The price for every football player is to be agreed

Zdroj: SME, Ján Mikula

During every transfer window football clubs, football players and their managers aim to organize transfers, to achieve better conditions, to improve squads. Recently the noise was made around the transfer possibility of best goal scorers Stanislav Sestak from MSK (local sport club) Zilina and Roland Stevko from MSK Ruzomberok.

Clubs from Germany, Russia and the Czech Republic (Ostrava) are very interested in Sestak who starred in the autumn. Stevko undertook a trial and medical tests in the second league Spanish CD Tenerife, in which a Slovakian fellow Kelemen is a goalkeeper. In the end a likely transfer has not been arranged, yet, because the clubs are not able to agree. Sestak is practising and he says that Vladimir Varga, his agent, will inform him about a possible transfer. Meanwhile nothing special is happening.

More transfer possibilities

What is the process in today’s professional football transfers?
If a player has a contract with a club, a transfer is arranged in a more difficult way. The club has an advantage, because it may set ultimate terms and if a partner does not fulfill them, he will not get a player. But if a contract is about to terminate (a last half-year), the situation is different. In that case, a player and a manager have an advantage and they can dictate terms to the club.
There are several transfer possibilities. As a licensed FIFA and UEFA players’ agent Jozef Tokos says, clubs approach agents and scouts and gather information about a wanted type of a player, or rather a player for a wanted position. Another possibility is when an agent identifies a wanted type of a player; he looks for and offers them himself. It is a different situation if there is a national football player, or a player with a contract or a player with a contract about to terminate.

Clubs want to know everything

Milan Lednicky, another licensed players’ agent, thinks that the situation is 50 to 50. Clubs looking for special players call in 50 per cent of the cases and he discovers and offers particular types of players in 50 per cent.

If there is an interest in a particular player, a common process follows. “Clubs ask for a cassette with clips of a match, or nowadays rather a DVD, preferring a whole match. A player’s agent then accompanies club’s scouts when visiting a match, in which an object of their interest plays. The invitation to the club, complex medical tests and a practice follow and negotiations can start. It is a paradox that in the case of David Beckham, one of the most expensive players in the world, when transferring to Real Madrid, they found out that he had one leg shorter than the other one. It does not negatively affect his performance; he says that he only needs to feel the shoe to kick exactly. Jarosik form the Czech Republic playing for CSKA Moscow took unbelievably long medical tests when transferring to Chelsea London. He said he had never experienced anything like that in his life.

Forwards in the centre of interest

Football and scoring goes together, therefore there is always the highest interest in forwards. They are also most valued on the market and most paid. The similar situation is also in Slovakia, so it is not by accident that Sestak and Stevko were in the spotlight. “It is reality, but in the last time, an interest in full backs and creative midfielders is rising,” says Lednicky.

There are no rules setting a price of a player. Juraj Venglos, a licenced players’ agent says, that the base price is the money that a president or an owner of a club, who will finance the transfer, offer. Depending on the situation, the price can be adjusted. The Slovak football has not a high reputation, it cannot ask for too high money. However, it is a paradox, that while Balis left for English West Bromwich for 35 mil Slovak crowns, Mintal, a double league best goal scorer and nowadays the best goal scorer of bundesleague, left from Zilina for Nuernberg for 20 mil Slovak crowns! It is determined by the period, in which transfers occurred.

Our football does not have a credit

Jozef Tokos, according to his own experience, says that if there is s Slovak and a Czech player on the market; the price of the Czech player is from four to five times higher than the price of the Slovak one. It depends on the position of both football schools in the world ranking. “We have a gifted goalkeeper among our transfer candidates, who is comparable to a similar Czech goalkeeper, but the interest in the Czech goalkeeper is higher and so is the price, which we cannot get to,” explains Tokos. According to Lednicky, every football player from the Slovak league can be sold for an adequate price; it depends on what the club and the player are willing to accept.

Youth have better chances

According to Tokos, young players up to the age of 25, national players having a personal success achieved, have better chances to leave abroad and for higher money. Clubs abroad have a perspective view. This way, thanks to Venglos, Hamsik, a talented player form Slovan, got into the Italian Brescia. “A Brescia manager saw him, he spoke to me, I sent him a cassette, and they invited him and kept him. He goes to school and plays football over there.” He can strengthen Brescia from a perspective point of view. This way, by keeping and growing talents, Ajax Amsterdam builds both its players’ and economic glory.

The club takes a lot of young players and after achieving their football maturity, it sells them for a good price. “It is possible to sell a Slovak player abroad, but inside Slovakia, under today’s conditions, it is very tough. Sometimes we cannot even talk about sale, but only about barter and different compensations.” Lednicky agrees, but he adds that Slovak football is getting out of the worst. We must be patient. “A sole success of the club in the international cup, or a promotion of the national team to a championship could turn everything over,” says Lednicky.