Jon Smith – CaughtOffside

Exclusive: Player welfare must be paramount after Man City pay £1.2m for a 15-year-old

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 16:26:11 +0000

News that Man City have spent £1.2m to buy a promising 15-year-old talent will likely have been met with shock and disgust in some quarters.

Some 44 years after Trevor Francis became the first £1m player, that ceiling has now been breached by a player in his mid-teens.

How the game has moved on… or not.

Such transfers appear to be beyond the wildest dreams of most clubs, though with City’s obvious wealth, nothing appears to be off limits.

Former super agent and co-creator of the Premier League, Jon Smith, has sounded a note of caution, however.

“After signing young players, then their wellbeing has to be supported,” he said for his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

“[…] There should be a much more considered process and guardianship of young footballers coming through the system where they’re helped into it, helped through it and helped out a bit if they move elsewhere on their journey.”

The other issue of course remains the financial disparity between the biggest clubs and the rest.

Game after game, week after week, month after month and season after season, the status quo remains the same. The same clubs winning the trophies or getting into the top European competitions every year.

Smith believes that the Premier League should be keen to avoid such a scenario.

“Finley Gorman’s purchase by Man City has seen some real pushback given that he’s only 15 and £1.2m in transfer fees is a little excessive, but do I think there should be a cap on transfer fees?” he added.

“Rather than stymie transfer fees as such and tell clubs what they can and cannot spend their money on, I am in favour of there being an overall cap on money spent.

“Not necessarily on money spent aligning to your turnover, although, obviously that has to have some bearing on it because Manchester United’s overheads are bigger than Luton’s, but but you can’t have Manchester City, United, Liverpool or whoever being able to outbid the Burnley’s of this world just because they can.

“Otherwise you end up like La Liga when there’s probably three, maybe four teams at the very top and 16 others that can only really compete at a certain level at any given time.

“I think there has to be a mechanism whereby the great and the good are pretty equal in terms of their ability to sign players.”

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What will be very interesting is just how far clubs will go in the future in order to secure young talent before any of their competitors have managed to get their hands on said player.

After all, how many people thought that they’d ever see the day where a 15-year-old’s registration would change hands for over £1m….

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Exclusive: Premier League creator says Arteta was wrong to blame Arsenal defeat on officials

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 15:13:16 +0000

It’s been a little while since Mikel Arteta savaged the officials that oversaw Arsenal’s match at Newcastle, but his tirade is still reverberating.

Such was the depth of the Spaniard’s ire, that he was clearly prepared to take a punishment from the powers that be if it meant he got his point across.

A point which he made during, immediately after and at his press conference:

"It's embarrassing. It's a disgrace. That's what it is, a disgrace."

Mikel Arteta is NOT happy with the decisions that went against Arsenal in their defeat to Newcastle ? pic.twitter.com/wRB4F3Hdvl

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 4, 2023

One of the co-creators of the Premier League, Jon Smith, who also happens to be an Arsenal supporter, thinks that Arteta has taken things too far on this occasion.

“I am dismayed by referees being pilloried, physically in some cases and certainly mentally. I just think it sets a really, really, really bad example,” he said in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

“[…] I’m a big fan of Mikel Arteta, but against Newcastle, he was wrong. Very wrong. If you have a referee, he’s in charge and he may make mistakes. We all do. And that’s just the way that it is.

“Just like in rugby, I think the referees should have a microphone attached and I think the crowd should be able to listen to it in real time. One abusive word or phrase – which doesn’t need repeating here – and they’re off, and the crowd will know exactly why.”

Smith also felt that the Premier League could benefit from using the semi-automated VAR technology which was debuted at the 2022 World Cup.

For some unknown reason, the English top-flight are still refusing to use technology which appears to be much more accurate than that which PGMOL are currently trying and failing to use properly.

