Yahoo Sport 
Players hold all the power - ex-agent reveals how a top level transfer is born
Former football agent Jon Smith has told Yahoo Sport that players still hold all the power and that football transfers are not dictated by agents.
Former football agent Jon Smith has told Yahoo Sport that players still hold all the power and that football transfers are not dictated by agents.
After a summer that saw the Premier League spending top £1bn for the first time and Paul Pogba complete an £89m switch from Juventus to Manchester United, Smith insisted that players control their own destiny and are not hostages to the demands of agents – despite what the media thinks.
He admitted an agent can delay a deal and hold big clubs to ransom – and that some of them just don’t fancy the Premier League.
During a Facebook Live broadcast, Smith said: “Some of the major talent – like Messi – does not come here because the football does not suit them. It’s very physical and very fast.
“There is a dimension where an agent will ask himself: Do I take my player to where I get this immense marketing platform rather than the Italian or Spanish League where he will get more space?
“There might also be a financial agenda. And it’s not like you talk every day.
“Agents are a driving force as they want their players to get the best deals.
“But the player is all powerful and it depends on the relationship between the player and the agent.
“Very often the agent is subservient to the player’s wishes. There is a real financial dynamic being played out.
“But a seriously good agent will explain everything to their player – why they should there rather than here – so should be a partnership.”
Smith feels that the Pogba deal might well have started with Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.
“He would have said: ‘Pogba is my first choice’ and the conversations would have started from there.
“But now there are people like lawyers and tax advisors getting involved. And there are even some people who own the rights to players. There are a lot parties involved so sometimes – but Pogba was in charge of the deal at all times.”
Jon Smith has just published a book chronicling his life as a football agent, called The Deal.
