The inside story of Michael Kayode's Premier League move

As the Agency representing one of Italy’s brightest young talents, Michael Kayode, Vigo Global Alliance Sport Services saw the 2024/25 season, and in particular the January 2025 Transfer Window, as the time to bring the 20-year-old right-back from Italian Serie A side Fiorentina to the Premier League stage.

So when November 2025’s TransferRoom Summit in Istanbul came up, it was a perfect opportunity to meet over 300 football clubs in one place and initiate talks for a big move. 

And that is exactly what happened. 

Giuseppe Pesce, Vigo Global Sport Services’ Executive Director, is a TransferRoom Trusted Agent alongside his Agency, and as such he gains access to the decision-makers and real-time market intelligence from over 800 clubs worldwide through TransferRoom's online platform.

And he also gains access to TransferRoom's events, including the Istanbul & Online Summit in November 2024.

In Türkiye's biggest footballing city, he was able to hold up to 23 one-to-one meetings, lasting 15 minutes each, over two days in Istanbul, where he could get straight to the point and talk directly about Kayode and his Premier League potential.

Pesce used one of those meeting slots to meet with the key decision-makers at established Premier League club Brentford FC and initiate discussions over a move for Kayode to the west London club.

And two months later, the deal was done, as Kayode joined Brentford on loan, with the option of a permanent transfer in the summer, which they activated in May 2025.

“It was a really busy transfer window, and one of these transfers was the transfer of Michael Kayode to Brentford,” Pesce said below, in an exclusive webinar with TransferRoom on Game-changing Market Intelligence Trends from the January 2025 Transfer Window.

“We were looking, this window, for a solution for him, you know, to play with continuity and to develop.

“And, for sure, Brentford was a great opportunity to develop and to get. So we started the negotiation.

“And, in the negotiation, TransferRoom had a role, in the sense that we had the opportunity to meet Brentford people in the TransferRoom [Summit] meetings.

“So the last one in Istanbul, and this facilitated the discussions and the negotiations. That was then a success. A good result for us, for sure, and also for the player because you are now playing in the Premier League. This is really important.”

Kayode, who had an impressive breakthrough season with Fiorentina in 2023/24 that included reaching the UEFA Conference League final, also quickly made his mark at Brentford.

He worked his way into the starting XI on a regular basis, standout performances including producing an assist in a 4-3 win over Manchester United. It led to a 10th place finish, their second-best in the Premier League.

Following the January 2025 Transfer Window, Pesce joined TransferRoom's Director of Data Intelligence, Daniel Blades, and Feyenoord's Technical Manager, Mark Ruijl, in an exclusive TransferRoom webinar on the top trends in the market and the keys to a successful transfer strategy.

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