"Nepotism exists in football, that's a fact: Football Agent Institute founder Dr. Erkut Sogut

Founder of Football Agent Institute, Dr. Erkut Sogut

Football, as we all know, is arguably the most popular sport across the globe. However, few understand what goes on behind the scenes, especially when it involves transfers. The summer and winter transfer market windows in Europe witness an exorbitant amount of money change hands as players try to seal up the best deals for themselves.

However, for agents, it is quite a hectic period, especially when one considers that they need to complete deals within specific time frames. To shed more light on this frenetic job, Sportskeeda recently caught up with Dr. Erkut Sogut, a renowned sports agent. The Turkish-born lawyer has several high-profile clients such as Fenerbahce star Mesut Ozil, Everton ace Cenk Tosun, former Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs, and many more. He is also the founder of the Football Agent Institute and co-authored the book How to become a Football Agent: A Guide, the second edition of which was released a couple of years ago.

Dr. Sogut recently wrote another book titled Deadline, covering the finer points of the transfer window. In an exclusive and enlightening video conversation, he touched upon nepotism in football, the challenges of the transfer window, and increasing transparency in business dealings.

1) So, Dr. Erkut, the transfer deadline is one of the most hectic days for any football agent. What key points does your novel touch upon in regards to this extremely busy day?

Yeah, definitely. First of all, thank you very much for having me. It's a pleasure being on your show and talking with you about certain topics today. And yeah, the transfer deadline is, of course, a very hectic day, especially when the transfer starts in the transfer window.

Usually, as an agent, transfers are already agreed upon before the transfer window opens. That means we have already cleared everything. The work is done before the window. The window is just there to finalize the transfer and make it public and official. Other than that, sometimes on a transfer deadline, certain deals are happening.

It doesn't always happen, but sometimes it does, especially when another club first needs to sell a player, then needs to buy a player, and then things go very fast and quickly, and you have a certain amount of time to register the player with the Federation. It can get very hectic.

I just had it like on the eighth of February this year, like a couple of weeks ago when in Turkey, the window was closing. And on that day, I had a transfer from one club to another. And it was very hectic. So, it can definitely be very hectic.

2) As I mentioned before, your client Mesut Ozil arrived at Arsenal for a club record fee on deadline day in 2013. What was your first-hand experience in orchestrating a move of that magnitude?

At the time, I was more active as his lawyer than his agent. For the deal in 2018, I was his agent and I was a part of it. His father was still involved at the time. So not with the agent umbrella; I was more like a lawyer.

2nd September 2013: Sky Sports News’ coverage of Mesut Özil being announced as an Arsenal player on Deadline Day. [@footballdaily]

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I was taking care of contract negotiations in 2013, but still, it was a great experience for me and it helped me learn a lot and take a lot from that deal.

3) Many still fail to understand the contractual intricacies involved in transfer negotiations. Are there any specific clauses that make it difficult to conclude an agreement?

There's a basic contract that applies to every football player. You can say that within every country, there is a basic contract, which is like 98%; always the same. What differs from each contract is that in England, for example, we are calling it the schedule too. At the end of the contract, there is an extra schedule where the salary, bonuses, buyout clauses and other bonuses are explained. And that's the part, actually, that we as an agent have to negotiate.

On top of that, the image rights contracts are also becoming more and more interesting because the formula is getting more commercial and players have image rights and that also has to be negotiated.

So, these are our main targets. Other than that, the contract is the basic employment contract between the club and the player. Most of the things inside are saying it's not changeable; we have to sign it like that. But the ones we can change are usually about money, about the length of the contract and about bonuses, file courses, all these kinds of things.

4) Sometimes clubs and players wait until deadline day to conclude a transfer due to a number of reasons. Is there any upside or contractual advantage for a player or a club to seal a move on the last day of the window? Alternatively, is there a downside to it?

It depends, case by case. Sometimes the player is so desperate to leave and wants to go and wait until the end. He just waits for something to happen so he can leave. And when he goes on deadline day, he's just happy that the deal happened.

