Does every Transfer SAGA need a villain? | Alvarez, Martinelli, Watkins

27 Aug 2026 · 53 min · 20 chapters

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In short

The Sports Agents debate football transfer-window “sagas,” focusing on who holds blame and power when players want to leave. They discuss Oli Watkins’ stalled Aston Villa exit, Atletico Madrid’s public stance on Julian Alvarez and Barcelona, Arsenal’s reported treatment of Gabriel Martinelli, and how transfer windows amplify drama. They also shift to boxing: promoter Frank Warren talks about Moses Atoma’s heavyweight title fight.

Guests and backgrounds

Nadim (host). Saif Ruby (football agent; involved in 2019 Liverpool/Bobby Duncan saga; later brought Johan Wisser to Newcastle). Frank Warren (boxing promoter; manages/sponsors Moses Atoma; long-time heavyweight figure).

Key claims

Loyalty in football is limited; clubs and players both pressure each other, and prolonged negotiations create “mucky” emotional fallout. Clubs often use squad/bench treatment to force decisions. Atletico’s Alvarez stance is framed as business/dignity, not money. Players have more financial power than real control.

Notable examples

Watkins/Unai Emery comments; Alvarez “0% chance” of Barca; Isak booing; Martinelli reportedly kept out of squads; Newcastle’s Isak/Wisser headlines; Atoma vs Hergovic (interim/world-title context).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Previewing the Episode

1:31 to 2:25

Discussion on upcoming topics including heavyweight boxing and transfer sagas.

“Well, my button popped off my trousers in the toilet in the global building.”

Transfer Window Drama

2:25 to 3:58

Exploring current transfer sagas involving players and clubs.

“Well, he is a hope already, but maybe next heavyweight champion.”

Fan Reactions to Players

3:58 to 5:24

Discussion about how fans react to players wanting to leave.

“Yeah, who would have thought the former player?”

Player Loyalty in Football

5:24 to 7:37

Debate about the concept of loyalty in football and its implications.

“that say something like David Raya had a better personal season for Arsenal than say Declan Rice did.”

Introducing Saif Ruby

7:37 to 8:25

Introducing football agent Saif Ruby to discuss transfer dynamics.

“for bringing Johan Wisser to Newcastle United at the very late hour last last year in the transfer window last summer.”

Analyzing Ollie Watkins' Situation

8:25 to 12:12

Discussion on Ollie Watkins' potential transfer and its complexities.

“Safe Ruby, who is a football agent who has been in the thick of many a moment like this before.”

Atletico Madrid's Statement on Alvarez

12:12 to 14:00

Examination of Atletico Madrid's public statement about Julian Alvarez.

“Because that was the inference, wasn't it, from Unai Emery on Sunday, that Olly Watkins is refusing to play.”

Transfer Dynamics: Club Statements and Player Reactions

14:00 to 15:00

Explore the impact of club statements on player decisions and emotions.

“I mean that as an agent if you heard a club come out with a statement like that you're Julien's agent what are you thinking the next move is there?”

The Burden of Expectations on Players

15:00 to 16:40

Discuss the pressure players face when clubs refuse to let them go.

“Unless we get the right price, you're staying here.”

The Transfer Window's Emotional Rollercoaster

16:40 to 18:20

Analyze how the transfer window influences team dynamics and fan emotions.

Show all 20 chapters

Egos and Negotiations in Football Transfers

18:20 to 20:00

Examine the role of egos in negotiations between clubs during transfers.

“Obviously, Wisser's turning out this season.”

Club Strategies and Player Loyalty

20:00 to 21:40

Discuss how clubs manage player loyalty and the tactics used to push players out.

“That's what it looks like from the outside, right?”

The Complexity of Player Transfers

21:40 to 23:20

Explore the complex nature of player transfers and the pressures involved.

Ian Wright's Perspective on Player Treatment

23:20 to 25:00

Review Ian Wright's concerns regarding player treatment during transfers.

“And the other side of the coin, Ian Wright has come out and spoken about Martinelli and the way he's being treated.”

Arsenal's Handling of Martinelli

25:00 to 26:40

Investigate Arsenal's approach to Martinelli's potential transfer and its implications.

“So I'm just saying, for me, what Ian Wright is alluding to is, okay, well, Arsenal are trying to push him out on their terms.”

The Role of Agents in Player Transfers

26:40 to 28:00

Discuss the complicated role of agents in managing player transfers and negotiations.

“who is basically trying to not be aligned to just make it smooth.”

The Complexity of Player Power and Contracts

28:00 to 34:38

Explore how player power dynamics affect transfers and contracts in football.

“And I think footballers are rewarded fairly.”

The Impact of Loyalty and Player Transfers

34:46 to 42:00

Discussing the implications of loyalty in player transfers and perspectives from boxing.

“As an Arsenal fan, Ian Wright's come out and said he thinks it's not good from the club to kind of be forcing him out.”

Moses and Hergovic: A Heavyweight Showdown

42:00 to 48:29

Explore the dynamics of the upcoming heavyweight fight between Moses and Hergovic, including preparations and expectations.

“He's been really putting it on him and talking about he's been hand-fed and he's had an easy ride and so forth, which he hasn't.”

The Future of British Heavyweight Boxing

48:29 to 52:36

Discussion on the potential new stars in British heavyweight boxing, including AJ, Tyson Fury, and their upcoming fights.

“and one in particular that you've sort of alluded to there.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Ian Wright:Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. Twas a lovely SUV, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight we feast! An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up fees, may apply. this is a global production yeah the croatian version of the sports agents and edam is having very different conversation about this fight but you know we're rivals so we don't really talk about them too much you should mention them again gabby whatever you do don't mention the croatians there is loyalty in football but it's the fans towards their own football club well it's i can't help but draw parallels with relationships you know once a cheater always a cheater anyway and the minute that a bigger club is swirling around him all of a sudden the player wants to down towards us a big difference the way that say they speak like they're the voice of the fans they're not because they're running a business themselves a lot of guys and they are all men with egos wanting to be the one that feels they've got the best deal do you believe players have significant power in football now yeah i do why because i don't think they do

1:31Hello and welcome to the Sports Agents. It is just you and me today, Nadam. How are you? I'm very good. I'm very good. How are you? Yeah, I've had an eventful morning. Go on, tell me more. Tell me more. Well, my button popped off my trousers in the toilet in the global building. Somebody walked in because I hadn't locked the door. It was a bloke because there's kind of unisex toilets. And I think I panicked. And then, yeah, it was raining. I had an umbrella. You know, just everything kind of start to the day that you just didn't ask for. That kind of start to the day, really. So I'm sitting here with a safety pin keeping my trousers up.

