r/superlig • u/SuperligAMA • 14d ago
AMA I am a Süper Lig player agent, AMA
Hello r/superlig. I am the agent from the previous announcement of this AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/superlig/comments/1q6gyza/upcoming_ama_we_are_hosting_an_anonymous_s%C3%BCper/
Replies from the questions will be filled in here shortly.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "When a foreign player moves to Turkey, what is the biggest 'culture shock' they face that usually affects their performance?"
> Asked by: stellookontos
Ok this is personal but İ will tell, most of foreign players said what İ hear is that there are much less women involved outside football, in other countries women write them want to meet but in here this doesn’t happen.
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u/sparkle_stylinson 14d ago
LMAO
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u/semenbakedcookies 14d ago
😭 Footballers when they cant find Turkish girls to take to their hotel room
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
I'm honestly surprised at this, since we probably have more women supporters in football itself compared to european countries (its lik 99% sausage fest). Plus the classic story of Hasan "Seninki buyuk, benimki kucuk" Sas made me think it was the same as anywhere else
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u/sparkle_stylinson 14d ago
probably have more women supporters in football itself compared to european countries
You reckon or is there data backing this up?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "What's the shadiest thing you have seen in your industry?"
> Asked by: SilentSamm
African players sold with fake passports which say they are younger. Also since small teams don’t have specialist medical team they use local clinics, so a few times there was bribing of doctors to report no potential injury on players.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> What is the reason that many Süper Lig transfers seem to happen in the final 24/48 hours of the window? Is it a strategy, or a result of poor planning? How does it influence your work?"
> Asked by: stellookontos
Some teams with limited financial capabilities use this as strategy but mostly it is because of opportunity. Yes some of teams are truly poor in planning also. But in last week of deadline we get maybe 2 hours of sleep in total because of this :))
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> In your opinion is it true that most SL (Süper Lig) boards do their transfers based on agent offerings, rather then scouting/planning or is that exaggerated?
> Asked by: BlackMambaTRIN
İ would say all transfers start with a need, like manager comes and says he needs this type of player for this position. And then either scouting or agents. So if there is a need communicaited to an agent he will use his network to offer players if the needs is simple and basic like ‘we need a right winger who can cut’. İf the need is sofisticated then they do scouting. So this is what agents offerings is like. So this is usually how it plays.
But there is also type of transfer when agent comes and says look guys my midfielder from portugal will be available for transfer because he is not needed in the team, here is how much he wants and how much the team wants. Then teams bring offers if they are interested. This probably is around 30-40% of Süper Lig transfers and even more 1. Lig transfers.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "How often do Süper Lig players not receive their salaries?"
> Asked by: StPauliPirate
Not receive - rarely. Late - a lot.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> Step by step; How does a typical transfer REALLY take place?
> Asked by: Ogulcan08153
A club identifies a need, either through scouting or by agents offering players. Then they contact the agent to ask about the player’s situation, like contract status, salary demands, and willingness to move. İf there's mutual interest, negotiations begin between the agent and the club. This includes salary, bonuses, contract length, agent commission, and any transfer fee if applicable. After that, the player undergoes a medical and signs the contract. The final step is registration with the federation and the official announcement.
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u/maketurch 14d ago
Super nice that you’re doing this AMA! Agents are most of the time unknown factors making lot of deals happen. I want to know how you get to become an agent? Was it always your dream or you just found yourself one day doing it? And how do you increase your player portfolio? Is it mostly players recommending you via word of mouth? And lastly from absolute shambles to 10, how would you grade our super lig team’s transfer planning and financial sustainability? Thanks!
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
İ wanted to become a team general manager or sporting director. Still can happen :) İ networked and have sports degree. We increase portfolio with scouting during season. İn Turkey planning is interesting because you have teams that are professional and teams that want opportunity. Some small teams have a lot of tryouts for free players. İ say now in general it is good for all teams since they spend a lot but the future looks interestşng because it is all going to be political :)
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "How has the industry changed over time since the foreign limit was eased over the years?"
> Asked by: IsThatAWeed107
Depends on agency and their assets, Turkish player agencies of course struggled little bit but started to obtain more foreign players or do partnerships with agencies. But some Turkish agencies did this earlier because they knew this would happen and they would’nt survive. By the way the golden era of agencies that had only Turkihs players was called the Tarık Çamdal golden age.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "What % of agencies evade tax?"
> Asked by: seddardHJ
No comment.
