TRANSFERS? YEP, THERE’S EVEN AN APP FOR THAT…

Transferroom is just one of the tools clubs are using to gain an upper hand in the market – but worldwide upheaval has changed the game again this summer

Back in June, 250 decision- makers from football clubs around the globe fired up their computers and prepared for a charm offensive. This was speed dating, after all – just not quite as they knew it.

While love- stricken lonely hearts may have turned to video for their romantic needs amid the coronavirus crisis, football’s version of match- making was more abridged than amorous. At Transferroom’s Virtual Summit, club figures zipped through up to 15 mini meetings with global counterparts – each lasting no more than 10 minutes – and skipped the small talk to establish wants and needs for a challenging summer ahead.

Transferroom is nothing new: set up three years ago by Jonas Ankersen, the brother of Brentford’s director of football, Rasmus – but its value to clubs may be about to skyrocket. It claims to have facilitated in excess of 360 transfers of professional players since its inception, with more than 550 clubs from 46 countries and 83 leagues using the online marketplace. When FFT was invited to their second e- summit of the summer in July, Liverpool, AEK Athens, Red Bull Salzburg and Guadalajara were among new members of the subscription- only service.

“I was wondering why so many clubs were struggling to become profitable,” explains Ankersen, of the inspiration behind the app. “In 2016, I started meeting sporting directors across Europe. I wanted to discuss their challenges in the transfer market and to test my ideas on them. I saw all the inefficiencies and wanted to create something that could help clubs become more efficient – to give them the chance to take back control.”

Such inefficiencies often lay in simple but essential areas like basic communication. Say a club wants to take a player off another team, but doesn’t know how – or even who with – to get in direct contact. “There is a lot of urgency in football and it can save you a lot of money being able to get in touch at short notice,” says Ankersen. “When clubs communicate directly, they can get straight down to business. What are the conditions: is a deal possible or not?”

Ultimately, it doesn’t remove the thorny issue of middle men, but it does help to avoid clubs being strung along by the game’s more unscrupulous agents. Now, they instantly know whether a target is actually available, or whether they can afford them: the app details transfer and loan fees, salaries and even marks for every player that a club is willing to offload.

Ankersen estimates that Transferroom will help clubs make more than 150 transfers this summer. With finances, travel and scouting systems all affected beyond recognition, that number is likely to mushroom in coming windows as clubs increasingly turn to the tech at their disposal.

“The record from pitching a player to then receiving interest from another club is about 20 seconds,” chuckles the Danish founder. Leeds director of football Victor Orta claims to have completed deals for five players using the service in the summer of 2018, while his equivalent at QPR, Les Ferdinand, spoke to European giants Monaco and Juventus about promising youngsters who could be available for loan during the June summit.

LOAN SURVIVORS

The interest in short- term transfers is now expected to boom in a coronavirus- ravaged market this summer, with many clubs big and small unwilling to commit too far ahead. Financial Fair Play regulations are tightening as FIFA aims to crack down on rule- breaking,

SO- CALLED CLUB INTERMEDIARIES WILL GRADUALLY DISAPPEAR AND BE SUPERSEDED BY TECHNOLOGY

making loans a key part of book- balancing at every level. “The loan market is going to break records this summer,” says Ankersen.

Last season, Philippe Coutinho ( to Bayern Munich), Alexis Sanchez ( Inter) and Dani Ceballos ( Arsenal) were three of the biggest movers to European giants – in Coutinho’s case, with Bayern covering the Brazilian’s wages and paying Barça a loan fee of € 8.5m for a player they shelled out € 120m on in January 2018. Manchester United were not so fortunate with Sanchez, reportedly paying almost half of his £ 390,000 weekly wedge – a scenario now increasingly common with clubs struggling to offload their high- earning flops. If a major effect of coronavirus is less money in the market and fewer expensive outlays, expect much more of the same among even Europe’s giants for 2020- 21.

Transferroom recently unveiled their Virtual Loan Assistant tool, which aims to act as a “one- stop shop” for the increasing band of dedicated loan managers, according to lead data analyst Daniel Blades. Now, clubs can check overnight match- by- match player performance data, benchmark their players’ temporary spells against other clubs and even monitor market value over time.

Jack Harrison’s highly successful two- year spell with Leeds from Manchester City, for example, is ranked in the top one per cent of loans over the last five years – and now he will stay for a third season, with an increased option- to- buy fee of £ 10m. Harrison will likely leave City next summer without ever playing for them, having joined the Blues for around £ 3.5m from partner club New York City FC in January 2018.

Man City sent out 32 players on loan last season, Chelsea 31, but new FIFA regulations – proposed in February, but temporarily on hold due to the virus – are set to shake up the market and ensure that short- term deals serve developmental rather than financial purposes. Football’s governing body had proposed caps to the number of international loans allowed for players aged 22 and over from this summer: eight per season ( both in and out), dropping to six in 2022- 23. For context, 11 of Chelsea’s loan squadron last term were ‘ over- age’ abroad.

Currently, Premier League sides are only allowed two loanees at any one time and four in a season, with no restrictions on the number allowed out. According to those in the know, though, coronavirus isn’t expected to delay the introduction of FIFA’S new rules for much longer.

