For those who follow the sport, it’s not really a secret how much football agents are hated by some fans. Normally blamed for moves and demands, it’s hard to think of a representative who has never been criticised by a club or fans.
Things get even more intense in South America, when agents often get the blame for persuading players to leave their home country so early in their career.
Brazilian outlet O Tempo made a story about the job of being an agent today, interviewing a couple of officials who work on international transfers. One of them is Renato Velasco, agent of Richarlison, who left Brazil last year to join Watford.
“We got the fame that it’s us who hindered the evolution of football, and I see this totally the other way around. We are the ones who promote football. It’s us who invest in teenagers who dream of being an athlete, who help them, who are always present,” Velasco told O Tempo.
“And when these athletes are released by the clubs, we are the support for them… it’s not that simple. You need to do a market study to see if the athlete fits into that league that a particular team will play, if the squad of athletes allows it, everything for everyone to benefit from the business.”
Velasco explained that the move to Watford had many more reasons than just money. And as Richarlison has been doing pretty well in his first season in England, the agent used him as an example of how things can go well if worked right.
“I’ll give you Richarlison as an example. There were some proposals from Brazilian and European clubs for him, but after a detailed study of Watford’s team, the league, the projection the club would give him, we chose to transfer him there. And we do not regret the choice.”
