So here we again, at the end of another transfer window in the United Kingdom and across many countries.
This doesn't mean that all transfer activity is over however as of course some players that are out of contract may still be signed freely by clubs after the window has closed. Two more higher profile players I will be assisting in that position include former Leicester City left back/winger Jordan Stewart and German central midfielder, Michael Fink but in the greater scheme of things most player movement is now done until January.
Any of you who followed the sports news yesterday will see a host of deals being rushed to completion, forming a sense of the surreal as an industry completes perhaps 20% of all it's business in one day. What other industry does this? It is yet another reason I do not believe in the transfer window and still believe if truly contested would not stand up to the rigour of EU Law as is quite clearly a restraint on trade and possibly even forms a restriction on the free movement of workers. None the less, here we are.
You could also make the point that it is mainly in the UK that leave all their deals to the last day, whilst in comparison in Germany most deals were concluded far earlier in the window. Revealing a compelling and bizarre cultural approach to transfer market business we have here.
For Simply Sport ourselves it has been an interesting 2 months. As a recently formed business our client list whilst of high quality is still fairly small, it also highly geared strategically for the long-term towards youth who will have high future market value but aren't to be moved at this stage and from a transaction stand point that is not always ideal. Such is the case that I'd say 65% of our transfer window meant utilising my relationships with other agencies abroad to present clubs domestically where we have strong relationships with player opportunities. This often presents it's own challenges in various forms, none less so than when the other agent has his own method of negotiating (or agenda) when a deal is presented that does not fit in with our own. You also have less control and influence over the player, we for example could bring an offer to the table from England but without a worldwide mandate, we cannot stop a better offer coming in for the player from abroad scuppering all the hard work we've done here to bring an offer to the table - and so on.
In any case, I am personally glad that the window is over for another summer whilst remaining keen to help some of the out of contract players secure contracts in the next month. I can now return with my colleagues to focus on signing further leading talents that will ensure the long-term future of Simply Sport and move us away from a reliance on other agencies during these transfer windows. I know with the young talent we have already alongside some of our elite professionals playing in the Premier League and La Liga that we have we are well on course to reducing that reliance.