2:04At least you know when all these bad things happen, it can only get better. It cannot get worse. I haven't spilled coffee over myself today. So that's it. That's the start, yeah. This is what we do in adulthood. Did we spill coffee on ourselves? No, we didn't. It's a great beginning. Small, small kind of successes, small wins. That's what I'm building today on. So hopefully it'll get better as we chat over the next hour or so. And we do have a lot to chat about because we're going to be touching on potentially the story of maybe Britain's next great heavyweight. Well, he is a hope already, but maybe next heavyweight champion.

2:3721 year old Moses Atama could become the second youngest heavyweight world champion in history behind who, Natham? Britain's youngest ever. Yeah, but the world's, the world's. Oh, probably Mike Tyson then. Absolutely. Frank Warren is going to join us, who, of course, is his promoter, to talk about him. And of course, we discussed this on Monday's episode as well, the summer transfer window and the drama that is ensuing from that. It closes on Monday. A lot of players are still at the centre of sagas. I think it's fair to use the word saga with this. Yeah, saga's right, yeah. Yeah, we've got Alvarez, Atletico Madrid, not wanting him to go to Barcelona.

3:12We've got Oli Watkins, who we talked about a little bit on Monday's episode. And then Jean-Philippe Mateta, who's had arguments in the past year, hasn't he, about leaving Crystal Palace. We all saw, of course, the reception that Alexander Isak got at St. James's Park. A lot of booing for him at the weekend. It was very pantomime-esque. I was kind of for it. I thought it was good entertainment. Nothing sinister, just a bit of booing. In fact, actually, what was better was just that he didn't really feature in the game massively. And then Ian Wright has kind of waded in a little bit, hasn't he, on Martinelli's treatment from Arsenal.

3:49And that's the other side of the coin, if you like. So that's got us thinking about where blame should be or is attributed in these situations. You're going to come at this from a very different perspective, I imagine. Yeah, who would have thought the former player? Who would have thought? Were you at the PFA Awards on Tuesday night? No. And to be honest, for several reasons, I just would never choose to go to it. I'll let you in on something here. Sometimes, say if you go on holiday somewhere as a player and you see lots of other players there, you call it the PFA Awards and that's not really something that I aspire to ever do.

4:21So yeah, even though I really respect all my peers, I just don't really like being around them for long periods when I don't have to be. Well, the winners reflected the football writers' choices, which were earlier in the year, of course, of Bruno Fernandes for the men, Bunny Shaw for the women. And Bunny Shaw obviously came from a team who had great success in the league as well. But Bruno Fernandes, controversially, some might say, not a player from the team that ended up winning the league. Are you some? are you some some might say are you part of the sum no I'm not one of the sum actually are you do you resent no I'm absolutely not part of the sum Arsenal fans maybe are the sum total of the sum there's a lot of Arsenal fans who might think that one of their players would deserve the award especially you know them breaking that kind of you know 20 odd year kind of jinx of not winning it's not a jinx I mean they didn't win it for various reasons but they especially in the last few seasons when they've been second so many times getting over the line winning the league there must have been a player in serious contention for that award?

5:17Yeah, I'm sure there was. And I think by all accounts, the word was it was probably going to be Declan Rice. But then you could make a case that say something like David Raya had a better personal season for Arsenal than say Declan Rice did. And for me, with Bruno Fernandes making history in terms of the breaking his assist record from Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, like that is a very significant player within the season. And if it's a case of you can only give it to the team that's going to win the title, I think Declan Rice has had better seasons for Arsenal. and not won the award. So I'm not really on board with it.

5:49And also there's a bit of contention because lo and behold, Bruno Fernandes picked an unnamed person for Arsenal. Listen, he cannot pick himself. So let's have that not be too controversial because they were some of the best players. And interestingly, they were the best players defensively that led the way for them in that PFA team of the year. Yeah, they obviously dominate the team of the year, the club with the most players in there. interestingly his quote well I don't think it's not so much interesting or a big surprise but when asked if he would have swapped that trophy the PFA Player of the Year with Manchester United winning a trophy last season he said it's quite obvious everyone would say the same we don't play tennis i.e.

6:30no for the record for the record not to name any names but I've played with plenty of strikers who would reverse that okay that's all I'm going to say not midfielders or defenders or goalkeepers plenty of strikers who have been more than happy to score a couple of goals in a defeat because it helps them get towards golden boots and stuff like that. Listen. But Bruno Fernandes is not that man, clearly. Olivia Smith, who won Young Player of the Year, the Canadian, she's an interesting, she moved for a million pounds to Arsenal and she's incredibly ambitious and I think she's the second year running.

7:02She's won this award as well. So she's ticking off all of her kind of bucket list things that she wrote out for herself as a child, one by one. So expect Canada to win the next World Cup by that reckoning. in play. Listen, Brazil, next summer, it's in play. Canada have got a really good side and Livy Smith is a star, so anything is possible. It is, and we're going to add British football agent Saif Ruby into the mix as well. You might remember his name because he was involved in a very controversial transfer saga involving Liverpool and Bobby Duncan, and that was back in 2019, but he's also responsible for bringing Johan Wisser to Newcastle United at the very late hour last last year in the transfer window last summer.

7:45So at the moment, Newcastle fans are very grateful for that because he started the season flying. But we'll talk to him about all of that shortly.

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8:30Well, I'm delighted to say, to discuss the shenanigans, the politics, the drama and the melodrama that is going on as the transfer window slowly comes to a close, we can speak to someone who knows all about these last minute moves. Safe Ruby, who is a football agent who has been in the thick of many a moment like this before. Safe, thanks for joining us. Should we talk first of all about Ollie Watkins and what's going on there? Because I think this is a classic example of player trying to force move, manager kind of deflecting on Sunday in the post-match press arena, kind of the whole thing towards the player and the agent.

