Time pressure solution

A season-long loan deal for a 27-year-old striker moving from Serie B back to the Polish Ekstraklasa may not usually make the headlines.

But Piotr Parzyszek’s switch in the summer of 2021 to Pogoń Szczecin had an added element - it was the first to be instigated by an agent on TransferRoom, football’s digital marketplace, and it took less than 15 minutes for the club to respond to Forza Sports Group’s pitch.

Desperately in need of a new Number 9, Pogoń knew they needed to act fast when Forza pitched Parzyszek, a player well-known in Poland after helping Piast Gliwice to the Ekstraklasa title in 2019.

Rafal Zerebecki, Chief Scout, Pogoń, told TransferRoom: “We were under big time pressure, having sold our striker [Adrian Benedyczak] to Parma and we had a Europa Conference League game coming up [against Osijek of Croatia on July 22]. We had a real need in the team. We knew him from Poland before. He plays in Italy, he scores goals. 

“It was really surprising to see on TransferRoom that he was available. We had no expectation that he would be. So when his agent pitched him, we registered interest straight away. With a push of a button, you can automatically connect with an agent about a player and for a club that means you can just move so much faster.”

Instant alert leads to new opportunity

After a potential move to another Ekstraklasa club did not come to fruition, it immediately turned from disappointment to opportunity for Parzyszek and Forza.

As one of the first Trusted Agents of TransferRoom, Forza now has access to a global network of decision-makers at clubs, meaning it can promote its players quickly and at scale based on up-to-date market information and clubs’ demands.

Tim Vrouwe, Director of Forza, tells TransferRoom: “I saw this notification on TransferRoom regarding a striker position at Pogoń. I pitched the player and within minutes we received a standard notification on the platform that the club had declared interest. 

“The Head Scout left his phone number. I was in a meeting and was due to call him back in an hour, but he immediately called my colleague. They were hungry."

“One hour later, after I spoke with the head scout, the sporting director gave me a call. We finalised the deal within seven days.”

He continued: “Piotr won the title with Piast Gliwice in 2018-19, when he was one of the best players in the league. So Pogoń knew him, but the beauty of the TransferRoom platform is that you get to see their interest immediately."

“The timing was excellent, particularly when we knew the deal with another team was off the table.”