Maximising your sales potential

The academy of Brazil legend Ronaldinho, Grêmio is renowned as one of the world’s best producers of elite-level talent.

Developing and selling young players is a pivotal part of their transfer strategy - the sales of Vanderson (to AS Monaco) and Pepê (to FC Porto) in 2021-22 shows the production line is as strong as ever - but generating interest for lesser-known prospects to strengthen their financial resources further has been much harder.

Relying on intermediaries and their existing network of contacts typically in Brazil or with previous buyers from Europe meant Grêmio would often lose control of negotiations and miss out on all-important market opportunities.

But that has now changed.

The club from Porto Alegre has joined TransferRoom, gaining direct access to decision-makers from more than 650 clubs in over 100 leagues and 60 countries worldwide without the need for intermediaries.

Bringing new opportunities to Brazil

On the platform Grêmio can react to clubs' requirements instantly by pitching their players, instead of being restricted to a subset of the market.

Grêmio’s highly-regarded Sporting Director Diego Cerri, who previously worked at Esporte Clube Bahia and Ceara Sporting Club in Brazil, says it will allow them to build their transfer market network and open up new opportunities in Europe.

“I see that as a big advantage of using TransferRoom,” he says in the video below.

“You are not always going to have players like Vanderson, who had various offers from big clubs in Europe. When you have such a player, the clubs reach out to you and the only thing you need to do is to decide what is the best offer for the club.

“What I have been doing recently is opening new markets and finding new opportunities that might not come directly to you, and for that you have to be proactive in order to reach out to those clubs.

“In the last few years I sold a few players to FC Midtjylland, in Denmark, but I had to be proactive doing those deals and TransferRoom enables me to be in direct contact with all the smaller clubs in Europe that still might lead to significant sales for the club.

“You might sell a player for €800,000 or €1million, which will contribute to your annual budget and transfer out players that might not be essential to your squad and still generate funds for the club.”

Creating pathways to North America

Dr Carlos Amodeo, the club's CEO, is also targeting deals with clubs in Major League Soccer, which are all on the platform through a league-wide agreement signed last year.

In the video below, Amodeo says: “TransferRoom allows us to widen our network and have direct access to decision-makers from various clubs around the world.

“This will enable us to be a stronger player in the market, whether it is buying or selling a player or even in loan transfers, and to become more efficient doing so.

“The MLS is a market that has grown a lot and that has recently been recruiting from the Brazilian market.

“We believe that with TransferRoom, we can build our network and create relationships with decision-makers from MLS clubs which will ease negotiations and open the Brazilian market, and especially Grêmio, to future transfers with MLS clubs."