Want to be a top football agent? Find out how you could become the next Jorge Mendes
For years the lives of football agents have been the subject of mystery, intrigue and hostility – but a new course at Molineux is offering an insight into the world of the people who make the big deals happen.
The course will offer the chance to bag qualifications to enter the beautiful game or – as the advert puts it – ‘an industry awash with money’.
Often viewed with suspicion amid claims they turn the heads of players in order to make money, football agents are routinely touted as everything that is wrong with the modern game – but there could now be a way in.
What is the course about?
Athlete Sports Agency will be running a Level 1 course in football agency which it says ‘could be your first step onto a pathway that leads you into an exciting career as a football agent’.
The Level 1 course will be delivered by Tony Sharkey, a football agent with more than 15 years’ experience, overlooking the pitch at the home of Wolves and is described as a ‘intensive two and a half hour seminar’.
And perhaps there is no more ideal setting than Molineux at the moment for the course, with Wolves having benefited from the influence of ‘super agent’ Jorge Mendes, who represents the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and is worth an estimated £65 million.
He has close ties with Wolves owner Fosun and has helped bring in the likes of Helder Costa.
Students will be given ‘practical tips, advice and guidance and a wealth of insider knowledge to help get started’.
Those interested have been advised to book a place quickly due to the level of demand at previous sessions.
The agency explains how, due to changes in the rules surrounding football agents, anyone can attempt to get involved in the often lucrative area.
Those joining the course don’t necessarily need to have a background in football. If the Level 1 qualification is achieved, there is then an opportunity to progress to Levels 2 and 3.
The advert says: “In April 2015, FIFA de-regulated football agent activity and gave agents the new title of ‘football intermediaries’. FIFA’s changes effectively mean that there are no longer any ‘licensed’ football agents and no barriers to entry.
“As a result almost anyone can set themselves up as a football agent/intermediary. Many will see this as an opportunity to break into an industry awash with money. 183 aspiring football agents have now completed the Level 1 seminar/webinar and a further 32 have completed the Level 2 workshop.
“Several of those attendees have now registered as football intermediaries with the English FA and other FA’s around the world and several others are now working in the football business.”
The course, which will take place on February 22, costs £59.