“I love what they did in the 2022 World Cup with the semi-automated offside technology which is basically AI and it tracks the limbs. By the way, I don’t think a stud on the striker’s right boot should determine if he’s offside or not and I think there has to be a redefining of handball. It’s handball, not ball to hand,” Smith continued.

“The semi-automated offside technology and the technology that runs alongside that I think is fantastic and is the way forward. The Premier League doesn’t employ that by the way.

“There should be a replay of the incident on the big stadium screen two or three times and somebody commentating on it so there’s some sort of crowd engagement.

“That wonderful Tottenham game… there were times it took four or five minutes for a decision. you could’ve gone to get a hot dog, come back and find the situation still wasn’t resolved.

“I don’t think I’m qualified as a referee to say how they should or shouldn’t use the technology, but all I know is that the technology is there, and the advanced technology that FIFA used is there, and it works – now.

After the debacle at White Hart Lane and what both Jurgen Klopp and Arteta have said, the game has clearly reached a turning point.

Both managers were clearly wrong, but it would’ve also been wrong for them to have just accepted the decisions at the time.

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Agent slams Man United star for making ‘big mistake’ last month

Andrew Walker — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 16:46:51 +0000

Marcus Rashford should have kept a low profile after Manchester United suffered defeat against rivals Manchester City last month.

That is the view of agent and CaughtOffside columnist Jon Smith, who believes Rashford ‘made a big mistake’ by going out clubbing after losing 3-0 at home against Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens.

United have endured an abysmal start to the season and that was highlighted by City’s demolition derby last weekend.

A brace from Erling Haaland and a third from Phil Foden sealed the victory and ensured all three points would be going cross-town with last season’s treble-winners.

And while some United players would have gone home and mulled over their performance, as well as the crushing result, Rashford did not.

Instead, the Englishman opted to hit the town and party, and Smith believes this decision not only made little sense, but it also demonstrated a lack of professionalism.

“We’d tell them [old clients] that if they’d lost a match, particularly a big one, just stay home and don’t do anything,” he said in an exclusive interview.

Premier League creator feeling uneasy about new ownership deals and lack of FIFA and UEFA control

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:38:54 +0000

When the Premier League was created back in 1992, it’s doubtful that anyone involved could’ve envisaged that teams within the English top-flight would be being run by nation states or so called ‘big money’ corporate wealth funds.

However, fast forward 31 years and that’s exactly how the landscape is beginning to pan out, much to the chagrin of one of the EPL’s creators, ‘super agent’ Jon Smith.

‘I think we are in danger of football clubs being used as vehicles for ownership rather than the lifeblood of the supporters – and ownership of a football club is a huge privilege,’ he wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

‘[…] I’m now getting a little bit queasy about how big money, and I’m talking nation states as well as corporate funds, can use the vehicle of a football club to create whatever entity they want to create. It can be a global icon used to raise money for purposes which perhaps are not of the greatest benefit to supporters.

‘The governing bodies are the ones here that are technically under threat if the huge nation states like Saudi want to use their money.

‘I don’t want to say that they are doing so to sports wash because I quite like people investing in football as I think it’s great for the game – but they should be investing in football, not buying football. I think we are in danger of selling the business of football rather than selling the sport of football and I think we have to be very careful.

‘If the authorities, FIFA, UEFA, etc. are going to keep control of football rather than let the big money dictate, they’re going to have to put some sort of financial parameters in place, similar to the essence of FFP.

‘Todd Boehly’s ownership of Chelsea is a different model to Roman Abramovich. The latter’s ownership was basically funds out of Russia for whatever reason and it just became unacceptable once the invasion of Ukraine took place.

‘I don’t think you can monitor every owner about everything they do or where all their money comes from, but you can do the best that you can to make sure it’s as clean as possible.

‘The Premier League now in a way has become an entity which is nearly as big as the sport itself, and so it competes with itself for the ownership of its entities.

‘That’s an interesting place to be and the regulators are going to have to take a cold, hard look at that in the coming years. Who could have envisaged this when we all began this adventure in 1992!’

