More than 300 club owners, sporting directors, chief executives, loan managers and agents from over 40 countries are gathering at the Marriott Auditorium Hotel on Madrid's Avenida de Aragon for four days of transfer meetings run by TransferRoom. Clubs represented include Manchester United, Arsenal, Stuttgart, Ajax and Columbus Crew, with attendees flying into nearby Barajas airport.
Monday was set aside for 'pre-event' drinks, with the main business starting today and resuming on Thursday. In a room fitted with 160 numbered desks, groups move through a schedule of 15-minute meetings arranged via an app that assigns each pairing a table number.
One Premier League executive said the room is set out like a GCSE exam, with about 16 slots per day and a system that fills a user's schedule as meeting requests are accepted. The executive said all the tables are numbered, each person gets their own programme, and a giant green digital clock on the wall counts down each session, with a bell ringing three times to signal it is time to move to the next table.
The executive said there are two membership packages: a basic one costing about £20,000 and a full package costing about £35,000, with the higher tier giving access to pitch and respond to unlimited players and additional tools including deeper player statistics.
How the platform works
One scout said it could be argued that it is cheaper to just pick up the phone, but that meeting face to face saves time, both in the room and afterwards over coffee or a beer at the hotels. The scout said the event may be more useful for networking than for closing deals on the spot, adding that clubs, including top ones, are cutting back on scouts, which makes the platform useful for those who already know their players.
Brentford's technical director, Lee Dykes, said TransferRoom has become "almost like an extra employee" for the club, which also uses it to help arrange friendlies. Dykes said he had been aware of the project since his time at Bury.
10,000 deals and counting
TransferRoom began in 2017 as an online platform for clubs, inspired by web-based estate agents. Founder Jonas Ankersen said the platform has now been responsible for more than 10,000 deals, calling it a milestone that represents a football industry becoming more connected, transparent, efficient and data-driven, adding that it amounts to 10,000 careers that moved forward.
Viktor Gyokeres' move from Coventry City to Sporting Lisbon in 2023 began when Sporting director of football Hugo Viana, now at Manchester City, contacted Coventry through TransferRoom before setting up talks with the striker's agency, HCM Sports Management.
Antoine Semenyo's move from Bristol City to Bournemouth in 2023, Daryl Dike's transfer from Orlando City to West Bromwich Albion in 2022, and Carlos Alcaraz's £12.5 million move from Racing Club in Argentina to Southampton in 2023 all originated on TransferRoom.
'Deal day' in Madrid
The Madrid event is billed as "deal day" because it falls in the middle of the summer transfer market. It sold out, though some attendees have access online, while other agents work the corridors to pitch players to club executives.
Former player Kevin Prince-Boateng, now head of the Rookie & Champ agency, said he was shocked the event existed, describing it as speed dating with transparency, where he sat across from major decision-makers looking for the next superstar. Another executive said the focus is on getting decisions made, adding that there is no time to waste.
