The world of football cannot function without us, says agent Mikkel Beck
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Former Denmark international Mikkel Beck said Fifa is playing a game that “it will not win in the end” in response to its continued clamp down on football agents like himself.
ST PHOTO: DEEPANRAJ GANESAN
SINGAPORE – Fifa’s attempt to implement greater curbs on how football agents operate
Beck, who once played in the English Premier League with Middlesbrough and Derby, is the founder and owner of Beckster International, whose clients include AC Milan’s Simon Kjaer, Lucas Digne of Aston Villa, Australian captain Mathew Ryan as well as Lion City Sailors’ Belgian winger Maxime Lestienne.
Beck, 49, was in Singapore last week to meet Lestienne. He told The Straits Times: “I don’t think the world of football could function without agents. We deserve the fees we get paid because clubs need agents, players need agents. Without us, there wouldn’t be big transactions done which benefit players and clubs.”
Fees paid by clubs for the services of intermediaries totalled US$622.8 million (S$831.4 million) in 2022, Fifa said in December, a 24.3 per cent increase in such spending over 2021. In January 2023, Fifa introduced widespread rule changes on how football agents operate.
The changes, which take effect from October, include a cap on the transfer commissions agents and intermediaries receive – plus a rule that all transactions must be made public – and the introduction of an exam. A mandatory licensing system will be set up while multiple representation to avoid conflict of interest will be banned.
Many agents, including Rafaela Pimenta who represents Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba, have threatened legal action, while the Associated Press reported in March that Fifa is facing a legal challenge by a group of Swiss agents who asked the federal competition commission to intervene.
Beck declined to say if he will follow suit like his peers but noted: ”I know that there’re a lot of discussions between the agents in different countries and Europe with Fifa. I don’t think Fifa will win in the end.
“I think they will have to listen to our voices and understand also that, if they do what they want to do, many will have to stop working as an agent because it will only mean that the only ones left in the end would be the very big agents.
“It will be the end for a lot of smaller agencies. The smaller agencies have smaller players who earn smaller salaries. If Fifa gets this done, these smaller ones don’t survive.”
Fairness is not something Beck, forced to end his career at 29 due to injuries, likes to dwell on. He decided to become an agent as it meant “travelling the world to watch lots of football” while believing his grasp of language – he speaks English, French, Spanish, Danish and German – was a strength.
“Some people think it’s a quick money business and just about a bit of negotiating,” he said. “In Europe, you cannot do that, especially not with the number of agents we have today. If you don’t have daily contact, or at least weekly contact, with your clients, they won’t stay with you. You always need to have an answer to all their questions.”
Despite narrowly missing out on signing Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku after watching the duo in action when they were 15, Beck’s business has grown.
From a solo operator, he now has offices in France and Germany plus 12 employees under him. Together, they oversee various aspects of a player’s life, from contract negotiations and apartment hunting to financial planning and even handling media duties.
Beck’s day begins by reading news from around the world, watching back matches of his clients in their entirety and heading to youth tournaments to, hopefully, spot the next star.
A crucial part of the job is sitting down with owners and sporting directors to discuss contracts.
He said: “If a player wants to be moved, you need to have the contacts to move him. You have to make sure you get the best contract for him so when he sits in his club one day, and he listens to what the others are earning, he knows he has a good contract because his agent looked after him and not after himself.”