The unprecedented rise of football in Saudi Arabia has come out of nowhere, and with their incredible appetite to hoover up the best players in Europe comes the desire for influence across the world. Influence that would become much easier to achieve by using a football club as a front.

Smith, almost certainly unwillingly, has helped to create a monster, and the need for the governing bodies to come down hard is obvious.

Not to mention that the very fabric of the game is at risk at the lower levels.

Far too often these days clubs in England are being threatened with closure and/or winding up, and that will only continue apace if the chasm between the lower leagues and the Premier League is allowed to grow.

Quite how FIFA and UEFA go about regulating the game in this instance is anyone’s guess, however, a framework is necessary to be put in place before things spiral out of control.

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Premier League creator sides with Man City’s Pep Guardiola over player strikes

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 08:24:14 +0000

Man City manager, Pep Guardiola, has put himself in the firing line over recent comments concerning player strikes.

Often outspoken, Guardiola, per The Athletic (subscription required), suggested that if player welfare was to be taken seriously, given the amount of games that those at the elite level now have to play, then perhaps strike action was the only way for FIFA and UEFA to sit up and take notice.

He’s arguably the best coach of this or any other generation so his words will carry some weight.

It won’t make him popular in the corridors of power, however, one of the Premier League’s co-creators, ‘super agent’ Jon Smith, is standing right behind the Catalan.

‘I’m pro Pep on the issue of player strikes. The authorities are going to look for even more opportunities for matches to be played as we’ve recently seen by the soon-to-be expanded Club World Cup, and there’s going to be more games engineered by what comes out of the Gulf,’ he wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

‘If you look at the game now there are already continuous injuries because football is so quick nowadays. Fitness has to be at the highest level and that requires all parts of the body to be highly tuned and in good shape.

‘Playing so many games without a rest and rushing players back because of the value of having him or her on the field I think is a worry. Some of them only got three weeks off in the summer and that’s it.

‘So no, I don’t disagree with Pep. I think as the value of our game goes up, it’s critically important to look after the participants.’

As unpalatable as a walkout would seem on the face of it, sometimes you just have to make a stand.

Guardiola’s example of what the Spanish Women’s World Cup winning squad had to do to remove the head of their football federation, Luis Rubiales, is spot on.

Perhaps the overriding issue is that the governing bodies just don’t appear to know when to stop.

Any gaps in the calendar are now seemingly being filled by meaningless matches, all of which will take their toll on top players by season’s end.

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Exclusive: Man United takeover will happen but it might be another year away

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 07:57:30 +0000

It’s almost been a year since news of a potential takeover at Man United had supporters of the Old Trafford outfit rubbing their hands with glee.

The thought of being rid of the Glazer family is clearly something that appeals to much of the Red Devils faithful, however, as of this moment, they remain in full control at the Theatre of Dreams.

Despite multiple ‘Glazer out’ protests they’re still in situ and, according to one of the creators of the Premier League, ‘super agent’ Jon Smith, it could be another year before a deal can be closed.

There is hope on the horizon for fans though.

‘To be honest here, I’m not inside this deal but I know quite a few of the funds who are close to the the two bidders, and it would appear vaguely intelligent for the Glazers to have looked again at the Gulf and said there’s a bigger game here and we don’t want to sell ourselves short,’ Smith wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

‘They’ve got arguably the biggest entity on planet football and if the Qataris are going to pay £5bn, maybe they’ll pay £10bn. Maybe it’s just a number and they’ll settle on seven.

‘These deals are notoriously complicated and this is the biggest one of them all. I’m just of the belief that it’s a very heavy negotiation and it’s ultimately all about the money, obviously, but also about the timing.

‘I think all eyes are on the Gulf to see what happens over the next 12 months as there could be a new and growing Super League coming out of the Gulf in some shape or form.