It’s not the only thing football’s overlords are unhappy with, either. Development incentives have proved increasingly common in loan spells – that is, a parent club providing favourable financial conditions for their players to feature, or imposing penalties for not doing so enough. According to article 18bis of their regulations, however ( FFT is great at parties), “No club shall enter into a contract which enables the counter club/ counter clubs... or any third party to acquire the ability to influence in employment and transfer- related matters its independence, its policies or the performance of its teams.”

In short: a big old finger wag to the bigger clubs holding would- be suitors to ransom. The rules have been in place for some time, but FIFA are finally starting to crack down – as Chelsea found out the hard way with the 18bis breaches that earned them a transfer ban in 2019.

But loans remain essential to football’s ecosystem in a virus- affected marketplace – it’s just about making the right choices. According to Transferroom, Manchester United, Leicester and Brighton are the top three Premier League clubs for their loanees’ performances – taking into account average minutes, percentage of playing time and value increases. On the flip side, the app can also help tell clubs the most productive destinations for their most promising talent: according to their data over the last three seasons, that’s Derby, Charlton, Barnsley and Shrewsbury in the Football League.

We still don’t yet know the true financial impact of coronavirus on football, but one thing is certain: things won’t be the same again. According to Ankersen, this might just be the beginning of a revolution for clubs of all sizes taking their power back.

“For so many years, there has been poor transparency, limited market access and little club- to- club interaction, but Transferroom is changing this,” he enthuses. “When selling a player, you ideally want to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible, and when buying you want to be exposed to as many relevant options as possible. It’s about more market access and more transparency.

“There will always be a need for people in football to represent players and negotiate, but I think that the type of agent who doesn’t do that – the so- called club intermediaries – will gradually disappear and eventually be superseded by technology.”

If that happens, it’s glass clinks all around for the robots.

Bill Williams was a 20- year- old at QPR during the famous Big Freeze of 1963, when Britain endured its coldest winter since 1740 and the FA Cup third round took 66 days to complete.

He’s not been out of football since, having finished his playing career in 1973 and then turned his hand to management – firstly in South Africa, then the United States.

For a decade he’s been the chief executive of Maidstone United in the National League South, and also managed them when they ceased to exist as a club in 1992.

But these baffling last few months are a first even for him.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he tells FFT, reflecting on a period which has turned English football upside down at every level. “We’ve all had to step back and guesstimate everything.”

Uncertainty breeds fear, and there has been plenty of both for clubs outside the Premier League this summer. It was late July before the FA announced an October 3 start date for the 2020- 21 non- league season – by which point, Maidstone had no sponsors, nor an inkling of when fans might be able to click through the turnstiles again. They’re among the lucky clubs, too: well- backed, profitable, with strong local support.

“Maidstone are one of the few clubs that don’t entirely rely on fans because we have a few prongs to our business – academies, car parking, commercial activities – but they still make up around half of our revenue,” says Williams. “I would think for many other teams, it’s about 80- 90 per cent. Every club will know what they need just to survive. For argument’s sake, at 50 per cent capacity, we would probably be OK and break even – but no less. Starting without them is impossible.”

In the Women’s Championship, fellow semi- pro outfit Lewes – the world’s only club who pay their men and women equally – face the same scenario.

“A good chunk of our money comes from fans on a matchday, but we also generate revenue through our ownership scheme,” explains Rookettes general manager, Maggie Murphy. “We’ve got 1,500 people who pay in different amounts, so that is a specific sum we can continue to receive. The funding for COVID- 19 tests [ to ensure the restart] came from the FA, via a £ 1.1m Premier League grant – but everything else we have been bearing as a club, which is challenging.”

For both Maidstone and Lewes, financial help from football’s governing bodies has been limited. Both used the government’s furlough scheme – with Lewes topping up wages – but many of their players’ futures depend on other income. While Maidstone limited summer scouting to the local area, Lewes’ plans have relied on some matters outside of their control.

“One of our girls is a personal trainer but lost her job and couldn’t afford to live here,” explains Murphy. “Others found jobs in the emergency services, like working on the 111 phone line. A lot of them are still wary about their financial situation, though. Some don’t yet know if they will retain their other jobs.”

For non- league clubs, the Premier League advanced its annual solidarity payments in April – approximately £ 75k each for National League clubs; £ 35k for those in the North and South tiers – but in reality, that money is hardly salvation (“a player’s wage for a year, roughly,” says Williams). He and Murphy agree that more help is essential.

“I’d love to have a conversation about what the Premier League should do with its £ 1.5bn reserves,” says Murphy. “When is an appropriate time to use that? It doesn’t just generate that cash by itself – it’s linked to the lives of people in their communities. Football is a huge ecosystem – there needs to be an understanding of the links between clubs.”

Williams concurs. “I hope this doesn’t kill football – that’s my huge worry,” he admits. “I know we all have to help ourselves, but everybody needs a hand at the minute. We need clubs like Farnborough, Weymouth and Braintree – it’s good for the energy of football in this country.

“Sometimes in life, you have to help and put something back. If every one of those players on massive wages made a gesture between themselves, we’d probably all survive. I have a lot of time for the PFA, but they don’t like straying from arrangements. Well, bugger it – there’s a crisis in football. Who can save it?”

“I JUST HOPE THIS DOESN’T KILL FOOTBALL – THAT’S MY WORRY”