The anatomy of a transfer deal

What are the key issues in a football transfer?

As part of our ongoing project following the career of promising young Brazilian striker, Reevaldo, we've attempted to answer this question in a four-part series taking you inside a transfer, from start to finish. 

Through the lens of Reevaldo's journey from Maracanã, his hometown club in Rio de Janeiro, to newly-promoted London side, Paddington United, we cover several key components involved in transfer deals in an engaging an accessible way.

Below, you can find links to each of the four parts in our series on transfers.

However, we're just getting started, so stay tuned for much more content sharing insight into key areas of the football industry.

Part 1 - transfer negotiations

This series starts with Paddington approaching Reevaldo's agent, who acts as an intermediary between Paddington and Maracanã during the transfer negotiations.

We discuss the negotiations over the fee, the instalment schedule for the fee, the add-on payments, third-party ownership, dual representation, and more.

Part 2 - transfer agreement

Have you ever wondered what an actual transfer agreement looks like?

In Part 2, we share the transfer agreement between Paddington and Maracanã.

We also use footnotes to explain key terms, including the basic transfer fee, the potential add-ons, the sell-on clause, the confidentiality clause, and the requirements that must be fulfilled in order to execute the transfer.

Part 3 - playing contract negotiations

In this post, we focus on the playing contract negotiations between Reevaldo and Paddington, in particular to the negotiations over wages, the signing-on fee, bonus payments, and tax issues.

We also show you the heads of terms of Reevaldo's contract with Paddington and explain the various clauses.

Part 4 - the player/agent relationship

Our final instalment focuses on the relationship between the player and his agent / intermediary.

Here, we explain how Reevaldo and Moreno worked together during contract negotiations.

We also expand upon the nature of dual representation agreements and discuss the intermediary regulations, with a particular focus on the issues involved when representing minor players and the FA's two-year maximum length of representation contracts between a player and his agent / intermediary.