‘If that happens then Man United’s value will rise dramatically, so we may be in a negotiated hold pattern at present which is why Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid for smaller ownership and keeping the Glazers in place may be more acceptable than the Qataris saying here’s £5bn, goodbye.

‘I think the takeover is going to complete in some shape or form it’s just a question of when.’

All the while that talks remain in abeyance it has to be seen as a positive rather than a negative for those who are desperate for a new dawn at the club.

It’s worth pondering that the Glazer’s could still decide to keep things as they are ad infinitum, so the fact that Smith has suggested that his belief is that the deal will conclude should be acknowledged.

In the meantime, Erik ten Hag is effectively having to work with one hand tied behind his back whilst trying to bring the glory days back to the club.

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Exclusive: Jadon Sancho doesn’t have a future at Man United… and perhaps anywhere else

Jason Pettigrove — Sat, 23 Sep 2023 12:21:37 +0000

The tension surrounding Jadon Sancho and his position at Man United under Erik ten Hag continues, and there doesn’t appear to be any solution to the current impasse.

It’s believed that the Dutchman has been unhappy with the player’s general attitude and his effort in training, and as such, has banished him from training and playing for the first team.

Sancho, for his part, other than firing off a social media response that quickly went viral, hasn’t had too much more to say on the situation, suggesting that he’s finally had enough of life at Old Trafford.

However, he may find that even if he leaves the club, should that be his wish, that he’ll not easily find a new employer to take him on.

‘It’s very, very difficult when you have a kid earning so much money,’ former super agent, Jon Smith, wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

‘I don’t have a problem with that because I was the one that pioneered players wages to be sizeable. I’d seen some of my heroes when I was younger leaving the game of football and becoming pub owners or milkmen or whatever, so they should be paid very well for entertaining so many across the globe. However, you need to know how to handle money.

‘[…] In some cases it absolutely goes to their heads, and whilst I have no inside information on Jadon Sancho, if the manager feels that he’s crossed that line, then he’s absolutely right to drop him from the squad. To put him in his place.

‘Social media is there to be used and Sancho is allowed to defend himself, but everything he says and does in that environment has a consequence. I think it’s right for him to defend himself, but he has to be a little bit aware that a good manager and the managerial team around him are going to ring fence the squad in as best a way as they can.

‘If he can’t be inside that ring fence he’s going to be outside it, and the word is going to go round other clubs very, very quickly. They’ll be thinking ‘do we want to go disturbing our squad as well?’

At this point things don’t really look too great for Sancho, and given that the European Championship is just around the corner, one has to question what sort of game he’s playing.

He is only 23 years of age and arguably has the best years of his football career ahead of him, and yet, were he to miss out on a few more weeks, seeing his match fitness decrease in the meantime, it’ll be a long, hard road back to fitness at any club.

That could see his chances of pulling on the Three Lions jersey again next summer evaporate, and that would be a real shame for a player with such evident talent but perhaps not the application.

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Agent’s column: Arsenal need a striker, Sancho has no future at Man United, Richarlison will be fine and more

Jon Smith — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 17:23:03 +0000

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why player transfers aren’t as straightforward as everyone thinks, why Arsenal need an out and out striker, why Jadon Sancho has no future at Man United, whether clubs need to do more regarding mental health – and more!

Player transfers aren’t straightforward and are a lot more scientific these days

There are many agents out there, but at the top of the game there’s probably only 50 clients you’ve got as your marketplace. They are the ones that make you most of your money.

There’s a whole bunch of smaller clubs of course, so therefore there’s an abundance of agents, however, the big boys and the more professional agents are the guys who are attuned with the game and the industry, and are much more professional than the outward impression would have you believe.

There are lots of conversations that are always going on, co-relationships between clubs, agents and players, lots of intelligence networks about who’s getting what, who needs what, who is likely to move, who’s injury prone, which clubs are likely to be in positions where they’re going to need certain positions filled, and of course anticipation of moves to be made by rival clubs.

