There is a lot of mystery surrounding agents, after all what do they actually do apart from sit there and get given a pay cheque, this has all been a mystery until now.

Riad Djellab is determined to change these stereotypes, and start to make a change to what people think of him and his profession and to shine light on and reveal what the mysteries the job involves.

Djellab isn’t your typical agent from an accounting or legal background but that isn’t what sets him out from the others, to him, his clients are more than just customers, they are family.

He has a passion for the game that other agents lack, after all Riad knows what it is like to be a player and need someone representing him and looking out for him.

In his youth, Djellab was optimistic about the opportunity to succeed as a professional, with high hopes stemming from his time at league two outfit, Crawley Town.

However, a serious knee injury turned optimism to obliteration, side-lining the hopeful prospect for a significant period, hampering his chances of playing football at a high level.

With such a devastating injury at a key stage in a budding athlete’s career, the resulting effects hampered his progress detrimentally and left him with the solemn assessment of weighing up his options.

Fortunately for Djellab, there was light at the end of the tunnel as the opportunity was presented to complete a week’s work with his agent and learn the profession from there.

With the passion for football still burning in Djellab’s heart he knew after just a week with the agency that it was the right fit for him with his work ethic and love for the game, he put everything into it and took the leap of faith and started working at a sports management agency.

Djellab was successful in hitting the ground running with the agency after signing Eastbourne Borough player Ayman Gharbaoui, a talented young athlete and a long-time friend of Djellab.

This proved to be the perfect way for Djellab to get his foot in the door as Gharbaoui set the precedent of how Djellab would treat his clients, and despite already being a friend of his, Djellab maintained a professional approach throughout his career, making sure he has the same connection and care with every client.

Djellab’s line of work is competitive and highly challenging, and to succeed in the cutthroat business it is paramount that “You need to be likeable, and have good communication skills.”

Djellab also stressed how key connections are “It’s easier when you when, you know, someone came into the game is now the powerful agent is one of the hardest things ever. If you don’t know anyone, if you don’t know a player is very hot or if you’ve never played to a top level.”

Despite hitting the ground running the job isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. “You never stop working. It’s not a nine to five if a player or a club rings you at midnight, you’re going to answer your phone in your best friend.”

“There’s no routine. You wake up, you do this but obviously I like to structure my days. Tuesdays are match day so I’m going make sure I’m going to watch match whether it’s one of my clients or whether it’s scouting for a future client.

“Say your players playing the other end of the country, you’ve got to drive there, watch the game. Take the player out somewhere, maybe a restaurant, help builds a relationship.”

Djellab cannot afford the luxury to attend every one of his client’s games, however it is a priority to show an interest and maintain a positive relationship. “I will drop him a message asking how the game was, if he’s scored message him will done it’s the little things which help build the relationship like that.”

Over the past year everyone has suffered dramatic changes in their life with the coronavirus pandemic causing mass disruption across the globe, and it is no different for football agents such as Djellab.

With professional football clubs having to shut their stadiums until recently, it has been impossible for Djellab to go watch some of his clients play, however he has still been able to attend his semi pro client’s games.

The inability to attend professional fixtures has not affected Djellab’s work too heavily, however the impact on his clients has been damaging, and has taken its toll on the agent.

“Before Covid, clubs would give out three-year contracts maybe even four-year contract, but now we’re starting to see one-year deals.”

Many people believe footballers are living the dream and should be grateful for the opportunity they have; it is undeniable that Covid has had a dramatic effect on their livelihood.

One-year contracts, one year at a club, one year settling in to a city then after a year having to move house, move their children’s schools, move away from the life they have built.

This is without mentioning the worry they have about their clubs staying afloat, with the risk of their clubs going bankrupt at any given opportunity due to the lack of fans and financial hardships an unwanted proposition.

In tough times like this, Djellab is committed to doing the best for his clients, with some clubs unwilling to negotiate keeping the clients in the loop of what is going on is key no matter how far they are away.

“I do a lot of work in Algeria and France it is hard to stay in contact at times but WhatsApp is good, you just have to know how to communicate so you keep everyone talking to everyone.”

Despite agents having a shielded life it is clear that certain managers can be very difficult with agents.

Djellab has had certain obstacles to overcome with an owner of one un-named club refusing to sign one of his clients purely because he is the agent, with no clear motive for this it does make you wonder why owners show this level of disrespect.

“I don’t know why this happened. I wasn’t taking much commission. The owner knows who he is, I’m not going to say who he is but he is known for controlling players and if the player doesn’t have an agent, he can control him very easily.”

Certain owners & managers have reputations of manipulating players and cutting their deals with the famous story of Peter Crouch and Gerry Francis claiming he doesn’t speak to agents in trying to convince him to come to QPR.

After the deal had be completed Francis called up Crouch’s agent, proceeding to laugh about how gullible Crouch was to fall for this.

The question is, was he gullible or was just he just a young and vulnerable football player with a vulture of manager ready to take advantage and exploit this?

“People say agents are ruining the game but football club owners are not stupid often they are multi-millionaires who have completed many contracts.

“So, imagine a 17-year-old player signing his first official contract, he’s obviously across the table from these people with no experience, the player is going to get taken advantage of.”

In spite of being mistreated Djellab works hard to work with owners & managers instead of against them which is clear that certain ‘super-agent’s do. 

“If the manager has won the game message him congratulating him if the they’ve lost the game don’t go near him wait for him to win a game.” Djellab joked.

With Crawley and internet sensation manager John Yems being top of a list of managers you wouldn’t want to talk to after a heavy defeat, Djellab has very good familiarity with the club and Yems.

“He’s actually a really nice guy. I think the way he plays suits a certain style of footballer, I know the club and owners very well they are nice people.”