There needs to be a change in football. Many years ago, players were treated as ‘things’, with some managers giving little or no thought to their careers or welfare. That wasn’t right—and over time, the game changed. Football agents emerged, big contracts followed, and players gained more protection.
As with most changes, there are pluses and minuses. What we’ve ended up with now is not the power of the player, but the power of the agent. To succeed, an agent first has to win the player’s trust—and, let’s be honest, many footballers are not exactly MENSA candidates. They’ll often trust whatever their representative tells them is best for their career.
The modern trend is agents ‘hawking’ players around. The more [transfers](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-transfer-news/) they can engineer, the more they get paid. The player gets a pay rise, the agent gets a cut—it’s a cycle. But this has created a huge problem.
A player signs a contract with a club, often for three, four or five years. In theory, that contract should mean something. But now, if an agent drums up interest from elsewhere, players are demanding moves. Worse still, some are refusing to play until they get their way. That’s not just unprofessional—it’s blackmail.
Potter wanted to keep Nayef Aguerd
Not worth the paper it’s printed on
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We’ve even seen it happen at West Ham, and in some cases, it’s alleged that the advice to down tools came straight from the agent.
It’s time clubs took a stand. If a contracted player refuses to play, they should face legal action for breach of contract. Nobody wants to go back to the days where injured players were forced to play, but equally, this toddler-like behaviour cannot continue unchecked.
Fans get excited about new signings—the fee, the wages, the length of the deal. But right now, contracts feel almost meaningless. Unless something changes, the only guarantee is that an agent will smell another payday.
Football is evolving, like everything else in life, but fans deserve a sign that there’s still some integrity left in the game.
**Guest post by Yvonne**