There’s so much information these days to be analysed and it’s not just a question of ‘x club needs a left back so I’ll give them a ring,’ because that doesn’t work too well anymore. A few agents do still work like that though they’re in the lower echelons of the game.

The likes of Brighton and Brentford have been successful by using the analytics that are now around, meaning they’re in a much more insightful position.

Conversations are happening all the time and the only thing that crystallises those conversation is the fact that you can’t physically do deals outside of trading windows and then of course there’s the poker game that takes place running into the end of those semi-annual windows whereas, years ago, we could have these conversations and a deal would be done immediately.

Arsenal need an out and out striker to compete for the big trophies

Ivan Toney’s out there so if you join the dots that’s a move that’s in my head, but Arsenal may not fancy him because there’s history there obviously.

Brentford will probably sell because they’re doing okay without him, he’s only got two years left on his contract, and that means next year it’d be very tempting for him to just hang around and go for free.

Osimhen at Napoli is another, but I don’t know if Napoli would sell him and they’ll want big money.

I think Arsenal need a striker and a full-back and that’s probably it. It would be nice if they’ve got the luxury of spending money to bring in others to compete with with Man City, but Arteta’s squad are pretty much there.

Part of it is mental strength and you get that by just working through the system time and time and time again. Arteta had lots of remoulding to do in his first year, and it took Pep four years to build Man City.

Now, Arteta’s created a great atmosphere at the club. The programme sellers are happy, the hot dog sellers are happy. Everyone’s happy! I think it’s great. He’s done a miraculous job.

I just think the team needs probably a few more months, and not having to worry about losing games in the meantime. Push on and get tougher as each game passes.

Odegaard’s new contract has come at the perfect time too, because he is part of the heartbeat of the club at the moment.

There’s a very simple reason that football players shouldn’t be allowed to bet

It’s a big question with a very simple answer. For me, I don’t think professional players should bet on professional football.

I know the Toney family. They’re lovely people and I feel a bit sorry for him (Ivan Toney), but he has got himself help which is good. I think he’ll be fine.

I just don’t think you can you place bets whilst having access to inside information. Not withstanding, it is a bit of a dichotomy that the industry is to a degree funded partly by the betting industry but nevertheless it is a minefield for any participants who whilst being involved in the sport are betting on the participants.

Bet on the horses, that’s fine. Bet on who’ll win the boat race, fab. Go fill your boots.

As a professional agent, when I was top of my game, I knew everything about every club, and I knew what was going on everywhere. I’d share that with some of my players and we’d spend hours and hours talking about the game.

It wouldn’t be fair for them to then nip down the bookies and lump on. Playing football is a privilege and I don’t think it should be abused by potential insider info.

The game stays much cleaner if players just don’t get involved.

Jadon Sancho doesn’t have a future at Man United… and perhaps anywhere else

It’s very, very difficult when you have a kid earning so much money.

I don’t have a problem with that because I was the one that pioneered players wages to be sizeable. I’d seen some of my heroes when I was younger leaving the game of football and becoming pub owners or milkmen or whatever, so they should be paid very well for entertaining so many across the globe.

However, you need to know how to handle money. It’s always been important because it’s assumed outside of health to be probably the most important part of your life. It dictates the life that you and your family have and the inheritance that you will leave.

As a player, you’re earning a lot of money, you’re doing really well, you’re focusing on your game and you’ve got your health and your regime right. However, in many, many cases, the families are the beneficiary of this money.

I’ve sat in so many meetings with players over the years where the father, the brother or the uncle seemed more concerned about what they’re going to earn and the clubs are not really on top of this.

The players should at least have A* financial advisors or their own accountants who need to sit them down and say ‘you’re now earning £120,000 pound a week, now how are we going to plan to invest this money whilst contingencing for your tax liability?’ The answer is probably not.

So there’s a lot of misspending and a lot of bad attitude because when you’re earning that much money you do acquire a lot of friends and influences around you that perhaps aren’t great.

