The President of the Agents’ Union insists people should not blame representatives or players for Gianluigi Donnarumma leaving Milan as a free agent. ‘It’s the club that decided not to give a new contract.’
The Rossoneri lost both Donnarumma and Hakan Calhanoglu over the summer, the goalkeeper heading to Paris Saint-Germain and the midfielder crossing the city to their arch-rivals Inter, as free agents.
They now risk a similar scenario with Franck Kessie, whose contract is due to expire at the end of the season, as Milan try to keep a lid on spiralling salaries.
Agents like Mino Raiola have become villains in the eyes of many fans for facilitating these exits, but Assoagenti President Beppe Galli insists this is too easy a narrative.
“People act like it’s the fault of the agents, but that’s not the case,” he told CN24.
“For example, how many players have left Udinese as a free agent? Zero. If someone does leave, that’s because it’s the club that decided not to give a new contract.”
Galli also pointed to Paris Saint-Germain and their refusal to negotiate with Real Madrid for Kylian Mbappé.
“There’s a famous player who received an offer worth €180m and the club didn’t want to sell, now he can leave as a free agent. Is that the fault of the club or the agent?
“At this moment, the best thing to do is have a long contract and not leave it so late. Milan did not accept Raiola’s proposals for Donnarumma and he left, the same for Calhanoglu. That is not the agent’s fault.
“People must be fair and say things as they really are.”
Galli assures that agents are also not to blame for the rising costs of commissions and other bonuses.
“As Italian agents, we are happy to sit down with the FIGC, the Lega Serie A and clubs to define certain aspects, but we were never allowed to do so.
“I heard for years that the money given to agents is causing the problems, but what about the salaries for players, Presidents and directors of sport? People only talk about us.
“We want a healthy football system too, we are doing serious work and we’re ready to talk about it if there’s the need for some limits.”
Pres. Assoagenti: ‘#Donnarumma e #Calhanoglu, la colpa mica è degli agenti! E’ il #Milan che ha detto no’ https://t.co/rfcK4rYCl9 pic.twitter.com/3LiQbriVgf
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) October 14, 2021
lol, sure, make unreasonable demands and then say “welp, the club *could* have caved in to those unreasonable demands, but they chose not to, so technically it’s their fault”.
Head of agents organisation refuses to blame agents for anything. Wow, what a newsflash.
Reminds me of this proverb : They asked the fox, “Who’s your witness?” The fox said, “My tail!”
@MC MIker G: You beat me to it.
Sure, keep fueling the fire, keep talking about an affair that is in the past. Journalists and these agents have nothing to talk about it seems so they want to keep dragging on a subject that has no reason to be dragged on in journalism. Fans can keep talking about it but really you don’t have anything else to write about? And then people wonder why there is that much hate and why Dollarumma is getting booed etc etc, its cause already the fans are pissed and the media makes it their job to keep dragging it and making it as big of a deal as they can. Poor.
It’s like saying, you must accept whatever Raiola’s need.
Agents = scum that pit players against the clubs that brought them up through their academies .
No other way to put it .
The President of the Agents’ Union = Raiola is that you?