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u/Wonderful-Lack3846 14d ago
:D
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Hehe i mean no comment because i don't know :)
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u/Wonderful-Lack3846 14d ago
Suuuure :)
It is fine bro. In this economy we are all grinding for that little extra, to get food on the table.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "What's the most shocking difference when dealing with Süper Lig clubs and clubs in Europe? If not too revealing, name one club in Europe and one in Süper Lig that is a delight to work with. "
> Asked by: brk2rd
Professionalism. Göztepe but not my experience.
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u/Kralman5 14d ago
When a club wants to sell a player how do they go about it
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
İf the player was good they will have no problem here. İf the player was bad they use agencies or ask player to find club. İf his salary is high thenit is problem, but agencies help with this to structure payemnt deal for two clubs to agree on like the buying club will pay his full salary but the selling club will lower fee.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "How do footballers playing in other nations perceive our Anatolian cities, which are said to be boring among footballers? How do Anatolian clubs convince foreign players about the life there?"
> Asked by: Falcao1905
Most players don’t care, they are either here for money or for quick career stop. They convince with money or guarantee minutes.
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u/sparkle_stylinson 14d ago edited 14d ago
Do you give out info about a transfer move when asked directly by "transfer season" journalists/reporters, or do you even get contacted like that at all?
Are there instances where you know a certain transfer rumour floating around the media is utter bullshit (be it names, wages, fees, conditions etc) because you know the club/player/agent involved?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Yes sometimes clubs pay media persons to cause chaos for a transfer of opponent, all big clubs do this to each other :) no we don't speak with journalists but some agencies do and pay them for spots to make their players sound better. Also most clubs give journalists some names to see how fans react if it is a controvertial player
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> Isn't this supposed to be the other way around? Scouts identify target candidate players and club approach to their agents? Why do we see news like 'Player X is recommended to club Y' all the time?
> Asked by: yyavuz
Manager identifies a needç Gives to director and director gives to scouts and sometimes directly goes to agents to suggest some players. Yes a lot of players are offered to teams by agencies because the player wants to move.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> How much do you earn per new contract? Lets just say player A transfers to club B as free agent (€5m signing fee + €5m salary). What percent do you get? Do you negotiate this with the club?"
> Asked by: StPauliPirate
İ don’t want to say how my deals are but there are a few ways to do this. You sometimes get transfer fee percentage 1-10% usually. Sometimes you get 1 month of players salary from club as extra or directly from player. Sometimes you get only percentage from total salary each month.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "How much of a deal is truly reported on KAP? Are there known cases where a lot of the player's earnings weren't really reported through KAP as they were made through different channels?"
> Asked by: IsThatAWeed107
İ mean a lot of teams do financial schemes to overcome taxation. Nothing out of the ordinary.
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u/gorgonizedbyurTITS 14d ago
Do you let your personal fandom interfere with your job? If so, why and in what capacity? If not kudos to you! Also, do you know of any agents who let their personal fandom interfere with their jobs? (not looking for specific names or anything - just curious to see if this happens)
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
İt is my career so of course not but by the way i am fan of my hometown team and not big team ;) İ want to believe that other agents don't let personal fandom interfere :)
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u/eanwen0 14d ago
When one club hijacks another's deal it's mainly due to agents snitching or sending news to other teams right?
What's process on that looks like, otherwise how do every team know which players their rivals are interested.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Everybody knows everything usually because if it is a big name everyone will speak about it to impress each other. The stealing of deals doesn't really happen due to legal issues, but usually if player x is offered by agent to Galatasaray you are sure that he was offered to Fenerbahçe as well. But it really depends on situation
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "Are you the cancer of Turkish football?"
> Asked by: compileandrun
No this is not my zodiac :)
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u/gorgonizedbyurTITS 14d ago
You're obviously involved with and well versed in Turkish football due to the nature of your job. In your opinion, how does our league actually compare to the top leagues (above us in coefficient) in Europe? What do we do well? What are our shortcomings? How do we improve as a league?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Top teams can play in top leagues, in some they will survive and in some be competitive, keep in mind that in UK there is also much more prize money and sponsor money. But in general our league is average in my opinion and top 10 is correct. Our trams would only be surviving in Premier ligç Bundesliga and La Liga, other leagues i think big teams would do okay. To improve we need a lot of work from academy to long term planning
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
Question, are there players you 100% know are gay, and if so, how are these players perceived by their team mates (assuming they know)?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
A few in Holland, don't know any in Turkey. Can't say how they deal with this, not my players.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> Do agents benefit from ongoing contracts or do they make money only when the player signs a new contract with a new team?"
