Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
If you've been following the football scene, then you've heard of Kylian Mbappé's recent multi-million transfer to Real Madrid, but have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of these huge deals? That's what we're here to talk about today.
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Transfers are probably one of the most exciting periods of time for any football fan, with a series of decisions taken that could literally make or break a club during the next season. This is the time window where all the drama happens, with agents and clubs both seeking to seal the best options for their players. There's an element of anticipation that could potentially cause chaos, especially the closer we get to deadline day, with teams scrambling to seal the deal before their time is up.
During this time, a select amount of information is made available through insiders working in the field. Football transfer journalists such as David Ornstein and Fabrizio Romano are two of the most highly regarded names in the industry, consistently leaking exclusive news onto social media before other journalists can get their hands on it.
In very simple terms, a transfer is when a player which is currently under contract with one club moves to another, however just like you'd imagine it gets a little more complicated than that. Here, it's important to keep in mind that clubs are only allowed to transfer players during this predetermined timeframe to comply with FIFA, and national and continental regulators. During this time, a transfer fee is negotiated, and the interested club will transfer the agreed compensation to the club that currently holds the player's contract, finalizing the move.
2024 has seen some pretty wild transfers so far, with Brazilian football prodigy Vitor Roque costing Real Madrid €40 million to secure the deal - and that's just the beginning. Once the player is transferred, the original contract is terminated and it's up to the new club to negotiate on the new contract terms.
Now it's time to get into how football transfers happen. In most cases, a club representative will request an official review for a specific player who's currently under contract with another team. If the second team is willing to part with their player, then a transfer fee is agreed between the two and football agents will get involved to navigate the complex negotiation process.
Of course, transfer fees vary widely from one club or player to another and represent the player's current abilities, time of contract, agreed salary, future potential, and many other factors which will all contribute towards the final evaluation. Younger players are often more expensive because their careers will span for a longer period. A great example is the current negotiations going on between Manchester United and Everton for the transfer of Jarrad Branthwaite.
Football agents are responsible for laying out a player's requests and demands and will directly liaise with the purchasing club's team for this purpose. In most cases, this is usually the club's director of football or the CEO. Important elements for players include guaranteed playing time as well as assistance that extends to their families, making the negotiations even more diverse.
Once a final agreement has been made, the player will then work with the team's manager to learn more about the role they will play in the potential future club. This is the final big step any transfer faces before the player is finally signed off to the purchasing team to undergo a medical assessment and carry out interviews with the club's media department. Even though football agents are pivotal when making these decisions during the contract stage, many also offer consultancy throughout the player's career, advising on other matters such as sponsorship deals, financial planning, post career management and so on.
A football transfer request is any time a team receives an official request from a player to terminate the current contract and move on to another club. This can potentially happen at any time during a player's contract. In this document, a player will state their desire to change team, encouraging other clubs to express their interest.
Because this is a very public affair, players will also use this opportunity to air their current issues and frustrations such as a personal clash, or a breach of player contract for example. During this time, the club might also choose to resolve the issue which ends up with the player withdrawing his/her request. There's also a chance that the club rejects the request, which automatically removes the option for other clubs to bid on the player. Players can transfer at the end of their contract without incurring a fee, which encourages many to wait for this to expire before submitting a request for transfer.
In the UK premier league, clubs are required to finalise their deal sheet between the hours of 21:00 and 23:00 on deadline day, with the option of extending this to 01:00 on the following day for the transfer to be fully sanctioned. The deal sheet usually comes into play when a Premier League transfer has been agreed on by both clubs, but extra time is required to get all the paperwork finalised and submitted.
Whenever an international transfer is involved, then both clubs are required to submit all the necessary paperwork on FIFA's Transfer Matching System (TMS) to generate international clearance. This means that both the buying and the selling teams are required to upload the necessary information to ensure both parties are in agreement fairly and transparently.
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