Bolton’s move to Argyle is ‘logged’

DEFENDER James Bolton’s transfer from Portsmouth to Plymouth Argyle last summer is among seven which involved agents representing all three parties in the deal, according to a report from the Football Association.

Any transfer, loan, new contract, updated registration or scholarship which involves an agent - or rather, an intermediary to give them their technical name - is logged by the FA.

A total of 2,318 deals took place involving agents across the English football pyramid between February 2, 2021 and January 31, 2022.

More than half of those, 57 per cent, saw the agent representing more than one party in the deal either the player, the registering club or the selling club.

Seven of those transactions saw the agent represent all three parties.

James Bolton’s transfer from Portsmouth to Plymouth Argyle, with Fifteen Eleven Management acting as the agent; Nathan Collins’ transfer from Stoke City to Burnley, with Eamonn Collins representing all three parties; Morgan Rogers’ loan from Manchester City to Bournemouth, with SME 83 Ltd representing all three parties as a subcontracto and Craig Dawson’s transfer from Watford to West Ham, with Unique Sports Management acting as the agent.

The other deals were Samy Morsy’s transfer from Middlesbrough to Ipswich Town, with Jake Speight acting as the agent, Nuno Da Costa’s loan from Nottingham Forest to Caen, with Jeroen Hoogewerf acting as the agent and Todd Kane’s transfer from QPR to Coventry City, with CAA Base Limited acting as the agent.

This double representation - or triple representation in the case of those seven deals - is not illegal, but is controversial and something that FIFA has long wanted to ban.

The practice is on the decline though, the figures suggest. Last year (2020/21) a massive 67 per cent of all transactions involving agents saw the agent either double or triple representing.

Stellar Football Limited have been the biggest agents involvedin deals this season. The company acted as agent in a total of 103 deals in 2021/22.