In some cases it absolutely goes to their heads, and whilst I have no inside information on Jadon Sancho, if the manager feels that he’s crossed that line, then he’s absolutely right to drop him from the squad. To put him in his place.

Social media is there to be used and Sancho is allowed to defend himself, but everything he says and does in that environment has a consequence. I think it’s right for him to defend himself, but he has to be a little bit aware that a good manager and the managerial team around him are going to ring fence the squad in as best a way as they can.

If he can’t be inside that ring fence he’s going to be outside it, and the word is going to go round other clubs very, very quickly. They’ll be thinking ‘do we want to go disturbing our squad as well?’

Look at Brighton. The squad is so together, the management is so together. Paul Barber at the top of the club and everyone else down there, they’re all on the same team, so having a fractured squad because of one player is a real problem.

Let’s go back to one of the biggest exports this country’s ever had; John, Paul, George and Ringo.

The reason The Beatles worked so well other than being immensely talented, was because they were always ‘together.’ Nobody could say a bad word about John without Paul defending him, or George or Ringo.

They were a team but when it all started fragmenting, that’s when it all went wrong.

It’s much harder to keep 36 highly paid professionals together in a single mindset, but that’s why the Arsene Wenger’s of this world do so well, and they’re attributes obviously that Pep Guardiola also has.

Clubs are ok at dealing with mental health issues but they need to do more for Richarlison and others

Society has the same questions as football to ask itself.

I am a huge supporter of mental health and part of my work is with a wellbeing company called PIRKX that offers private wellbeing at sizeably affordable rates. The interesting point that I’m making on that, is that I’d say 50% of the company’s usage is for people wanting mental health support.

We’re in a very rabid world at the moment where the few have a lot and the many don’t, and it’s scary to watch how difficult life can be.

Then there are those individuals – including footballers – where everyone thinks ‘they’ve got the greatest life on the planet.’ Actually they haven’t, because nobody has it all.

Many, many people have mental issues. Not mental problems, but mental issues. It might be making sure that the doors are locked at night four or five times just to make sure that it is actually locked – I’m just taking a very minor example of course.

I also understand that there are some folk that use the mental health card as a cop out to get out of work. ‘Sorry, my mental health isn’t good, I’m not coming in today’ – and how often does that happen on a Friday?!

There are things that affect everyone differently though. In the real world, people have childhood issues that leave a memory and a scar, and which will have an effect on them for all of their days. In most cases people manage it, but it’s there.

These are amplified when they are on a public stage, so fast forward to being a famous footballer and you have millions of people watching you around the world and maybe you’re not feeling it.

You’re not quite right, you’re having a bad day or something’s hurting in your shoulder and you haven’t quite got it out of your system. Suddenly, you’re in a bad place and you don’t quite know how to deal with it.

I grew up in the era where everyone said ‘oh just get on with it,’ but everything kind of changed with the death of Diana. Suddenly the stiff upper lip country was crying publicly.

No comment from me as to whether that was right or wrong, it just it kind of happened. And that was the moment when everyone thought, ‘yeah, I can share my emotions publicly.’

It actually was okay, wasn’t it?

I genuinely feel that Richarlison will be absolutely fine but let’s give him oxygen to breathe for a little while.

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Agent praises ‘potent weapon’ Fabrizio Romano

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 09:50:21 +0000

He’s the go to guy for information on football transfers with millions of followers across social media, and Fabrizio Romano has been praised by former super agent, Jon Smith, for his work.

Smith, a co-creator of the Premier League as well as being one of the major football agents of his day, is well versed in how football works.

Whilst he’s suggested that Romano isn’t doing anything that’s necessarily ground-breaking, Smith does acknowledge just how good the Italian is at circulating the information that everyone wants to know about.

Indeed, come transfer window time and deadline day in particular, much of the footballing fraternity are waiting with baited breath to see if Romano’s famous ‘here we go’ catchphrase is used in relation to any players coming to their club.

