hard to earn, practising since the age of six? Why should agents ever take a percentage? You can pay an accountant or a lawyer by the hour.”
Or you can summon the help of a family member — like the late Neville Neville, Gary’s father — to act as an adviser, which is a growing trend in football. Given the sums that can be kept in the family, should we be surprised?
The top footballers are one-man corporations. In many cases, they have become the central figure of a family business employing fathers, mothers, brothers (sisters seem rare). Whether this is a good thing or not depends on whom you speak to.
At Chelsea there is a belief, fair or not, that their attempts to persuade Callum Hudson-Odoi to resist Bayern Munich are being made more difficult by the involvement of his brother, Bradley, who plays for Wealdstone, the National League South club, and his father, Bismarck Odoi, a former player in Ghana who is his son’s agent. The relationship between club and influential parent is said to have broken down to the point where calls are not returned. Perhaps a family takes these things more personally. Maybe they feel there is nothing left to negotiate.
Either way, Bismarck was listed as an FA-registered intermediary in 2017 and 2018, although is not on the seemingly endless list of 2,000-plus names on the 2019 version — not that it is too hard to correct, since Fifa abandoned the stricter licensing system in April 2015 involving an exam and other hurdles.
Now, for a £500 initial fee (plus VAT) for the first year, then £250 (plus VAT) for every annual renewal, pretty much anyone can become an intermediary. There is a test of good character and reputation, but, given some of those who thrive in the trade (no doubt they may say the same of some journalists), the benchmark cannot be dauntingly high.
The quadrupling of the number of representatives since deregulation has inevitably caused consternation among the Society of Football Intermediaries and Agents (Sofia) formed in 2017. It was notable that a spokesman for Sofia last year called for a return to how it was pre-2015, “In particular requiring agents — including family members of players — to have passed an exam.”
Organisations such as Fifa and Uefa have their own concerns too, especially with an estimated €1.5 billion (about £1.3 billion) going to agents across Europe in 2017 alone, and have been discussing whether to reinstate a form of licensing as well as capping fees. However, no doubt the agents, including the family businesses, will adapt. The involvement is extensive whether it is fathers on the registered list — such as Pierre-François Aubameyang and Mark Chamberlain, or those, like Andy Wilshere — who are simply known to be very hands-on or the family of Dominic Solanke, who took a significant role in his recent move from Liverpool to Bournemouth.
There are brothers, such as Christopher and Wayne Welbeck with their own agency, David Robson-Kanu or the highly influential Pere Guardiola. One mother renowned in the game is Sandra Defoe, who has taken great pride in acting as the gatekeeper for her son, employing agents but actively involving herself in Jermain’s affairs. “The majority of players, the families do watch their back and make sure everything’s going smoothly,” she once told The Guardian. “Some may not be as involved, but I am fully hands-on. And I’m very proud of that.”
Various agents have heard from her — forcefully. “For me, coming from where we was, so far back, all the struggles to where we are now, you’ve got to be that way,” she said. One player’s income can transform the lives of many members of a family.
Recently, Harry Kane has turned to his brother to help manage his career. Charlie Kane has established a company — CK66 — alongside their father, Patrick, and paid the £500 fee to register. When Kane signed his most recent contract, Charlie was pictured on one side, the England captain’s agent Marlon Fleischman on the other.
In many cases, players may use family while also turning to the expertise and contacts of an agency for help with commercial deals and finding sponsors. Speaking to clubs about this, they have seen the ups and downs: the odd horror story of a family member whose eyes were clearly on their own enrichment; the lack of understanding of contractual complexities; the times when a father is blind to the flaws in a son’s talents through paternal bias. But to sign a player, the job of a chief executive becomes focused on keeping the extended family sweet.
Those familial bonds can be unbreakable but mixing business can also cause strains. Beyond football, Lewis Hamilton used his father as hands-on manager during the early years of his Formula One career, but ended up effectively having to sack Anthony.
Kane, right, poses for a photo with his brother Charlie, left, and his agent Fleischman, centre, both of whom act on the Spurs striker’s behalf
“It was a point where I was like, ‘Dad, I just want you to be my dad’. And that was incredibly hard for him to take and it was hard for me to do it,” Hamilton revealed.
In football, the trend is for more family involvement, which is probably inevitable given the sums and that question Neville posed about why — where it can be avoided — someone else should take millions.
The Times reported that Ross Barkley’s agents pocketed about £7 million when he moved to Chelsea last year, although that commission was paltry compared with the £41 million fee received by Mino Raiola for negotiating Paul Pogba’s £89 million transfer from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016.
Special cases, perhaps, but when Hudson-Odoi is potentially moving for £35 million — or could end up with a huge signing-on fee if his contract runs down — at 18 and after a smattering of games, this is big business. And new Fifa rules will not stop it being a family concern.
January 18 2019, 12:01am, The Times
Why footballers keep it in the family, rather than overpaying agent fees
Matt Dickinson, Chief Sports Writer
Share
Save
The need for an agent — and the value of one — has long been debated and Gary Neville was always likely to have an opinion. In his autobiography he asked, with typical forthrightness, why so many players still permitted representatives to trouser substantial cuts from transfers and especially contract negotiations.
