When Dutch footballer Stanley Akoy found himself without a club, he decided to take matters into his own hands. But without the network or an agent to help, it was a struggle.

After several seasons in the Dutch second tier with SC Cambuur and Telstar, the former Ajax Amateurs player suffered an injury. Following his recovery, he secured a move to Cyprus in 2022 but was without a club again a few months later.

Taking ownership leads to results

“I’d love an adventure playing in America but I didn’t have the contacts to help me”, Akoy says.

“Previously, I would only hear about agents through friends or when an agent reached out to me on Instagram or Facebook.”

Enter TransferRoom.

Rather than being reactive, TransferRoom’s AgentFinder feature has helped Akoy take ownership of his career with a proactive approach.

“With this app, you depend less on other people and more on yourself.”

On TransferRoom, vetted players can login and use AgentFinder to send representation requests to a network of over 300 Trusted Agents, who are verified by their current players and have publicly visible track records. Trusted Agents also have direct connections with decision makers at more than 650 clubs via the TransferRoom platform.

Using AgentFinder, Akoy selected the markets he was interested in playing in and received recommendations on the agencies best suited to his player profile and requirements. 

“It gives you the chance to talk to people who can create opportunities for you.

MEL Sports Management, a Canadian based Sports Agency, quickly responded to his message. Within two weeks of Akoy first logging into TransferRoom, a new relationship was formed. 

The agency is now using their expertise across America to find Akoy a new club.

Oscar Melendez, Director at MEL Sports Management, said: “We’re always looking for new players who fit the profile of our agency that we can help find the right club.

“This new feature from TransferRoom means we can speak to players actively looking for new representation, which is great as it saves us time. We’re proud to be working with Stanley and look forward to using our connections on and off the TransferRoom platform to get him a move.”

Building trust through transparency and real-time information

While searching for a new club, Akoy can see a personalised real-time feed of his agent’s activity. As MEL Sports are a High Transparency agency that has enabled sharing of real-time information with its players, Akoy can see a list of all the clubs his agency has been pitched to and the responses to those pitches.

This is really important when there’s a physical distance between agent and player. Akoy is based in the Netherlands, with his agent in Canada.

“As I haven’t met my agent in person yet, just talked on the phone, this is really important for building trust. He can tell me he’s doing things but I don’t know for sure. With this feature it’s really clear that the agent is working for me.”

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