‘Fabrizio Romano’s podcast appearance with Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards has caused some controversy over his comments that players go to him if they want to put it out there that they’re angling for a move. To be perfectly honest, that’s been happening for years. I did the same thing years ago,’ Smith wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

‘I made friends with all the media, especially with The Sun who, at the time, were seriously powerful, and we’d drop potential news in to stir the pot beforehand. My fingerprints wouldn’t appear because I was friendly with all forms of media. Today, using people like Fabrizio and David Ornstein with big social followings to just shout it out there globally, is a potent weapon.

‘The Sun was very good and it was read in the UK, but now, if Fabrizio talks about it, the news is available immediately in Spain, Italy, France, Australia, wherever you want it to be. I can phone somebody at 12 o’clock here and by one o’clock my news is out there, all over the world. The way that social works also places the emphasis on certain pieces of information.

‘If we were in 2008 or so, transfer gossip was just a story and it took 24 to 48 hours to filter through the system. Now you can colour it with emotion and because it’s on social, people comment on it. Fabrizio and the like are commenting but being informative too. It’s a very potent weapon to have, is being used regularly and it will continue. Clubs use it as well.’

As Romano himself noted in his interview with Lineker et al, the landscape for football transfer news has changed incredibly over the past few years.

The challenge it would seem is to filter out the more accurate news amongst the noise, and the only way for the transfer expert to be able to do just that, is to build up trustworthy relationships between himself, clubs, players and agents.

That new Barcelona ace, Joao Felix, went directly to Romano to have it broadcast that he wanted to move to the Catalans says everything about just how important the Italian has become in the grand scheme of things that are transfer related.

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Exclusive: Saudi’s could offer Man United and others £1bn each to buy a new Super League says agent

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 08:46:54 +0000

The notion of a Super League seems to have long since been put on the back burner, but former super agent, Jon Smith, believes that the powerbrokers in Saudi Arabia might well be able to buy their influence by resurrecting it.

For anyone that wants to dismiss that as ‘pie in the sky,’ it’s worth remembering that Cristiano Ronaldo was mocked a year ago for suggesting that the Saudi Pro League would soon become one of the world’s best.

In the space of 12 months from the Portuguese’s arrival, the Pro League has now become a viable option for players.

Though many are aged 30+, there have been a few notable exceptions, and as the league continues to grow, more and more players will be considering the Middle Eastern destination as a potential stop off in their footballing career.

It does seem, however, that Saudi chiefs have a lot more business to be done in the footballing arena than just at a domestic level.

‘Are the Saudis going to be able to powerhouse themselves into football? They can do it in boxing, hosting various world championship fights and anything else that they might fancy with the kind of money they have behind them. In football, are they going to be the new instigator of a Super League because once they’ve got their own league going…’ former super agent and co-creator of the Premier League, Jon Smith, wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

‘[…] If I was UEFA and FIFA I’d be getting a little bit concerned. Let’s say the Saudi league wants to expand itself and wants to entertain a global league every year… they go to Manchester United and say here’s a billion pounds and they do that to the 10 best teams around the world – they’ve bought themselves a Super League because very few people are gonna turn that down.

‘What happens when FIFA try and say ‘right, you’re all out of football?’ Look what happened in golf. The PGA threatened everyone, stood up and made lots of noise and then LIV bought them because they could. My final point on this is that Gianna Infantino (FIFA President) has a home in Qatar. He’s also got a lovely home in Switzerland and I’m sure Qatar is a beautiful place to live, but the Middle Eastern powerhouses are the only other people that could challenge a dynamic as we’ve just described.’

The landscape of football has certainly changed immeasurably over the past few months, and there are parallels to be made from when the Premier League itself was changing the dynamics of English football.

Progress takes many forms and though there is likely to be push back, as Smith notes, all of the noise seems futile.

The post Exclusive: Saudi’s could offer Man United and others £1bn each to buy a new Super League says agent appeared first on CaughtOffside.