2023-06-15 04:15:00
A clock located on one of the sides of the huge room shows the countdown, 15 minutes, while the mobile phone receives the order: “Table number 32”. And there, face to face and for a time limited to fifteen minutes, the representative of Real Oviedo meets with, let’s say, a Norwegian club. After the brief meeting, an acoustic signal indicates the change of table and a new location arrives on the mobile: “Table number 12”. And during the same period, the blue representative chats with a sports director of a club, for example, Argentina. It is a “speed dating” (speed dating) applied to football and its promoters ensure that many of these meetings end in crush.
The appointment system is just one more branch of those offered by TransferRoom, the fashionable tool in the world of the uncontrollable football market. A fast, intuitive and direct system that allows you to search for attractive footballers with a simple glance at your mobile. The way of contacting and the spirit of the application make it known in the world as “the Tinder of football”, as emphasized by a sports director who has experimented with the tool.
Oviedo is one of the 12 Spanish professional football teams with an account at TransferRoom, along with Barcelona, Athletic, Getafe, Almería, Valladolid, Elche, Alavés, Levante, Zaragoza, Leganés and Málaga. In total, there are 700 clubs from 100 leagues spread across 60 different countries.
A “like” to a footballer. But, what goes before those massive appointments? How does the app work? The clubs can put any footballer they don’t have in the showcase and set a price from their mobile. They can also search for interesting players according to previous filters.
They even receive offers from agents and other teams that with a flick of the finger will become the start of a beautiful story or go directly to the trash. A gesture on the screen dictates the sentence: to the right, “interest”: the soccer “match”; to the left, “dismissed”: to something else. TrasferRoom goes straight to the point. Like Tinder.
That is one of the main objectives of the tool: to facilitate direct contact and avoid intermediaries. “As a consumer, I saw how eBay and Amazon have transformed the way society buys. Compared to these sectors, the soccer market is anchored in the past,” Jonas Ankersen, founder and CEO of TransferRoom, told LA NUEVA ESPAÑA.
This approach led Ankersen to study in depth how to improve market conditions: “My research showed that the buying clubs were not clear about which players were available to be signed, and that the sellers did not know what profiles the buyers were looking for.”
The sale of Cornud and the interest in Bretons. Oviedo has been using the tool for two years, they say, from a more passive role, without publicly showing their plans. But that does not prevent it from receiving international interest for some of its players.
Compared to eBay or Amazon, the soccer market seems stuck in the past
It happened with Pierre Cornud. The first contact between Maccabi Haifa, from Israel, and Oviedo took place through TransferRoom. Later, the conversations continued directly between the leaders of the clubs for an operation that allowed the blues to enter 300,000 euros.
The tool does not stop offering business channels. The man in fashion this season is Abel Bretones. Blue sources point out that throughout the season they have contacted about five clubs inquiring about the situation of the winger. That first contact has not yet translated into a concrete offer, but it certifies that there are clubs around him. The same sources estimate that there are 8 or 9 footballers who have aroused the interest of potential buyers this course.
The example of 10 million. To explain the process, Ankersen gives a specific case, the one that led the Brazilian Evander, from the Danish Midtjylland, to the Portland Timbers, of the American MLS. “Portland shared the search criteria for a soccer player on the app. Midtjylland received an alert in real time indicating that one of their players, midfielder Evander, met these conditions, “says Ankersen. The operation ended up closing for 10 million euros, in the top 10 most expensive signings in the MLS.
“The magic of TransferRoom is that it allows you to share information with other clubs and agents at the touch of a button,” highlights Ankersen, who speaks of more than 3,000 transfers since its launch in 2017 and lists the most expensive: Carlos Alcaraz, from Racing de Avellaneda Southampton for 14 million euros; Ejuke, from Heerenven to CSKA by 11.5; and the already mentioned Evander.
The head of TransferRoom cites Brighton and Brentford, both from the Premier, as the most active clubs on the platform and recounts another brand: “The record since a team puts a player in the showcase and receives interest from another club is 20 seconds.”
his famous quotes. And there are the meetings, of course, crowned with “speed dating”, where the opportunity to strengthen ties with diverse clubs opens up. Two or three are organized per season in a hotel. A few months ago one was held in London, where Oviedo was present. He also attended the club that took place in Madrid, at the Sheraton hotel, two seasons ago. The next one will be next week in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In the massive 15-minute meetings, the blues met Portuguese, Italian, Danish, Norwegian and South American clubs. “The idea of limiting it to 15 minutes is to encourage people to be concise and to the point. They are not there to chat, but to do business,” explains Ankersen.
TransferRoom opens up new business channels and Oviedo is in the boat.
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