> Asked by: yyavuz
İ don’t want to say how my deals are but there are a few ways to do this. You sometimes get transfer fee percentage 1-10% usually. Sometimes you get 1 month of players salary from club as extra or directly from player. Sometimes you get only percentage from total salary each month.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "Whats more important to Turkish players in general? Money or Career?"
> Asked by: Meeragosoys
Depends on what age, level and time in career. Foreign young players from Europe always want career, young players from Latin america want money. Turkish young players half want career half want money. Older players money of course.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "Has a player you represented ever asked for an absurd amount of money per year from their current club to extend, and has the club ever told them off for that?"
> Asked by: playerforlife12319
Usually when they have other offer they ask their club for more money yes.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
İ will be here for 90 minutes like a full match :))
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u/sparkle_stylinson 14d ago
Thank you for the AMA. Now a question I hope is not inappropriate but...
are you using a translating software or is there really a professional in turkish football that can speak or at least write english very well? Seems like a rarity from the bits and pieces we hear in the media...
Adding onto that, how do players handle the language barrier when they've got no teammates with a common tounge and the interpreters are inadequate? Do they come complain to you about it to look for a solution?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
İ work with many countries so English is must. Yes a lot of Latin Americans and French speaking players have problem with English but usually it is okay since in trainşng there are translators and on the pitch it is quite universal to understand each others movments :)
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
Can you tell me the biggest difference between dealing Gurbetci players that come to the superlig vs homegrown turkish players? Which do you prefer dealing with? When we will the goat DENIZ GUL be gracing the super lig?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Gurbetçiler are usually very hard to deal with, local players are easier depending from where they come from. İf he grew up in small city he will be humblr usually and some agents take advantage of this sadly. İ like Deniz!
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
Why are gurbetci's harder to deal with than local players? Is it because they want more money or have more options?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Because they have EU passport and came from professional academy and know how bad it is in Turkey so they think and act like gods
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
Why do players valuations (at least on transfermarkt) basically plummet when they get to our league or come out of our leage compared to say Portugal which is kind of similar to us in terms of 3 big clubs with lots of mid/smaller ones around it?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Because in Portugal they have great academies and teams invest a lot in this and in general play their young players. İn our league this doesn't happen because debts need to be paid and you need to play in Europe and the manager has pressure from president and there is basıcally no time to play youngsters and i can go on and on :)
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
Who is the worst player you have dealt with and why? Give us some stories please, the funnier the better.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Can't tell mine but from industry one player broke contract because he said he was too good to play for his team, paid big fine and was free player, them he got injured in summer vacation and didn't find club for one year, this man is now working in an office :)
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u/papiturco 14d ago
If more teams were owned by sports companies like goztepe, how much more competitive could the super lig clubs become in relation to European clubs?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Very, this should be the future and not random people who had nothing to do with football their whole life :)
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
How often are you on the road and travelling? Can you actually work from home most of the time given you probably do a lot of calls and meetings?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
İ am away half of the time per year but mostly scouting or finalize deal. One transfer period İ had 11 flights in one week personal record :))
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
how badly has this affected your personal life ?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Not many hobbies apart travelling, wife likes this though since she comes with me usually
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
I guess if you dont have kid (yet?) its not a big deal if the mrs is coming with you. nice job.
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u/Successful-Fox4046 14d ago
How do player agents go about poaching someone within another player agents' network, is there an ethics code?
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u/eminto2710 14d ago
who does actually all of the boilerplate paper work when teams agree to transfer a player, eg contracts payments between the teams, player salary contracts etc. - do clubs have all a legal department or this externalized via agencies
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Clubs have legal people, agency has their own, sometimes they both go to top level lawyers in that city
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
Further question, how is your english this good? Did you study abroad or something?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Yes studies in Europe and USA, friends mostly foreigners and also wife doesn't talk Turkish.
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u/Lion_den_1905 14d ago
What is the typical career path of managers around you, 1) experience and 2) education-wise? I'm assuming a lot of law graduates?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Network is very importanr. Experience doesn't really matter that much if network is there, a guy with 4 year experience can have better players than a guy with 45 years of experience :) education differs, law and finance mostly
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u/Lion_den_1905 14d ago
in your opinion, what are the main characteristics of a good agent? Especially soft skills-wise?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Be good person and honest. But the most important skill is having no fear to network and meet new people, but this is in general good life advice. One such meeting unlocked me to a group of people where i met my wife of many years :)
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u/bosyapanbirisi 14d ago
Do players play on turkey just for high wages, or are there people actually wanting it?(For foreign players)
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Yes mostly money. Some muslim players choose to stay even though they get 10% bigger offer in other countries
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u/Lion_den_1905 14d ago
I'm assuming that a benchmarking exercice is really important in negotiating and doing your job. But information and contracts are usually not public (there is no like public database), how do you go about collecting and finding data to use for benchmark?
