Let clubs know who they're dealing with

When Michael Manuello (pictured) started out as an agent in the mid-1990s, he was one of around 30 in France looking after the interests of footballers.

Now the space is overly-crowded, with the threat of competing agencies wrongly claiming to represent players and intermediaries trying to get themselves involved in a deal to earn a share of commission.

As such, it’s never been more important to protect your players, and that’s why Manuello and his BM Foot agency turned to TransferRoom. Having become a Trusted Agent, they can verify which players appear in their profile, thus proving they are a player’s legitimate agent.

That means inbound enquiries directly from clubs and 100% commission on all transfers.

Manuello, whose agency represents the likes of Olivier Giroud and Leo Dubois, explains: “I started 27 years ago and I was one of 28 agents in France. Now there are more than 500 officially.

"It makes a big difference to tell a club, ‘He is my player, don’t talk to this man or this man. Just don’t listen to them. I am the verified agent of this player’. The clubs can go on TransferRoom, see this is true and immediately get the right information. It is difficult to express how important this is in this industry.”

TransferRoom offers 100s of opportunities for agents' lesser-known players, like BM Foot's Abdoulaye Sidibe

Reach hundreds of clubs instantly

While verifying players gives clubs confidence to know they are negotiating with the agent of the player, there are added benefits for Trusted Agents too when it comes to retaining and growing their portfolio. 

Manuello says: “For new players it is important they know that there are only a select number of Trusted Agents on the platform. TransferRoom can help us to develop players too who may not be as well known outside their league, or their country.

“Everyone knows Olivier Giroud, but when I have a player like Abdoulaye Sidibe [a 20-year-old winger at Saint-Etienne] I need the platform because I can be in contact with 200, 300 clubs everywhere in Europe, whether it’s in Slovenia, Poland, Romania or the Netherlands.

"Normally that is very difficult for me to do as it takes a lot of time. But on the platform I can include all the relevant information, with some video, and it is very quick.

“We can now say to our players that we can talk to all of these clubs with a click of the button. And what is so important is that the club dedicates someone to use the platform and read the messages.

"So it’s not that I just send an email and maybe someone will read it. With the platform, they are working on it constantly and they want it to work for their club. So they engage more with you.”