The same is true for the club; sometimes they want to get rid of a player and they want to get him out of the club. If the player goes on transfer deadline day, he's gone and off the books for the club. Sometimes a player goes by a buyout clause, which the club may not want, but the player can still leave on the last day. It could be a surprise for the club.

But usually, deadline day transfers happen; last-minute transfers as well. For example, if a player gets injured during the transfer window, the club will have to react and the Champions League will start soon. So they need to find a replacement very quickly.

And yeah, these are the reasons. Usually, we have a lot of time, like deadline day transfers, but generally 80% to 90% of the clubs are doing the ideas before.

5) You negotiated the biggest contract in Premier League and Turkish football history. As we all know, Mesut Ozil is a generational talent and one of the best in the business. But were there still any challenges in concluding such a massive deal?

It took so much time, like nearly a year to get the deal done. It's an ongoing thing; an ongoing talk, and things are changing during that time. You offer, you reject, you get another offer and you come close. You get apart, you come close. A lot of parameters play a role in that.

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I'd say every deal I've done so far in my career as an agent and lawyer differs from each other. There are no two equal deals, where I can say, "Hey, that deal and that deal is kind of similar or equal," because every player is different, every club is different. Situations, finances, player situations, family situations. Like everything, it really depends. The player's age, the player's ability to play a position. So, every transfer is a new case.

Nepotism in Football

6) So, in your book Deadline, you've written "One decision could change his life." So what exactly is the context of it and what does your book touch upon specifically?

Okay, it's a thriller, as you mentioned in the beginning, because I've written books in the past about how to become a football agent, as you mentioned as well. But I needed to write about my world, about the world I work in in a different way, in a storytelling way, in a thriller, in a fictional way. I needed to create fictional characters to explain what's actually happening in football. I'm here to find a gray area in the football world, which is not illegal, but is it ethically correct? And this time in this book, my debut crime thriller, the topic is nepotism.

So, you might know that nepotism exists in Bollywood a lot. So, it's kind of a parallel world to football. Nepotism happens in football as well, a lot. I've done samples from the Bundesliga and from the Premier League, where nepotism is a big, big thing. And it happens all the time that club officials use their brothers or their sons as agents or promote their own sons as football players, even though they're not good enough. These things aren't illegal, but ethically, are they correct? And that's for the reader to read and discuss.

And during a story where people die, we're like two rival agents trying to make a deal at the same time at Manchester United. During that period of time, we learn so much because one agent has an advantage, because the brother is the coach of the club and the other agent doesn't have that. But both are trying to bring a player into the club.

So, there's this kind of nepotism, which is an interesting part, and an agent cartel I'm discussing. So, I created a kind of cartel, which I called the "Table," and the reader should see and say, like, "Wow, could that really be happening? Does that exist? No, that's a conspiracy. This can't be happening. I don't believe it's such a powerful thing." But on the other hand, we see in the world of football that certain agents are controlling certain clubs and then deciding every incoming and outgoing transfer and you might think, "Hey, wait, if four or five of these powerful agents come together, they could be very powerful. Could there be a cartel? Is there a cartel where agents meet up and decide about the business in the transfer window?"

What will happen to the players and with the clubs? Do they have their puppets inside the club sitting for them and doing their job? This is for the reader to think about and decide, "Could it be, could it not be?" But nepotism exists; that's a fact. The agent table as a cartel? We don't know.

7) Yeah, you also mentioned previously that you would like more transparency in transfer dealings. Can you name specific clauses where transparency has been lacking or explain where you would like transparency?

Transparency in terms of who is representing whom, for example, who is the agent of whom so that everyone knows. If there's a tool where we can log in as a club and see who's representing that player and its agents and the club can contact me directly instead of putting another middleman into the game who is close to the club.

They should be more transparent about these things and who's presenting whom, about the contract, how long the contract is and the concerned agent. In some associations, you have that on their website. They put it out. But it needs to be more centralized, so everyone knows what's going on about that. And yeah, generally, transparency helps the business to grow and be more professional for agents and for clubs and for everyone.