9:12The fans starting to take umbrage with player and it could all go horribly wrong if they don't get this over the line because then he's forced to stay at the club and that doesn't seem to work for anybody as we've seen with a few examples in recent times. What are your thoughts on Oli Watkins' move? I mean, look, the problem in football is for whatever reason, the people sort of managing and running these football clubs love to hang on to players in a situation like this for a lot longer than need be because at the end of the day, if you know, for example, you have a player like Oli Watkins who's 30 years old, only got maybe a couple of years left at the highest level, you're going to be able to potentially get a fortune for him, for his value.

9:55And to be honest, the only reason for that is because of the fact that maybe the people running Al-Hilal now are from England. Simon Francis is there now, So he's typically someone who might identify an English player, let's say, to go to Saudi. So you have a situation where you're going to get a lot more money than you would do from another club. And then the player will get to earn a fortune. You know you've got that money coming in. Obviously, there's been rumours of Nicholas Jackson coming in to replace him in Aston Villa, which from Chelsea. You know, instead of just making it awkward, just get on with it.

10:31Make it happen. They're just looking for more money. Everybody's looking for more money, aren't they? isn't that what Villa are hanging out for? Is that what it seems to you? Yes and no. I mean, they're hanging on for more money. They want to try and secure their first deal. But obviously they've known about a Nicholas Jackson deal for almost two months because of the fact that they just sold Morgan Rodgers to Chelsea for a record price at the time. So, you know, it's just for some reason the way the transfer window works makes everybody, you know, gravitated towards doing things in the last minute.

11:03and that's what ends up happening. What I want to know realistically from the two of you to be fair, where does loyalty actually lie within football? Because we're talking about, say, a fan's perspective, there's a player's perspective, there's a club's perspective and Saif has said himself there and we've kind of seen it. With Villa, they want more money, there's no more money available and like Gabi as well, from my perspective with this, say for any club that maybe you may or may not support, if you knew of a player that wanted to leave, would you want to keep hold of the player or would you try and make the move happen?

11:34I think that's what the fans start to turn on, isn't it? The idea that a player can reject them. They see it as rejection because he wants to go somewhere else. Especially in Villa's case, I guess the fans are going, hang on, we all had our greatest moment in decades. We won a European trophy and now you want to go. We've got Champions League football. What's wrong with you? I can't believe you want to do this to us, right? So fans start to feel affronted. Now, if you get the right price for a player and fans, I don't know about you, Safer, If fans see a player's true value, they feel, being reflected in what they sell him for, then they see a player coming in who they feel is a really great replacement.

12:10I think they're OK with all that. I think it's when it starts dragging on like this and you have a player who looks like he's downed tools. Because that was the inference, wasn't it, from Unai Emery on Sunday, that Olly Watkins is refusing to play. Silence. And I think that as an agent must be quite frustrating when a manager throws a little bit of spice into the mix like that. I mean, look, for me, it's very simple. There's no loyalty in football. There you go, Nedim. There you go. No, there's no loyalty. And, you know, it's funny because they want to make it out like the players and their agents are the ones who are like bad and making the problem.

12:49But the reality is when a club's trying to push a player out, you know, they'll have him on the bench, they'll have him out in the squad and they'll try and put pressure on that way. So it works both ways. And the reality is, you know, they've had amazing service from Ollie Watkins. They're going to make a nice profit from him. They've had usage of him. You know, don't make it such a drama. Even if you agree a deal where the player knows, OK, the deal's done, maybe not publicly, it's done. You know, behind the scenes, it's done. Just, you know, get on and play until we finish getting our replacement in.

13:23And that's it. Everyone, everyone's happy. but they always want to turn it into a drama and make it into a confrontation, which is unnecessary. Well, it doesn't work for anybody, does it? Because as you say then, you know, he even said, ask the agent, right? So that doesn't sound great for the agent. Makes it sound like he's not done his business in a way that Unai Emery liked. Then you have, I think, the drama even heightened by Atletico Madrid's statement regarding Julian Alvarez. The players being victimised, but the only victim of the Julian case is us. They've harmed us economically and socially.

13:52there's 0 % chance of selling him to Barca this situation is not about money it's about dignity there's 0 % chance of selling him to Barcelona I mean that as an agent if you heard a club come out with a statement like that you're Julien's agent what are you thinking the next move is there? There's different situations there's situations where a club like Atletico Madrid and Nedim will know this because obviously Alvarez moved from his old club Man City and Atletico Madrid invested a fortune on Alvarez. So they've paid top money for him, top salary, top this. It's a different situation to Oli Watkins where he was signed, I think it was from Brentford, for 20 odd million quid.

14:35And now they're about to double, more than double their money after getting four or five years usage, whatever many years usage out of him. You know, with Alvarez, he's only been there a couple of years. And the minute that a bigger club like a Barcelona is, is swirling around him, all of a sudden the player wants to down too. That's a big difference. Alvarez has done nothing for Atletico Madrid. So Atletico Madrid have every right to say, listen, you're taking the mickey. Unless we get the right price, you're staying here. But then, Nadeem, what does it do for that player? If he's got to stay there, the fans have turned on him.

15:09How is he going to go into work with his head held high on Monday morning? There's a lot to this. And there's one thing I'd push back a little bit against in terms of our general discussion, especially the point that Safe made is like there is loyalty in football but it's the fans towards their own football club I think that part basically remains steadfast because for the most part that's their identity but I think the way that sometimes we should look at football is that other people like when we say the club who are we talking about because some of those figures change year in year out I think if you're employed within football loyalty only goes so far before people take advantage and you essentially put on the scrap heap itself and with Julian he he made some words about how he wanted to fulfill a dream.

