Does football really need agents?

According to a recently released report by FIFA, a record high $654 million dollars were spent worldwide in agent commissions this year. That is a whopping 19% increase over the previous year.

It is safe to say that agents get a lot of flak for the increasing transfer costs. But do they really deserve the bad press they receive?

Take a look at all the controversial transfer sagas over the past few years and we sure would find agents at the eye of the storm. What’s more important to consider though is, would any of the big transfers have gone through without those agents?

Agents are the ones who bring the parties to the table and ensure an amicable solution for everyone. The expertise involved in the job makes it a high level craft. Negotiating is a unique skill, and it takes just one wrong line to kill a deal.

International transfers are virtually impossible without agents. Now try imagining the Premier League or LaLiga without foreign players.

There is a great amount of skill involved in finding the right player for a club, and that too for the right fee. Similarly, the players are also better off having an agent representing them in negotiations.

A player may not know his/her worth in the market; he/she probably wouldn’t know to ask for the right bonuses or a sell-on fee; he/she would certainly not be aware of the intricacies involved in contracts. Players need to focus on what they do best – playing. They just would not be able to orchestrate deals the way agents do.

A funny example: in 1996 a German striker Giuseppe Reina, who was negotiating his contract renewal, asked to receive a new house for every year of him playing in the club. The club agreed to his conditions and they signed a deal. The club then gifted him a LEGO house for each of the three years he spent at the club.

Do agents hold clubs to ransom and charge exorbitant fees? Super agents do have a lot of power over transfers and often receive bad press for their questionable ethics. Often the agents open the door to a rival team to close negotiations with a better contract at the present team.

The Wayne Rooney saga at Manchester United is a nice example, where the agent used Manchester City to get a better deal for Rooney at United. The ethics of the agent here was not questionable though, because the agent represents the player and tries to get the best possible deal for the player.

There have certainly been a few agents who move the players around deliberately so that both the agent and the player can pocket a nice package as signing on fee, but that does not happen much in the elite leagues.

FIFA has agreed to cap agent fees at 3% of a player's income. But the agents’ commission is expected to challenge this legally.

A FIFA panel which included clubs and leagues has also agreed to set a limit of 10% (of the transfer amount) as agent fees when agents represent the selling club. Regardless, the system is not robust yet and agents would likely find others way to keep their income intact.

The business is such that the agents are not really ruining football in any way. The money is already there in football; it is just that the players are getting more now because they are represented better. Everybody is a winner here.

The overall value of the Premier League’s broadcast rights will be worth £9.2 bn for the next three years (a rise of about £1.2 bn). With such money around, it is no surprise that the transfer fee increases year by year - and with that the agents' earnings too.

While the agents do pocket a handsome amount for every deal, their service is essential for football to thrive.