Fast, cross-continent connections

Located near the Caspian Sea, there are few places as far east on the European football map as Azerbaijan's Sumqayit FK.

But when you want to be competitive in the international transfer market, connections make all the difference to make the world smaller and the recruitment process easier and more transparent.

It’s why Sumqayit FK have joined TransferRoom in a bid to bridge that geographical gap.

Riad Rafiyev, President of the Azerbaijan Premier League club, explains: “Being part of TransferRoom will be very helpful for our club, for our future and certainly for our scouting department. 

“It will make our day job much easier to connect with other clubs far away and learn immediately about the availability of players.”

Sumqayit President Riad Rafiyev is looking to make the football world a smaller place on TransferRoom

More player options from more nations

With its network of more than 650 clubs across 60 countries in over 100 leagues, Rafiyev believes TransferRoom will allow Sumqayit to recruit from a much wider range of countries using real-time data and direct messaging, rather than relying on costly intermediaries to muddle the messaging.

He adds: “TransferRoom gives us a lot of opportunities, especially using different the kind of filters. We can choose regions, the age of the player and enter the exact parameters around the financial conditions of the deal. This is very useful so we don't waste important time.

“Normally we don't focus on the passport of the player. For us, it is the quality of the player, not the passport. If the player is good, if he's interesting for us, if the parameters fit for us, then we will negotiate for him. That’s why the global community on TransferRoom works for us.”

Sumqayit are the third Azeri club on TransferRoom, following in the footsteps of Neftchi Baku and FK Sabah, which have made new signings and numerous new contacts since joining the platform.

Rafiyev continued: “Every transfer window we are looking for new players, but we also have good young players that we would like to loan out, so they can have more playing time and a chance to play. We know TransferRoom will be very useful for this.”

Picture credit: Sumqayit FK