agree but it also happens outside of football. Staying at one company doesn’t usually lead to the highest wage. Bouncing between a few competitors and requesting salary raises at each opportunity, is the key to maximising earnings.
imo Neil’s error has been not accepting contracts earlier on higher wages and trusting the club would let him go if/when he wanted. He could have been on 15-20k a week the championship for the past year but decided to chance running his contract down. Bellingham by contrast, signed a new deal mid season and then still left.
This is the point, and gets to the heart of it.
A good agent should always and absolutely prioritise the value of a bird in the hand, particularly for a young player who has still not set himself up for life.
A player can do that early now, even in the championship, where at the end of the 23/24 season the average wage was around £14k a week.( Kevin McGuire).That includes relegated teams of course, but it also includes Plymouth and others who pay League One level wages.
Next year is next year, and it may bring more money. But for a footballer next year is by no means certain to come. Just one bad tackle, one bad ligament ruptured, one accident and it's all done.
Dan signing a contract along the lines you mentioned , say four or five years with caveats, would have set him up. He should be talking about an improvement not a new one.
I don't know who his agent is, but as far as can be seen, he hasn't done the right thing by DN. Though of course, if the player moves and signs a new deal somewhere else, then the agent does very well.