Arne Slot’s agent dramatically demands transfer change before deadline | Football | Sport

Football super-agent Rafaela Pimenta has demanded reform of the sport’s transfer system on the eve of deadline day. The qualified lawyer, whose clients include Liverpool manager Arne Slot, argues that clubs currently wield excessive power.

Pimenta, 53, previously worked closely with Mino Raiola and took over his client roster following the super-agent’s death nearly four years ago. She also represents several players, including Premier League stars Erling Haaland, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui.

The transfer deadline for Premier League clubs including Liverpool is at 7pm on Monday, February 2nd. The Reds are hoping to wrap up a deal to sign defender Lutsharel Geertruida, who is currently on loan at Sunderland from RB Leipzig.

Speaking to the BBC, Pimenta said: “There needs to be a change; there’s too much power for clubs, players are sometimes hostages of situations. I’m not fighting for chaos; we need the transfer system to make the whole thing work, but we need more balance.

“We are in a transfer window, and I can bet you, because I see it at the end of every window, somebody will cry. There’s always a player crying because he could have gone, needed to go, and a club said they want £1m more.

“Football used to be more human; a football director or an owner would have a special relationship with the player. If a player went to them and said, ‘Please, I need to go,’ they would find a solution.

“Today, football is becoming so much of a business that there is a risk that players become an asset on the balance sheet; an asset has no voice, no feelings, no human needs. The challenge is to find a balance between the asset and the human being.”

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Last October, the European Court of Justice ruled that some of FIFA’s transfer regulations are anti-competitive and infringe upon freedom of movement, in violation of European Union law. This verdict came in response to Lassana Diarra’s lawsuit against FIFA, in which he sought damages over a failed move in 2014.

FIFPRO, the international representative body for professional footballers, welcomed the court’s decision. They stated: “The European Court of Justice has ruled that a central part of the FIFA transfer system, in place since 2001, constitutes a restriction of competition by object and a violation of the free movement of workers.

“On behalf of professional football players worldwide, FIFPRO welcomes these findings. The ECJ has just handed down a major ruling on the regulation of the labour market in football (and, more generally, in sport), which will change the landscape of professional football.”

However, FIFA downplayed the significance of the judgment. A spokesperson for football’s governing body said: “FIFA is satisfied that the legality of key principles of the transfer system have been reconfirmed in [this] ruling. The ruling only puts in question two paragraphs of two articles of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, which the national court is now invited to consider. FIFA will analyse the decision in coordination with other stakeholders before commenting further.”