15:49I think it was before the World Cup and that dream was to go to Barcelona. He just happens to be a club in Atletico who've had a relationship that is destroyed with Barcelona. So he's thought this move could happen. He thought Atletico will probably want to move him on. But now he's left in a position to where the fans will probably never forgive him. Many figures within the club possibly will because they understand what he's like. But now it's the politics of the move. The board and so on have to represent the views of the fans even if they don't believe it themselves. you know you've probably seen yourself safe they're driving up the price driving on the price and the way that say they speak is similar in some ways in my opinion to the way that you were for spoken fifa spoke early this summer like they're the voice of the fans they're not because they're running a business themselves so for julian yeah he's in a really really delicate position because he's been booed now he wasn't in the first squad he's been booed and i think from my point here gabby as well it's very difficult to sort of make the case for players rights when people will immediately say well they're being paid x amount of money and so they should do x y and z i don't necessarily believe that things are that simple because there's so much stuff which is comparable on day-to-day life in terms of general feeling and emotion and for julian if he thinks he can leave and the club essentially understand that they can get money for him keeping him here almost turns into a circus you would have thought like i asked you before you would have thought that like some sort of deal being done is is a good thing better for everybody exactly and even the again perspective wise the Aston Villa one was talking so much about Ollie Watkins because he wasn't there for that first game of the season but neither was Morgan Rogers neither was Uri Tielemans neither was Esri Konza because those deals just happened to have happened quicker but that business and that business is all done away from the spotlight of I think it gets worse once the ball is kicked once the first game of the season happens it seems to exacerbate the emotion and then especially when teams as Villa did at the weekend they got absolutely crushed and teams start to see what they're missing don't they from those players who have gone oh they feel that the players that they've come in maybe aren't quite you know gelling yet whatever I mean there's been a as we discussed on Monday Villa has been quite extraordinary how many first team players first team squad players have gone already over this transfer window so you know I guess the fans are feeling a bit burnt a bit more burnt say than you know the let's talk about the Newcastle situation actually because you were a cog in that safe in a little bit of a kind of small way anyway in terms of the Wisser move coming in and that was all in a bit more than a small one but yeah well what I mean is Wisser seemed at the time like you know a player coming into Newcastle in that summer really was overshadowed because of the drama that was going on with Isak leaving so it was almost like you know the headlines were talking about that story So I didn't mean that disparagingly.

18:34Obviously, Wisser's turning out this season. It would look like he could be, you know, the greatest signing. We never realised we needed because we didn't get the best of Wisser last season, did we? I don't think. We didn't see the best of him. I mean, to be honest, again, you know, they knew a long, long time before the end of the season last year. I think that Isak wanted to leave. So I think it was one of those situations. And again, money plays into it, Gabby, because obviously Liverpool, for example, were waiting till they, when they were like financially ready fully to make a big move for the player.

19:08So I think they waited for Luis Diaz to move to Bayern Munich, for example. You know, they were waiting to, to get players out, to get players in. But again, for me, the problem with all of that is clubs should basically just agree something in principle privately behind closed doors, right? Let the players, and Nedim, you're a player, so if a player was given that peace of mind, like, listen, you know what? This is what we're doing because we know we're resigned to losing you. Okay, we're going to get top dollar for you. This is the prize. Agree it all in principle. Then nobody has to have that kind of ill feeling.

19:47But in terms of the best way to handle that, look, it looks like here a lot of guys, and they are all men, a lot of guys with egos wanting to be the one that feels they've got the best deal. That's what it looks like from the outside, right? Nobody wanting to feel they've been shafted or they should have, you know, I could have got more. I could have got, you know, it doesn't look like very good business. It looks like people. this is the problem it's it's all egos it's it's it's wanting to get one-upmanship on someone else and to be honest it's very unnecessary because for me if you know you have a player who doesn't want to be there like what Nedim said you know you gotta just be like okay you know what we're gonna let you go don't worry the deal's gonna get done okay we need to finalize a deal but it's gonna get done that all sounds so rational yeah well because if there was mutual respect between all these people managing these football clubs at the highest levels yeah they're all trying to get a little bit more money out of each other here and there but the reality is as you've seen now for example all these biggest transfers happening in the premier league gabby are all between clubs that deal with each other all the time so end of the day you know chelsea by morgan rogers for 117 million okay villa in return get ganache back with a loan with an obligation and then get you know nicholas jackson potentially back all of a sudden you know they're evens so the point is when you're dealing with each other on a regular basis, there doesn't need to be this drama.

21:12But for some reason, it always happens. I put a point before we start recording that the window itself can cause problems. Does a transfer window drive up prices, cause panic buying, make people behave in a way that, you know, these are all successful business people. They don't get to be where they are to spend billions of pounds on football clubs, right? If they're not clever. Unfortunately, not the directors of the clubs, maybe the owners of the clubs but the the people running the clubs for them are not in the way you're describing them unfortunately okay gabby i've got something here so when we were talking about say watkins and say all the transfers and so on like people were leaving their comments and they should always do that and somebody made the point that you said that we i said you guys i'm talking about us said we're missing the point because it's not about moving clubs it's the way he's treated villa teammates in emory and what i'll say from a teammate's perspective it's very easy to speak out against people who are wronging you as your teammates and when people don't it's because people tend to understand why something is happening so the teammate side of thing is there i think the loyalty that say some people are asking for towards like unai emery i think that's false in some ways because that's the same manager that will put you on a bench the same manager that will get you to say train with the kids and stuff like this and they have the power but you don't really have a relationship like that and also to drag all of us into this now because you know if we're going down we're all going down when you want a player to come to your club you do not care how they leave the previous one because you think they just want to be with us and like for example i know that say oh maybe i'm wrong here and safe could say but wissa told brentford that he wanted to leave and they should hold up their side of the bargain so that he can go to newcastle and now you know this is like what readily welcomed by newcastle say from a villa's perspective the way that Watkins is leaving is a disgrace but they don't know what Nicholas Jackson is doing at Chelsea to try and leave no totally well this is what was Isaac this is my point with Isaac at the time it was almost like do you you know you're going to have somebody who's disgruntled one day he might be disgruntled with you you know it doesn't matter because you're the you're the chosen one aren't you you know what I mean but it's I can't help but draw parallels with relationships, you know?

23:21Once a cheater, always a cheater. Anyway.

23:28And the other side of the coin, Ian Wright has come out and spoken about Martinelli and the way he's being treated.

23:35Ian Wright:Respect to Martinelli and the way Martinelli's being treated at the moment, it really makes me feel uncomfortable because he always gives 100%. I'm not saying that he's the greatest, you know, he's really come up with some big moments for Arsenal, some big games and scores some very important goals. And the way he's being treated at the end here, I know they might want him out and there's a lot of people might say, yeah, maybe it's time for him to move on. But there's ways of doing that and it should suit him as well, how he wants to lead. Sorry, by being treated, you talk about not being involved in the squad tonight?

