The world of football is not only about the players, the coaches, and their support staff, it is also about the agents who manage them. Having an agent is an asset for the team and also for the administrative activities of the club that the players and the coaches are part of. In this list, we would be taking a closer look at some of the best football agents who manage famous personalities in the football world.
Best Football Agents in the World
Let us look into the top football agents from the list below,
1. Jorge Mendes
Jorge Mendes is a Portuguese football agent and is listed with the Football Federation of Portugal. He has extensive contacts in the world making him the best of the best. His clientele includes Cristiano Ronaldo, David de Gea, James Rodriguez; Radamel Falcao, Angel di Maria, Jose Mourinho, and so on. He was named as the Best Agent of the Year at the Global Soccer Awards for 10 years in a row from 2010.
2. Paul Stretford
Paul Stretford comes on the list of the best football Agents of 2021 and is the founder of the company Proactive Sports Management, now renamed Formation Group. He managed the famous Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney; Paul played a key role in managing the footballer’s finances and other endorsements and deals. He also played a key role in setting up coaches like Roberto Mancini and Harry Redknapp for the team.
3. Pere Guardiola
Pere Guardiola is one of the best football agents in the world today and he is the brother of the famous Pep Guardiola; who currently manages Manchester City. Guardiola was his own man and did not use his brother’s connections to make a name for himself. He played an instrumental role in the transfer of Luis Suarez to Barcelona for $130 million. His clientele includes Hector Bellerin, Jon Toral, and Isaac Cuenca along with Suarez.
4. Jonathan Barnett
Barnett is one of the top football agents in the business and is a founder and chairman of Stellar Group Limited. He was named as the no. 1 most powerful sports agent as per Forbes. His clientele includes Wojciech Szczesny, Joe Hart, Ashley Cole, Gareth Bale, Darren Bent, etc. He is the man who is credited to bring the famous Lennox Lewis into the fray of boxing.
5. Mino Raiola
Mino Raiola is one of the best football agents in the world with an extensive list of clientele in his portfolio. Raiola represents Zlatan Ibrahimović, Paul Pogba, Marco Verratti, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Matthijs de Ligt, Erling Harland, and Mario Balotelli. His strategy mainly included transferring his key players into world-class football clubs particularly he was involved in transferring Ibrahimović to Juventus, Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain, Manchester United, and so on.
6. Pini Zahavi
Pini Zahavi set his sights on making Chelsea the strongest team possible and he tried to do the same through his many connections. He does this using Roman Abramovich, a Russian billionaire’s clout and his connections. He was a constant when Chelsea needed big players in their team and his clientele includes Carlos Tevez and Rio Ferdinand. Pini is also responsible for contract negotiations for the high-valued players once the transfer to Chelsea is complete.
7. Tim Hager
Tim Hager is the kind of football agent who appreciates the inclusion of young talent in the world of football. He is known to pick his players from France since they have all the required skills necessary to make it big. Some of his clients include Yann M’Vila, Mamadou Sakho and even Antoine Griezmann. He is very active when it comes to recruiting in the French Football circuit but he is setting his sights on the English football clubs as well.
8. Jerome Anderson
Jerome is a London-based football agent and works with Sports Entertainment and Media Group. He has represented some of the very best professional footballers in the EPL which includes names like Thierry Henry; Dennis Bergkamp, David Seaman, Ian Wright, and Tony Adams. He has represented over 200 football players in his illustrious career and he is also focusing on other sports besides football.
9. Cezary Kucharski
Cezary Kucharski is an erstwhile Polish football player turned agent and he picks up great talented players as part of his clientele. He mainly picks them from Poland as he has his roots there; and he believes that some of the best talents do come from his own country. Some of his famous clientele includes Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszcykowski. He also started a sports management company named CK Sports Management.
10. Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman is one of the best football agents in the world; and is known for player transfers in some of the richest football clubs. He has made his immense fortune this way and has even played for 16 seasons in his career. His career as a footballer was moderate which propelled him to try his luck in management. Barry has a great client portfolio and he manages David Villa, Demba Ba, and Ravel Morrison.
Conclusion
Being an agent in the football world is no laughing stock as it needs keen business acumen and an understanding of the game and its underlying impacts. These agents have shown their mettle in this domain and thereby gained the spot of some of the best football agents in the world by their right.
