A player's professional career is short and time is precious. So every transfer and every decision around their future is important to maximising their potential. 

Their success often relies on having the right agent and making the right decision on who is representing them. 

But players can lose out on opportunities because their agent doesn't have the right network, is not prioritising them or is not looking after their best interests and is more focussed on getting the best commission.

One man who knows all about picking an agent he can trust is Peter Ramage, a Newcastle United Academy graduate who played for the Magpies in the Premier League during his 18-year professional career.

In his current role he is giving opportunities to the next generation as Newcastle's Assistant Loans Manager. He has seen a way that players can connect with a verified agent with a proven track record and access to the world's biggest network of club decision makers. All for free.

Introducing TransferRoom's AgentFinder.

It's a free tool giving pro players the opportunity to connect with one of over 400 Trusted Agencies on our platform at the click of a button.

And the former left-back says the current generation of professionals have more opportunities globally than ever, all through direct access to world-class agents with an unrivalled network on TransferRoom.

"Word of mouth is a massive tool to have in football, to be able to source and work with the right people," Ramage said in the video below.

"As a player is able to go to a club via an agent that's got a reputation, then that's massive for a player.

"The last thing he wants to be tied with is somebody who is dishonest, somebody who leads you down the garden path to a direction where you don't really want to go to. Time's key in football. It goes just like that.

"I think that's the biggest thing, the trust element.

"Players are quite wary of who's actually represented them, the whole world of social media and things like that. One bad experience that can tarnish you, it can tarnish your career and stop it as quickly.

"It's key that the player has that concrete trust in the agent that he's working for him for the benefit of the player and not for himself.

"That was the key in my relationship with my agent. I knew where I stood with him."

'TransferRoom could have fulfilled my American dream sooner'

Ramage went off of team-mates' recommendations when finding his own agent as a youngster, a common path for professionals. 

While he built an excellent relationship with his agent and had a long and successful career which included spells in the Premier League, the United States with USL Championship side Phoenix Rising and even a stint in India with Kerala Blasters, those opportunities came from his agent's limited contacts book. 

And if he had the opportunity to access TransferRoom as a player, he would have been able to fulfil his dream of playing in the US much sooner, and he would have had a greater range of opportunities with the key contacts at more than 700 clubs, including every side in Major League Soccer, available to agents on the platform.

"I turned down an opportunity to go to America when I was 29," Ramage added. "That's probably one of my biggest regrets.

"I thought I could still play in England and still play at a high standard. It didn't transpire, but that was solely down to me and my own performances.

"That opportunity arose again through a pre-season tour. If I'd had that ability to be able to go on TransferRoom in the subsequent months and years afterwards, I might have been able to get a move out to America a lot sooner.

"It's a great tool to have for players, the ability to be able to identify potential area that they would like to go to and then go from there.

"You can have a look at and explore South America, for example, if you want to maybe just try a whole new, different part of the world. And you can enlist maybe an agent from that part of the world as well.

"I think that's key. This platform isn't just specifically for the country that you are based in. It can actually be worldwide."

Are you a professional player looking to expand your transfer opportunities and accelerate your career?  Register for TransferRoom today and connect with your agent to benefit from their direct access to decision makers at over 700 clubs worldwide.