24:05Ian Wright:Not being involved in the squad. Not being spoken to, doesn't know what's going on. We know this, do we? I don't know this. Yes, I do know this, yeah. He's been at Arsenal for how many years, done so well, you know, last season, helped them win the league. So the reality is, now that they're about to get 40 50 million for him and they found a fantastic replacement from the greek lad from club rouge obviously the way arsenal are kind of handling trying to push him out was a bit harsh and that's what ian wright is alluding to because in the end if for example the player is not actually thinking him to himself i don't really want to go to saudi arabia and get paid a fortune or i don't want to go to turkey i'd rather maybe try and you know go to liverpool or go to something like this.

24:45I don't know the players. I can't really tell you his kind of frame of mind. I'd take him on loan. I'd take him on loan. Newcastle. No, but that's the point, Gabby. You would take him on loan. And the point is, but Arsenal would never want to try and help Liverpool out, for example, or Newcastle or things like that. So I'm just saying, for me, what Ian Wright is alluding to is, okay, well, Arsenal are trying to push him out on their terms. And that's why I'm saying the loyalty factor and the way these players and people behave, you know goes both ways because when clubs want to push you out no one ever criticizes clubs but when the player is trying to leave because he's given good service or he's got an opportunity of a lifetime clubs want to hang on to these players for dear life and i don't get it i think these these are really good points and this again this is just my opinion it's based on say perspectives that i've had say when i was at man city and i essentially was with a group of people training with the under 18s even though i wanted to stay you know i felt i could have stayed and helped the team but instead you're being pushed to the side you're being pushed to the side because they're saying you have to leave so some of the in my in my opinion again like the idea of what is going on at football club is basically led for the most part by the whatever the football clubs say because they know the fan base will believe it a player wants to leave and if the player if the club wants to they can vilify that player to where they've got nothing going for them at all whatsoever but then if a player like martin by all accounts seems like he wants to stay somebody who's been a great servant for Arsenal, all of a sudden, no, he's not on the bench this week.

26:12Oh, yeah, he's not training with the team this week. Oh, yeah, he's very much on the outside. And they're trying to almost squeeze him to make the decision that he should leave. And if he doesn't leave, he's seen as a problem. Or say they'll be seen as a problem. Unless this window gets later and later and later. Again, narrative-wise, somebody could be asking, and you can have this conversation, why does he not want to leave? Does he not want to play football? Is he not this? Is he not that? Look, to be honest, I'm always trying to find a win-win for everybody. But the problem is there's always one part of the deal who is basically trying to not be aligned to just make it smooth.

26:46And that's the problem. And Saif, you are right in the middle of it all. So well done you. And I'm sure you've got a busy day with less than a week to go now, isn't it? So I'm sure there's lots of deals being done. Anybody coming to Newcastle from your stable? No, always gone. Let's see. No worries, thank you I think, Nadim, the bottom line is or the upsum as I kind of felt as we were talking there is that fans are always going to feel a little bit aggrieved that anybody wants to leave their sacred club and there's only certain ways you can do that that it feels good for both parties and doing it quickly, ripping off a plaster saying this is what we're getting for him, we're happy he's going here, he's happy within a 24 hour period is the only way that can be done with dignity once you start dragging things out it starts to get mucky it starts to get emotional it starts to get messy and it feels like everybody's losing yeah for sure but like when it gets dragged out why is it being dragged out it's usually being dragged out because of negotiations between the clubs not the player themselves but when there's a frustration that sort of gets thrown in there externally it tends to be towards the player obviously i'm coming from a position which is very much hugely pro player but i've seen so many different sort of setups from the players like Ben Chilwell who's forgotten about because he's training as part of Chelsea's like second group in a different training ground at different times to a player that has lots of capital at a football club and can essentially try and hold them to ransom because they want to go somewhere else you know because the players in the long term the club is still going to be there the players going to be gone the fans want to believe the club don't they they want to believe that the club is acting for the best interest and then they I think safe's gone now so it's maybe unfair to say this but they kind of believe that agents are going to do the best deal for themselves and their client and not necessarily for their clients i mean you know there was you know there's a lot of people that believe that agents you know kind of moving players on because it suits them to move the player on not so much the player yeah for sure there is lots of that and there are lots of agents who also represent say football clubs as well it's a very very like it's a very complicated space where from the outside it appears pretty black and white and i think that's one of my sort of issues with it as such is the way that things are spoken about sometimes is like certain people have more power than others like do you believe players have significant power in football now yeah i do why because i don't think they do because i think they're okay i think they've got financial power more than what sense to do what because they are valued properly right so i think they they as as commodities you know as as as products of the industry they are valued in the same way that a top Hollywood actress or a top music star is paid commensurate with the amount of bums they put on seats and the amount of sales they generate.

29:36And I think footballers are rewarded fairly. Financially, yes. Yeah, financially. And I think that comes with responsibility, doesn't it? You don't just have rights without responsibility. You don't have, you know, they have a duty to fulfil. And to fulfil what? The contract to play for that football club, obviously. And that's what Unai Emery is obviously feeling a grief that Oli Watkins has got a contract currently and he's not delivering his service. OK, so this is what you've done there is like you've narrowed it down specifically to like Oli Watkins and say that contract, that duty that you have.

30:08If there are like 25 players with that same duty, but 11 only have a player, then what happens to the other, say, 14 of them? You know, there are people who won't make squads, people like this. This is your contract. You have to do this to the best of your abilities. but you're surplus to requirements and to add to it again from my perspective and I know lots of people disagree with this. But Oli isn't surplus to requirements is he? Well how do we know? That's the thing because when we listen to Saif talk there was talk of Nicholas Jackson coming in. Is that a sign that he was going to be surplus to requirements?

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30:36Oli Watkins was heavily linked I think with going to Arsenal a year ago and I think that move was close. So he perhaps has seen that he's not going to be the future of the football club as such and from a personal perspective as he is 30 years of age. And, you know, the location, the destination he's going to is probably the most contentious part of this whole conversation. But the fact is, it's similar in some ways to, say, Mo Salah being offered more money to go and play somewhere, which isn't as good as the place that he's leaving. Because with Mo Salah's contract, that came up a year short, didn't it?