For example, it would be very interesting if the clubs could reveal all the agents they're using on a club site over and over again. And why they are paying so much money to them. So, an interesting question, isn't it? I like transparency because I don't have anything to hide. I work openly and I think people who are scared to show what they do want transparency. Other than that, everyone should want it.

8) Fair enough. So, how important is it for agents to maintain close relationships with their clients and how does that work out, especially when some super agents continue to have several players contracted to the agency? Is there any deficiency in service that leads to client dissatisfaction?

First of all, every client is different in handling. So, some clients need attention like a baby, and for some, it's enough to call them once a month. It really depends on what the client is looking for. I work in a 360-management agency where we do everything for the client; whatever the client needs. From buying a house to renting a car and helping literally with everything; whatever they need, literally. Family members might need a visa; we need to do an application for them.

It's literally doing everything. So it's like 360 management and we're trying to give that. But there are some agents who are just brokering deals. They just broker a deal in terms of bringing players from one club to another. And then they don't do anything. They just say that when there's another transfer coming, I might help you. I think every agent has to choose for themselves regarding what kind of service they want to offer and how they want to work with the players.

9) So, you also developed the "M10" brand for Mesut Ozil, which has a huge social media following today. You previously mentioned that you identified it as a key aspect to hone in on from the beginning itself. In your opinion, how important is a social media image for footballers in the current era?

I think it's very important because it's an area where clubs don't like players having their own social media, because obviously players then become more important than clubs. The reality is that we will talk more in the future about the Players League. The Premier League will become the Players League, and not a league consisting of clubs - even the clubs don't like that. They will go further away from the limelight and people will go to the stadiums to watch certain football players.

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They want to go watch Mohamed Salah, right? Yes, they want to see Cristiano Ronaldo. They want to get that experience from a player, rather than going and watching a certain team. That goes less and less; like in America, if you talk about the NBA, you call it the player's league, and that is already established. I think starting with the Premier League, more and more European leagues will also become the players league. Social media is a big tool for that. For players to have their own reach, own sponsors, own voices that didn't exist in the past.

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So, if a player wanted to get out and tell his opinion, he needed the commercial, meet the normal media, like how we used to go through the club, which was nearly impossible. But now a player can just tweet something and it's news, right? And I think that's very powerful, and you need to use that power in the right way so you can create something really unique for a player.

10) I couldn't agree more. So, given the number of leagues and clubs in world football today, no agent can keep his eyes on the next superstar on the block. So how do you spot young budding talents and what kind of discussions take place when you try to convince the youngster to become your client?

For me, the biggest thing I am looking for is to work with educated players. I like players who value education and move on with education rather than just saying "I stop my whole education and just focus on football" or "I don't care about my educational background," because I think it's easier working with a player who likes education and who wants education.

And also with the parents because, bear in mind, if you work with a young player, who is 15 or 16 or 17, you actually work with their parents. You actually signed their parents. Yes, you kind of sign their parents and you have to work with the parents. And if the parents also value education for their kids, it's good for me. And I can try to explore other avenues for these clients in terms of going to United States with a scholarship.

If a professional career doesn't happen, the boy or the girl can get a scholarship if they are academically smart. There are a lot of options to create, and I think I like working on that, because look, no agent can guarantee a career for a player. It doesn't exist. One injury and it's gone.

11) Absolutely. So, your initiative to start the Football Agent Institute is certainly very unique and one that is perhaps much needed in the football industry. So, what kind of different programs have been designed recently to help aspiring agents and what does the future look like for the Institute?

Yeah, we started with the book, actually, with How to Become a Football Agent. That was the first thing that the Institute did. We said, look, we need to write something to open people's eyes and to give people the opportunity to read and understand how this business looks like if they are interested to join. Because, in my time, I started 20 years ago to join this business. There is literally nothing to read about this business. And I said to myself, I [will] always do it the other way around.

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I want to share whatever I learn, whatever I see with others, to encourage them, to make them believe that they can also become a successful agent. But it all goes through a lot of learning and working hard and being consistent in what you do. And therefore, we started the book. We moved on by giving seminars in different countries in different places. As you may know, I've been to Mumbai. I went to Bangalore and gave a lecture there. I was in Kenya, in Nairobi recently.

