Summer window

I have a 'friend' I dont have much contact with but we exchange messages about football now and again, he wished us good luck for this season.

He's an agent, based in Monaco, and openly greedy.

He says the only way to stop agents manipulating players and clubs is to have deferred payments similar to players. That would mean bonus payments if the player, going to a new club, helps gain promotion, makes a certain number of appearances, stays for each new season, etc.

The same would apply to a new contract. Otherwise a player can sign a three year deal, barely play and agitate for a move ... but the agents never loses out. He cops his fee for handling the new contract then wants the player to move so he can win again.

Deferred payments would mean the agent has more of an interest in them staying than they have now ...

... which is absolute zero.

 

It's also poor by the player. He had over six months, including a long lay off with a thigh problem, and still didn't sign.

An unnecessary mess.

 

£20k per week appears to be our ceiling. You don't get many English players from the PL for that low a wage, hence why we are shopping abroad and for younger players.

 

Some of the young English players, earning twice that, have no ambition or desire tbh ...

... Connor Wickham had it all, except those two qualities, as one example.

 

But there is a very big difference between Clarke and Stewart on contracts.

One is fit and has another three years I believe on his deal, and played almost every game last season . Outstanding all season long.

The other is not fit, might not get fit, played a dozen games last season, has less than a year left on his contract and sat on a good offer for well over six months. He has probably burned over £1m sitting on that old deal.

They are, in most respects, polar opposites.

 

Well if that's our ceiling I'd say it's high enough. I can't see we have many pkayers at all who are good enough to be turning that down.

 

Apparently sydney van hooijdonk is on around €15k a week so if he is one of the strikers coming in would be right in thinking he will be one of the top earners?

 

Which is £1m/year. Still staggers me and I struggle with what these extremely fortunate lads get paid, never mind those at the very top. Take the average joe 25 years to earn that much and they still want more.

 

Greed, greed, greed

 

I've met a bloke who was on the Burnley board, he said they had loaned a youth player from Chelsea in their early years of the Premier league but could only afford less than half of his wages because their wage ceiling wasn't high enough to cover his wages. Ridiculous a youth player is on more than a Premier league clubs highest earner.

 

It's all relative though. Compared to what some lads in the PL are getting paid it will feel like peanuts and that's the issue we have. Teams like Stoke can afford/are prepared to pay the likes of Dwight Gayle £40-60k per week. That blows us out the water

 

Jack Rodwell too - that kid had everything and he threw it away.

 

when you search it the average wage for a championship player is about 7-8k a week

 

Yes. But of course that will include all the fringe players, those at clubs such as Rotherham, who openly say they cut their cloth, and some young players on their first deals.

I've no idea what we should be paying, but if we start paying what we can't afford again , then we can accept that the consequences will arrive.

 

In that respect yes I see what your saying , what I meant was both players at the time of being offered new contracts would have signed them had it not been for the intervention of their agents, who I honestly believe thought the can hold the club to ransom to line their own pockets.
Yes I'm sure they'll be telling their client your worth more than this, if these won't pay it I can get you a move to someone that will. Know is that looking after the players interests who is settled and happy where he is.
There are huge differences in the contracts and the players situations, however the major factor in the problems signing them is agents greed

 

And on money like that as a kid, his chances of making it are much reduced IMO.

Why do the extra practice? Why do the extra fitness work? Why study the game? Why listen to the der pros? Why lots of things.

Some will of course. But it's human nature to take the easy option, and many kids on possibly seven figure deals at 18 just won't make it, when they might have done otherwise.

 

Yep. An old problem and it's getting worse.

But players are men, and the agent works for them. Too often the agent behaves like some Svengali figure and controls the player, at no risk; he just moves onto another player and can ignore his other player's bad fortune. As in Stewart.

Players need to think for themselves. They'll have to when they aren't playing any longer, so get on with it now.

 

£1 million a year to a footballer is about 400k they see ain’t it?

Hardly skint but same token if they have that for only 5-6 years of their career, then are they set for life?

All it takes is one **** investment and you can lose most of that.

 

Great point. We often forget that these players can be in control of their own destiny. A lot of the education they receive these days as very junior players does focus on prudent,independant financial management. Not all of them are completely bereft of basic common sense. Perhaps more need to develop the mindset that an agent is there to help and advise,not to control or dictate.