31:07You know, he made that decision that he's going to go, he's going to go and want to leave. But it suited everybody, didn't it, that? Well, this is the thing, Oli Watkins leaving can suit everybody. If he's decided that he doesn't want to stay, then where he goes to shouldn't really affect the fact that the club should be looking to get rid of him, especially for the money that they can get. And my opinion, again, on this, because lots of people will disagree, and I get it because identity-wise, it's very hard to imagine somebody wanting to leave someone's football club, especially in the manner that they do it.

31:33But everybody at the football club, from players to staff to board members, these are employees. So they're thinking about it from their own sort of like perspective. And if, for example, Ollie Watkins gets told that he's not going to be sold, he can't do anything because he's under contract so come the 2nd of September or whatever he could still be in the same situation so when we say like a player can be kicking and screaming and doing all this like Julien Alvarez a month ago Barcelona maybe had the money Alvarez wanted to go to Barcelona they wanted each other, let's go, go that's not going to happen, so at that point who has the power it does feel a bit disingenuous as well that situation because I think Atletico for the right price they've got, you know, it's business they've got to do it right i just feel there's there's perhaps more to it but again i am obviously going to be very much pro player but a realization that like loyalty is a very very dangerous word in the in the mind of somebody who can't decide whether they play or they don't because i've been in groups of people who were bought a year earlier and then a year on they're being told to go and train me under 18s because they're surplus to requirements and go and find work elsewhere yeah and if you're not doing that then people it's a brutal industry it's a brutal industry you know and it's rewarded brilliantly at the top if things are going well and you know your behavior and your and the way you're treated can be very different if things aren't going well but you'll still be getting your contract honored so well well well that's the thing you will you will still be getting your contract honored but your career now is in a position which you don't want it to be in because for as much as you are paid whatever you're paid the reason you fell in love with the game to start with the same reason that say anyone from all ages do because you just love playing football but then And you've got the opportunity for a redemption story.

33:12So, you know, always look at the silver lining. Hey, listen, if they allow you to go to Barcelona, then the redemption story can begin. But if they don't and you end up somewhere else, then yeah, it can be a little bit trickier. OK, I think that conclusion, that upsum there was not very pithy at all, was it? I think that was probably longer than the whole chat we have with Safe. But I think it's a fascinating one that won't ever finish anytime soon if we're going to continue with a transfer system like we have. If Chappas was here, he'd point us to the kind of the draft in American football and how different, obviously, it creates certainty, doesn't it, in that period of time within the season to an extent.

33:50Yeah, for sure. I just I think for some for me anyway, even if the window was open and it was done for the full year, there would still be issues because lo and behold, a player in August is going to be worth less than a player in March when you're desperate to try and get over the line. so there are ways to do it time might change but you know people's desperation and maybe this is just a Premier League problem maybe the rest of the football world is in a different position because what's 120 million in the UK or in England might be far less elsewhere Well a quick reminder you can catch up on all previous episodes on YouTube Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts subscribe follow and review if you can and in a moment we're going to turn our attention to Moses Atoma's big shot at history this weekend with his promoter Frank Warren

34:37frank warren welcome back to the sports agents always good to chat good morning how are you we're very good thank you we've had a discussion already today we've been chatting transfer window sagas and dramas with a football agent so it'd be really interesting to get your take on well first of all very specific one because we described it as the other side of the coin the way arsenal are treating Martinelli at the moment. As an Arsenal fan, Ian Wright's come out and said he thinks it's not good from the club to kind of be forcing him out. So how would you feel if he left and the way he's been treated?

35:10I've got to agree with Ian. I'm a big fan, obviously, of Arsenal. I've been since I was a kid. But I like Martinelli as a player. I feel he's given all he can give. And he's only a young man. He's been there from a young age and it must be a bit soul-destroying for him at the moment, not knowing what's going to happen. and he's got a couple of days. I think it's this transfer to Saudi Arabia. He turned down, I think, the move to the Turkish club. So Saudi, does he want to play Saudi football at such a young age? I don't know. And it must be pretty awful for him. But I mean, I don't know the ins and outs of it, but I have a lot of sympathy for him and he is a good quality young player.

35:52Yeah, and it doesn't look like he really wants to leave. So on the flip side, when a player really wants to leave, And the club is, you know, kind of trying to get either more money for them or isn't ready to let them go because they haven't got a replacement yet. What's the best way do you think that that should be handled? We see some really unedifying versions of this. And I think the Isak saga last year didn't do anybody any good, did it? Newcastle or Liverpool in the end, you know. OK, so say you've got a boxer. He wants to go to Eddie Hearn. What do you do then? I think it's quite a delicate situation.

36:23And I think also you've got to realise is that, you know, a lot of investment from, you know, say from a promoter and I'm sure from football clubs, you invest in a player, you bring a player through. If suddenly he gets tapped up and that happens because it happens not just in boxing or football, it happens in your business. You get one channel tapping up a presenter to go to another channel. These things happen in life. And I feel loyalty. I'm a big thing about loyalty. And I know I have a big thing about that. and look there's a reason for contracts you sign a contract for a reason that's for two parties to adhere to it that's what you sign up for no one forces you to sign a contract and you have to deal with it and if there if there's a problem and most contracts have an arbitration clause anyway and in them to deal with that situation but uh we certainly do in boxing and so from my you know from my perspective um I feel you just got to try and be fair with each other because at the end of the day if you get a reputation for screwing people whether you're a football club whoever you are I think that follows follows you let's talk boxing then because this is a big week for Moses Atoma and he is somebody who's been mooted as the next big thing for for a little while now he's still very very young is this a game-changing week potentially for him To become the second youngest heavyweight champion of the world would be remarkable.

37:51But in terms of this level of fight and this level of exposure? It certainly is. You know, he's a young man. I spotted him when he was 16. My son, Francis, who manages him, spotted him. And we sponsored him and he turned professional with us at 18. And he's been brilliant. Everything he's done has been magnificent in the ring and outside the ring. he's a really level-headed smart young man he's one of the most mature 20 year olds I've met 21 year olds I should say now that I've met he's got a real good head on his shoulders and he can fight he's got such natural ability such a good boxing brain great speed hand speed footwork you know he's got he's at the moment he's showing he's got everything and I would I would say in are nearly 50 years in the game now, that he's probably the best fighter at this age I've ever been involved with.