I've been to so many countries and I'm just going and teaching and delivering the message and delivering the opportunities to become a sports agent/football agent, and I think it's important. The last thing we developed was a master class course. It's a six-week online course for someone who wants to become a football agent. So, it's an online course where I have a one-on-one with every single student, and actually, it's more than one-on-one. I kind of guide them and mentor them throughout their careers, in terms of becoming a football agent. I think we'll do more projects in the future.

My dream is to have a full master football agent course one day. Like anyone who has finished their bachelor's degree and wants to become an agent, they can do a one-year full master's program with me, because I think it's time someone needs to start working in the field. At least one full year, if not more.

12) Well, trust me when I say this, that day is certainly not far away from the looks of it. What kind of message would you like to send to budding agents regarding what they can do to become more well-rounded?

I mean, one thing is that you have to develop yourself because you're competing with others out there. If you just sit and wait and say, "I want to become an agent" but you don't do anything about that, it would not happen, right? So, you need to be different. You need to be unique. You need to do things that others don't do. But one crucial thing I always say is learning languages.

Most of you in India speak so many languages anyway. You speak local languages and you have Hindi and on top of that another 50 languages/dialects in India. Some speak three languages and plus on top of that, you also speak English, and if you like, for example, learn Spanish on top of that, you already have a huge advantage in directly contacting clubs and people inside football, because English and Spanish are the major languages good agents should be able to speak, and that's kind of a must in my opinion. But it's an ongoing development and there's so much free knowledge out there. It's not always about paying for something.

It's about finding the right knowledge and there are so many articles and books that you can download and read for free. To become a sports agent, you should also learn law. You should learn about contracts and read about them. What is the contract? What is the transfer?

It's about gaining knowledge and when you do that, the next part is learning to apply it somewhere and getting into the business. I tell students that when you apply at a company as an intern, don't just send your CV and say, “Hey, look, I am from these universities”. Add something to your CV and say why you could help that agency with something. Add value. You should add value to the agents. Do something and say, "Hey, you know what, I could do this for you guys because you don't have that". It would be like an add-on. It would be something good for your agency or "I bring a qualification with me through which I can help you guys".

So always try to add value to someone or someone's business, because there's so many CVs coming in. Some say that they are from Harvard or have graduated from Oxford. I don't care. You can graduate from all the universities but who are you and what can you give me? These are like important questions to answer. So, the development of yourself is very important and it's a long way game. It doesn't happen tomorrow or in a year. You need to be persistent and consistent in working and believing in yourself. If you do that for a long period of time, eventually you get successful.

13) As far as valuable advice goes, that's certainly up there. So lastly, I'd like to ask you about your thriller fiction Deadline. It touches upon topics like nepotism, a table of agents, and all of these things. So you're basically holding up a mirror to the football society and making them think. Is there anything else in the works similar to this? For example, the book, How to become a football agent : A Guide, had a second edition. Does Deadline too have a second release?

Readers can go to my website www.erkutsogut.com and download the first edition for free, on how to become a football agent. You can just download it and read the first edition; you just have to subscribe on the website and get a free PDF. Get it and read it to see if you like it.

Do you like the environment? Do you like the business? That's kind of something I've done and this is important for some people. It's the first step, which is why I've done it for free. Just the first edition. If they like it, if they learn, they can then go out and get the second edition on Kindle; it's like £3. Yeah, buy it and read it. These are the ones for learning, but my knowledge in the book Deadline teaches about the world of football.

They learn about the deadline day. You learn about how the transfer works, what is our schedule, what is a contract. So, you learn as well. The practical kind of side of being an agent in these last two days of a transfer window. So, I think it adds on the theoretical part. This is the practical part of what you can expect in the world of football agency.

So, kind of reading them together will really help them to understand the world of football agency. And I also have my website, which has a blog. Every week, I put out the blog about a certain topic in football; about the agent's regulations, about FIFA, about who should represent whom. It's also free knowledge; just gain it, just read it and just develop yourself.