“There are even some so-called super-agents,” he said. “Super at what? Counting their take? If you are renegotiating, why do you need an agent taking a slice that you’ve worked so hard to earn, practising since the age of six? Why should agents ever take a percentage? You can pay an accountant or a lawyer by the hour.”
Or you can summon the help of a family member — like the late Neville Neville, Gary’s father — to act as an adviser, which is a growing trend in football. Given the sums that can be kept in the family, should we be surprised?
The top footballers are one-man corporations. In many cases, they have become the central figure of a family business employing fathers, mothers, brothers (sisters seem rare). Whether this is a good thing or not depends on whom you speak to.
At Chelsea there is a belief, fair or not, that their attempts to persuade Callum Hudson-Odoi to resist Bayern Munich are being made more difficult by the involvement of his brother, Bradley, who plays for Wealdstone, the National League South club, and his father, Bismarck Odoi, a former player in Ghana who is his son’s agent. The relationship between club and influential parent is said to have broken down to the point where calls are not returned. Perhaps a family takes these things more personally. Maybe they feel there is nothing left to negotiate.
Either way, Bismarck was listed as an FA-registered intermediary in 2017 and 2018, although is not on the seemingly endless list of 2,000-plus names on the 2019 version — not that it is too hard to correct, since Fifa abandoned the stricter licensing system in April 2015 involving an exam and other hurdles.
Now, for a £500 initial fee (plus VAT) for the first year, then £250 (plus VAT) for every annual renewal, pretty much anyone can become an intermediary. There is a test of good character and reputation, but, given some of those who thrive in the trade (no doubt they may say the same of some journalists), the benchmark cannot be dauntingly high.
The quadrupling of the number of representatives since deregulation has inevitably caused consternation among the Society of Football Intermediaries and Agents (Sofia) formed in 2017. It was notable that a spokesman for Sofia last year called for a return to how it was pre-2015, “In particular requiring agents — including family members of players — to have passed an exam.”
Organisations such as Fifa and Uefa have their own concerns too, especially with an estimated €1.5 billion (about £1.3 billion) going to agents across Europe in 2017 alone, and have been discussing whether to reinstate a form of licensing as well as capping fees. However, no doubt the agents, including the family businesses, will adapt. The involvement is extensive whether it is fathers on the registered list — such as Pierre-François Aubameyang and Mark Chamberlain, or those, like Andy Wilshere — who are simply known to be very hands-on or the family of Dominic Solanke, who took a significant role in his recent move from Liverpool to Bournemouth.
There are brothers, such as Christopher and Wayne Welbeck with their own agency, David Robson-Kanu or the highly influential Pere Guardiola. One mother renowned in the game is Sandra Defoe, who has taken great pride in acting as the gatekeeper for her son, employing agents but actively involving herself in Jermain’s affairs. “The majority of players, the families do watch their back and make sure everything’s going smoothly,” she once told The Guardian. “Some may not be as involved, but I am fully hands-on. And I’m very proud of that.”
Various agents have heard from her — forcefully. “For me, coming from where we was, so far back, all the struggles to where we are now, you’ve got to be that way,” she said. One player’s income can transform the lives of many members of a family.
Recently, Harry Kane has turned to his brother to help manage his career. Charlie Kane has established a company — CK66 — alongside their father, Patrick, and paid the £500 fee to register. When Kane signed his most recent contract, Charlie was pictured on one side, the England captain’s agent Marlon Fleischman on the other.
In many cases, players may use family while also turning to the expertise and contacts of an agency for help with commercial deals and finding sponsors. Speaking to clubs about this, they have seen the ups and downs: the odd horror story of a family member whose eyes were clearly on their own enrichment; the lack of understanding of contractual complexities; the times when a father is blind to the flaws in a son’s talents through paternal bias. But to sign a player, the job of a chief executive becomes focused on keeping the extended family sweet.
Those familial bonds can be unbreakable but mixing business can also cause strains. Beyond football, Lewis Hamilton used his father as hands-on manager during the early years of his Formula One career, but ended up effectively having to sack Anthony.
Kane, right, poses for a photo with his brother Charlie, left, and his agent Fleischman, centre, both of whom act on the Spurs striker’s behalf
“It was a point where I was like, ‘Dad, I just want you to be my dad’. And that was incredibly hard for him to take and it was hard for me to do it,” Hamilton revealed.
In football, the trend is for more family involvement, which is probably inevitable given the sums and that question Neville posed about why — where it can be avoided — someone else should take millions.
The Times reported that Ross Barkley’s agents pocketed about £7 million when he moved to Chelsea last year, although that commission was paltry compared with the £41 million fee received by Mino Raiola for negotiating Paul Pogba’s £89 million transfer from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016.
Special cases, perhaps, but when Hudson-Odoi is potentially moving for £35 million — or could end up with a huge signing-on fee if his contract runs down — at 18 and after a smattering of games, this is big business. And new Fifa rules will not stop it being a family concern.