Why the fight for Tottenham star Dele Alli is damaging to football

Come and get me: Agents are scrambling to represent Dele Alli, playing for Spurs last night in the Carabao Cup
AP
James Olley20 September 2017

The scramble to represent Dele Alli does not reflect well on anyone in football. At least half-a-dozen agents are doing their best to lure one of the brightest young talents in the game after it became clear Alli will be splitting with Rob Segal, the advisor who took him from MK Dons to Tottenham.

It is thought that money is not the principal motivating factor for Alli seeking fresh representation, despite how it may look.

After all, the 21-year-old could easily earn many multiples of his present £50,000-a-week salary and a potential transfer fee in excess of £100million would not deter a host of suitors ready in turn to make him one of the most marketed sports stars on the planet.

With unprecedented levels of cash in the game, the opportunities for a highly talented, commercially attractive star like Alli are almost limitless and so a mad dash is on behind the scenes to grab a piece of the action.

Incentives are inevitable. It is understood that considerable six-figure sums have been offered to people within Alli’s inner circle, set against future earnings, in a bid to curry favour.

Propositions such as these are central to concerns raised by many onlookers over Alli’s future direction.

A wrong move now could lead to damaging mismanagement, perhaps even a failure to fulfil his potential in the years ahead.

Twenty-one years of age is alarmingly premature to reach a crossroads but several ex-professionals including Ian Wright have this week framed Alli’s decision in those terms.

While some agents do their profession few favours with questionable conduct, the system promotes instability through improper regulations.

Alli still has a contract with Segal but the rules state players are unable to sign a deal lasting longer than two years with any agent, or intermediaries as they are now called following FIFA’s deregulation of the industry in 2015.

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The rule was designed to protect vulnerable players from being tied to one agent for a significant period of their careers but while each two-year agreement can be renewed in writing, it only promotes short-termism in career planning.

Any agent who negotiates a big, long-term deal for their client may find him or herself out of contract with that player well before the player’s deal with his club is up for renewal. In Segal’s case, he successfully negotiated a six-year deal for Alli only last September.

Given Alli’s happiness at Tottenham and upward trajectory as a player, has he not earned the right to share in the wealth his work has played a small part in generating should a fresh Spurs contract be discussed?

It would make more pure financial sense for Segal, or any agent representing a high-profile player, to try to cash in; the rules, as they stand, invite everyone to make a quick buck by facilitating a transfer given the bonuses, signing-on amounts and transfer fee percentages involved.

Were players and agents allowed to agree, say, a five-year deal, with break clauses for both parties then it would at least reduce the volume of clandestine and often unedifying methods rival agents go to in order to poach clients.

That type of competition is inherent, of course, but that does not make it unmanageable. Alli will surely want to play his football where he has the best chance of success, be that at Tottenham or elsewhere. But his representation is important: most families from which a high-profile footballer originate are ill-equipped to deal with the sudden explosion in financial earning power.

Within the space of a few years, they can go from housing a promising progeny to a global icon.

Alli is in a latter yet delicate stage of that transition. Whatever step he chooses, let’s hope for his and the game’s sake he gets it right.

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