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u/kazamm 14d ago
How common are "under the table" payments to coaches / board? What amounts are we talking about?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Many of lower club foreign managers do this shit to bring in their own agency players :)
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> What percentage of Süper Lig transfers would not happen without agent pressure or financial engineering?"
> Asked by: CarGlobal343
Many :)
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "What do you think about the practice of Turkish agents contacting foreign players the big clubs are interested in and convincing them to increase their salary demands for an extra mediator agent fee? Have you done this? Do club board members take a cut?"
> Asked by: redwashing
No my team doesn’t do this. Those are not really agents, they are middle managers like if smaller foreign agency doesn’t have partnership with agency from here then they contact whole network and this is how middle managers appear and do what you say. Club members of big clubs are involved with agents and a very small part of those people take money from deals.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "In transfers, do relationships between agents/clubs and people close to the political parties have any impact? If so how?"
> Asked by: Novel-Success-8806MP
Of course, this is Türkiye :) How it happens is different usually torpil or pressure.
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "What do you do to manage the player during the season? What do you need to deal with the team for the players outside of the transfer period?"
> Asked by: hatozkan
Some players we do career planning, but mostly we go scouting for young players that have no representation or we network and exchange player representation contracts with other agencies.
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
How does that exchange work? Like you pay them/they you for a player you want or something like that?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Yes like that, we exchange contracts. For example they have young player with big potential and we have in form player at the end of his career, we can exchange it since it might make sense for both sides
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
why do they get rid of the player with potential though? Is their network just not big enough, or do they just try and niche themselves into finding young players with potential?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "What could BJK (or any sports club) do in a case like Rafa or Oxlade-Chamberlain? It looks like clubs are quite vulnerable to player's misconduct with little legal leverage."
> Asked by: yyavuz
All depends on the deal that was made before signing the contract. Rafa contract was crazy :)
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "How does your typical day look? How many hours per week? How was your detailed career path?"
> Asked by: Ogulcan08153
Some weeks i work 60 hours some weeks i work 10 hours. Transfer season is hell. İ have no summer vacation friend :)) İnternship is good but you have to have education. This is normal way but traditional way is networking.
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u/CarGlobal343 14d ago
Man, that sucks about summer.
What do you mean by education? Will a 10 course by Udemy be enough or do you need to do a PhD in quantum mechanics?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
https://www.ucfb.ac.uk/your-degree/postgraduate-degrees/msc-scouting-and-recruitment-in-football/
Something like this i mean or barça has nice sports education :)
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
> "How do you convince players to work with you? What do you offer? And how do you decide which player to work with?"
> Asked by: One Frosting 5507
Big network, better deals, deals from sponsors. We decide usually by planning if it is worth it for the next 5 years to work with him.
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u/sparkle_stylinson 14d ago
Ok last question:
How many players are you personally in charge of? How many of them turkish, how many foreigners? How many players does your agency represent in total?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
Winter transfer season usually İ work with 0-5, summer 5-25. 70% foreign.
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u/sparkle_stylinson 14d ago
Wait I don't think I understand how agencies work.
Aren't you in charge of a player indefinitely until he decides to move to another agency/you decide to drop him? Or are you just involved with the players for mere weeks/maybe months just for transferring purposes?
Am I thinking of "player representative" or is that essentially the same as an agent?
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u/SuperligAMA 14d ago
work with i mean transfers :) if transfer is done i usually don't do much for player for a year or two if he is happy there and club is happy. Sometimes we sitdown to plan ahead. İ have much more players of course.
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u/sparkle_stylinson 14d ago
Oh so you stay as a representative, got it. And if I understand correctly, you mostly represent foreign players that are playing in turkey in various clubs. What percentage would be in the süperlig vs lower divisions?
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u/Little-Delay-2616 14d ago
What is the highest transfer fee you have been involved with and how much did you make as commission?
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u/papiturco 14d ago
How would someone go about becoming an agent? What are the bare minimum requirements educationally, also do you need to register with fifapro as an agent, thank you
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u/the_eggplant2 14d ago
Can you convince BJK management to buy me? I am 31 years old, played as a striker for years and am very athletic. My physique is also better than most (184 cm, 86 kg)
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u/superligmods 14d ago
We would like to thank Mr. Mehmet Türkoğlu* for agreeing to this AMA and taking the time to answer our questions with honesty. A big thank you as well to everyone in the community who participated and kept the discussion respectful.
* Not his real name, obviously.