38:48AJ didn't turn professional until he was 24 years of age. So this is something unusual, certainly in heavyweight boxing. And you add to that all what's going on outside the ring, all the pressures from the... I mean, he doesn't really like that side of it, all the interviews and so forth. he's pretty much laid back he's he's a pretty um introverted from that perspective um he's accommodating but i know he doesn't really like it he was saying to me the other day he said he was in the taxi and all the buses had his picture on it where we're advertising the show where it's on the zone and that's happened happening all around the country and i said to him you've been on the buses more than blakey and reg barney he didn't know what i was talking about a big age age gap there for him but uh he's a he's a lovely lad i mean he's you know and if he comes through which i believe he can do i think he'll be a credit to british sport not just boxing sport and i think he'll go on to do something big outside the sport he's a very sensible and likeable young man through all your experiences you've obviously come across so many talented boxers some they've done well some haven't probably haven't done so well how do you know that this is the right time for Moses to be taking that world title fight.

40:05You've mentioned how he's so young. You've mentioned even the fact that, say, he doesn't necessarily like the limelight. Him being the center of attention, well, surely if you are potentially going to be the heavyweight champion of the world, all the attention will be right on him. How do you figure out and know that it's time to make that step up for somebody that's so inexperienced? Well, first of all, when we made the fight, it wasn't for the world title. It was only that Usyk gave up the belts. It was still a tough fight for the interim title, but we made the fight because we felt that, you know, he needs to be stepped up.

40:39I mean, for example, his last fight, he blasted out in one round Dillian White. I mean, nobody expected that, but he'd done it in such style. So we made the fight because Philippe is a tough guy. You know, he's never been knocked out as a pro. and we felt that we'd get some rounds behind him. And when Ustic gave up the belts because he didn't want to defend them, we jumped on that and made the world title fight for him. You know, the matches that, as you say, I've been in the business a long time, the matches that you make are based upon timing. And the best punch that a fighter throws is always about the best timing.

41:21Knockout punches are about timing. And matchmaking is about timing. I mean, what I do when I look to make matches and look at fighters, I don't look to see what they do well. I look to see what they don't do so well and how that can be exploited, that chink in their armour. And Moses has got that mindset as well. And I just feel, and I hope I'm right, I feel that he has the, I believe he's got the tools to go and deal with the experience of Philippe, who, by the way, is at this moment, and leading all the way up to this fight, has been trying to intimidate him mentally, which is another side of the business.

42:01He's been really putting it on him and talking about he's been hand-fed and he's had an easy ride and so forth, which he hasn't. But when it comes to that first Bell game, that experience that Hergovic brings, I believe he'll try and take the fight out of him. I think he'll go to him. I think he'll try and show him that he's the boss and he'll have 12 rounds of this. And Moses has got to deal with that. So he's renowned Moses for getting rid of his opponents very early on. He's had a lot of knockouts, very, very few fights going beyond two rounds. This is, as you've said there, it's going to be a very different matchup for him.

42:40Does that mean his preparation physically has been different this time? Well, he trained for the style. I mean, like Hergivich, I know Hergivich, Bergabish has really studied Moses because you can tell that by the things he's saying at the press conferences and the interviews he's done. And with Moses, he does the same thing and the team do it. He's a trainer in their team, Ben Davison. But, you know, he's sparred. He's done 12 rounds of sparring on numerous occasions in preparation for fights. But when it's the real deal, when you're in that fight and you're wearing a smaller gloves and so forth, it's a different game altogether.

43:24So we will see. Because, as I say, he's in with a real competitor here. And somebody who, like himself now, has got that added incentive that this is now for a vacant world title. And he can be the first guy from Croatia to become heavyweight champion of the world. Yeah, the Croatian version of the sports agents, Nedim, is having a very different conversation about this fight. but you know we're rivals so we don't really talk about them too much you should mention them again gaby whatever you do don't mention the christ frank how important would you say that moses is for say british heavyweight boxing because i think for many and this is me very much on the outside you almost remember it through eras so looking at say fury and aj and someone it feels like that era is coming to an end is he going to be the face of this next generation or is he just going to be one of many faces in this spell?

44:13I think if he comes through, at that particular moment, it'd be one of many. You know, you've got Daniel Dubois, who's got his rematch, which we'll be announcing the day over the weekend against Fabio Wardley. So you've got two Brits there, and they hold a version, sorry, Daniel holds a version of the title. So that's being defended. You've got Moses, if he comes through, and you've got Ajit Carvajal, who's also with Queensbury, who's German, who holds the WBC title. So there will be a change of the guard. You know, if AJ and Tyson get it on, which I hope they do, if that's on, they are guys coming to the end of their career.

44:55You know, how many more fights they're going to have. I think the loser won't fight on and the winner will only have a couple more fights. And then you've got Usyk, who's give up the belts and he's just looking for what he's looking for. is little easy touches now. He feels he's done what he's had to do. Whether he decides he wants to fight whoever comes out on top of all these youngsters, we'll see. But they're exciting times and the fact that they're all under our umbrella, we can make these fights happen and we will make them happen. We've really livened up this heavyweight division over the last couple of years.

45:27There's been some great fights and it's unusual for a British company to have all the heavyweights. It's normally the other side of the Atlantic that happens. And you have the direct comparison having worked with Mike Tyson in the early 2000s, you're in a really good place to kind of tell us you've talked about their boxing and made comparisons there. What about as people? How similar are they as people? You could even say chalk and cheese is so far apart further apart than that but Mike Tyson was a street guy um i mean it's well documented all the things he had you know he went to prison when he was a kid you know juno prison custom auto got him out of prison took him under his wing and then he had then he was then he was he had a silver spoon in his mouth then so it's a big change for him um and at the end of it all he just couldn't he couldn't handle it he didn't handle it he was a it was so exciting to watch in the ring i mean he was everybody i can remember when he came on the seen i mean you you just he was just like a a wrecking machine and he was it was exciting and the fans loved it um but he just he just uh couldn't handle handle the rest of the stuff in his life and he made a mess of it and he'd done some stupid things he'd done some bad things and uh and he then became a professional victim he couldn't he could not accept responsibility for his actions.

