Come June and all the Football fans
across the world start looking the Transfer Zone columns on their
favourite websites. The forums of the football club they support will be
abuzz with debates as to which player their club needs. But ever wondered
how the process of Transferring a player from one club to another is?
Well here is a brief overview about
Transfers in Football:
HOW DOES A TRANSFER START?
There are different ways a bid is done
or invited for a player-
A written offer is made to a player and
his club (the seller) by the buying club. The club may reject or accept
any bid. The two parties will then keep going back and forth until they
negotiate a fee.
Clubs may also contact an agent to work
on their behalf and ask them to find a buyer for a particular player.
An agent might also speak to a club who
decide that for whatever reason, it is in the best interests of a player
to leave. The agent would be given permission to speak to other clubs with
an indication of a specific fee which the sellers have in mind for the
player.
Agents speak to the managers and chief
scouts of a club and ask which positions they are looking to fill. For
example, the club might be in need of a left midfielder or a big striker
with pace. The agent will then have to check whether there is someone
available for them in their budget.
If a player whom the agent is
representing is under contract then a written offer will have to be put in
to his club.
WHAT HAPPENS ONCE A FEE IS AGREED
UPON?
A fee can be agreed upon but it does not
mean a move will go through. When a fee for a transfer is decided, the job
of the agent is to negotiate and discuss about personal terms on the
player's behalf.
Professional and financial issues such
as: whether the player is going to play, the wage and the length of the
contract, are taken into consideration.
Actually, it is a bit of negotiation
and compromise for both the player and the clubs. The agent wants to
realise a player's value to a club while the club will be looking to
minimise their outlay as much as they can.
If the player is of a certain level, the
club will be prepared to offer him a better package than for a less
valuable player.
Issues which arise in the negotiation
process include:
An adjustable salary: This would
see an increase in salary year-on-year and after a certain number of
appearances.
A signing-on fee: This is a
payment the player gets for signing for a club, although this may vary and
depend from league to league.
BONUSES AND IMAGE RIGHTS
There is plenty to be done in
fine-tuning a deal and some of the major aspects can include negotiating
the following:
Loyalty bonus: A player will get
the loyalty bonus for seeing out his contract at a club and it will be
paid on the last game of the season in the final year of a contract.
Appearance bonus: If appearance
money is X then you would get 100% for a start, maybe 50% for a playing
substitute and 25% as a non-playing substitute.
Other bonuses: There can also be
bonuses paid if a team wins the league, a cup, qualify for Europe or make
a certain round of the cup.
In addition, you can also have goal
scoring bonuses, a clean sheet bonus, international bonuses and award
bonuses.
Image rights ownership: This is
an important issue in contract negotiations.
In short this is ensuring that the
player has the right to control commercial use and exploitation of his
image, voice and likeness.
Agents may help their players set up
their own image company and the club may come to an agreement that the
player can keep hold of his image rights and the club will pay the player
for use of his image.
WHEN THE DEAL IS DONE
Once everything is sorted, certain
documents need to be lodged with the relevant authorities for the transfer
to be approved and registered. The documents include the transfer
documentation, the financial agreement between the two clubs, the player’s
contract, the player’s registration, the player’s bonus schedule, and any
forms relating to agents.
We often wonder why Cristiano Ronaldo
saga seems to be never ending.
But here are your answers, with so many
things to look out for, the Player, the two clubs and the agent have to
get it absolutely right before the Player makes his move.
