Speaking to the right decision-maker at the right time

Nottingham Forest were one of the biggest success stories in the 2024/25 season, as they pushed the Premier League’s top clubs all the way in the race for UEFA Champions League football, and qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League with an impressive seventh-place finish.

They were only promoted to the Premier League in 2022 and finished 17th in 2023/24.

A key part of their rise has been outstanding player recruitment last summer, and at the heart of that is Pedro Ferreira, their Head of Recruitment.

Ferreira joined in June 2024 after 17 years at Portuguese giants Benfica, where he worked his way up from youth coaching to their Scouting Director for more than five years.

And he had a crucial role in the recruitment and development of star players like Ederson, Enzo Fernández and Darwin Núñez, who were sold to Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool respectively for huge profits.

But what does it take to be a world-class Head of Recruitment? How do you build an outstanding recruitment team and transfer strategy? How do you work your way up from a youth coach to one of the top decision-makers at an elite football club?

And how can TransferRoom, world football’s transfer marketplace, not only elevate your success in the transfer market, but also help you build a global network for the benefit of your own career?

Ferreira explains all in this exclusive interview.

Ferreira says in the video above: “Let’s think: What is a recruitment? Identify, select and recruit players. Help the team, the club to, to sign a player that some months later, some years later, is being hired for a different club that can buy the player for 10 times more the money that you paid in the beginning. That's the goal, always the goal.”

And speaking on the impact of TransferRoom in his player recruitment and also his own career development, he said: “TransferRoom is very, very important because you can connect people. You can be in every part of the world and be connected to different people from different clubs.

"With a click, you can know if a player is available or not, what every single team is looking for. It's a tool that has changed all of our jobs and all of our industry.”

There are over 800 clubs worldwide using TransferRoom. Find out how to join them here.

Agents, get access to the decision-makers at top clubs in over 130 leagues worldwide and land the best deal opportunities as a TransferRoom Trusted Agent. Find out more here.