46:56It was always because of somebody else or something else. You know, when you do something, at the end of the day, you've got to look at yourself in the mirror and say, there's a reason this keeps happening and the reason this happens is down to you. And he couldn't do that. Moses comes from Slovakia. His dad's Nigerian. I think mum and dad did split up, but they all get on well together as a family. He's got a nice brother. He's really strong. They've all got a very strong relationship. But he's a very down-to-earth guy. He's not Flash. He's not Jack the Ladd. And he doesn't want, you know, he's not looking for the big flash cars and all the nonsense.

47:28And he keeps himself to himself. And I think he's a credit, a credit to his family and to himself, the way he conducts his life and how he is. And I hope that's going to stay the same because, you know, I say to him, I say to anybody, you know, keep your feet on the floor. I'll put it crudely, success for a boxer who's a crap magnet. And that's what happens. they all come in, they all want to feed off you, they're all telling you what you should be doing, what you shouldn't be doing, how much you get for that fight, oh, you should be getting more, why are you not sponsoring, come to this place, I can get you this money, all this stuff, anything goes wrong and they disappear as quickly as they show up.

48:11And, you know, I mean, we've all seen that, you've seen that yourselves in various sports. It happens time and time again. And that's what I like about Moses at this stage of his life. and he has had a lot of attention. He keeps his feet on the floor. We were talking before about sagas and one in particular that you've sort of alluded to there. So there's no venue nor date for AJ versus Tyson Fury. Do you believe it's actually going to happen? Very briefly, going through the history. In January this year, Tyson signed to fight AJ for the fight to take place in September this year, next month. and he was going to have a warm-up fight in between, which he had against Madurov.

48:55AJ, now we know, hadn't signed at that stage, but the negotiation was going on and they were apparently very close to doing it and he had that terrible, tragic accident where he lost two of his friends and obviously he was injured himself. So he'd already fought Jake Paul in December last year, so he then was going to have another warm-up fight, which they wanted to push the fight back to November. At that stage, Tyson could have walked away from it. He said, no, I'll wait. And he said, but I want another warm-up fight. I don't want to be out of the ring for eight months. And the fight's due to take place in September.

49:33Their contract, Tyson's contract, and where the fight would take place was signed in January. So that was all agreed. The contract was signed subsequently with AJ was the fight to take place in the UK. so we had two different venues for the fight to take place that's not Tyson's fault that's how it was again after that Netflix got involved which is the American based network they have I think it's 250 million subscribers approximately in the US I don't know if they've got five or eight here I'm not sure what the actual number is they want the fight to go on so I'm told is in New York at Madison Square Gardens early November all this to and fro and then got backwards and forwards.

50:15Tyson has come out publicly and said he don't care where it takes place. He's good to go here fighting America wherever it is. Let's get it on. So that's Tyson's position. That's where he's at at this moment in time since Sunday, I should say. He's been in America and he's in training camp. He's going to fight in November. It's now up to AJ and his team, Matron, to do whatever they've got to do to make it happen or not make it happen. Tyson's there. He's ready to go. Should it go on in britain i'd love to see it in the uk it's uh it's obviously the two brits but you go back and look at the iconic fights over the years you go back and see the two most famous fighters probably of the 20th century george foreman and muhammad ali big fight between the two you had vengas you had madison square gardens new york all after the fight where did it go on the jungle so yeah you know because they put the money up you look at joe joe fraser and ali the third fight massive fight, massive fight.

51:13Again, everybody, all the stadiums in America wanted it, promoters wanted it. Where did it go on? It went on in Manila, in the Philippines. Why? Because of money. That's what it is. And it's nothing unusual. Sometimes it's sad, but their boxers and both of them, as you quite rightly say, are coming to the sort of autumn of their careers. They're getting big money. So they're going to go where at the end of the day, where to promote as I assume want it to go on. This rule, I don't think we've got much more than a week before this is either going to go on or it's going to be a dead duck, but Tyson will fight wherever.

51:52He's good to go. He's said that publicly and he's in training for it. Well, hopefully, Frank, at the weekend all the noise and all the excitement for you and for Moses will be about him and he will be drowning out the noise about whether that fight happens or not. Well, I think that's the case, that we can say for one thing for sure, this is signed and it's on. And we can see it. It's on the box office on Saturday and it's going to be a magnificent fight. It's sold out. I think we've only got a few tickets left. The atmosphere is going to be something special. And I honestly do feel if he comes through, it's going to be a start of a real great journey.

52:33And think of the great fights we can make. Once they get their mandatories out of the way, end of next year, It'd be great to see the winner of Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley in with Moses. Can you imagine what that would be? These big punchers, young bucks at the prime, at their best, fighting each other. Thanks to all our guests today and, of course, to Nadam as well. And thank you for watching. If you've got any questions or you want to have your say on any of the issues we've talked about today, and Nadam already called up some of your emails and mentioned them earlier in the show, so we do read them and we do respond to them and we do one of us has a responsibility every week I think it's Chappers who's doing all the emails this week at the sports agents or at global.com or you can message us on social media at the sports agents and if you can subscribe follow and leave a review and we'll see you on Monday

53:30Ian Wright:this has been a global production

From the publisher

An explosive statement from Atletico Madrid described themselves as the "only victims" in the ongoing transfer saga surrounding their wantaway striker Julian Alvarez. Ian Wright has publicly criticised the way Arsenal have handled Gabriel Martinelli's reported exit this summer... but does every transfer saga NEED to cast someone as the villain?

British football Agent Saif Rubie, who handled Yoane Wissa's controversial transfer to Newcastle last summer, joins Gabby and Nedum to discuss the narratives that are spun and where the blame lies in reality.

And later, we're joined by Frank Warren to reflect on the story of British boxing’s next great Heavyweight hope - 21-year-old Moses Itauma - who could become the second youngest heavyweight world champion in history, behind only Mike Tyson this weekend.

Plus, reaction to the PFA awards and why Nedum declines to attend.

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