I guess you could say that my career in football resembles Roberto Carlos’ free kick against France in 1997. It started with a hard kick from the left foot, took a remarkable detour, and ended in goal behind surprised spectators when I got my FIFA Football Agent licence in May 2024 (licence number 202405-6126, with an additional authorization to represent minors).

It’s up for debate when the detour started but my dreams of becoming a professional player faded when I started journalism school in the early 2000s. I graduated in 2002 and worked several years as a football journalist in Norway.

In 2005 I moved to Malta and in 2008 I started the world’s first translation company specialising in sports and games. In 2024 this company, called All-in Global, is cemented as the market leader, delivering translations and content writing in 80+ languages to hundreds of clients around the world. All-in Global was sold in 2025 which gives me the opportunity to work full-time as a football agent.

Football is my big passion, and when Dr. Erkut Sogut lists 10 qualities needed to be a great football agent, I feel that I have demonstrated all of them through the course of my career.

Negotiation has been a key aspect of my work since 2008. As an example I negotiated a deal with one of the biggest companies in the world in my field when All-in Global was a one-man band operating from a basement in Greece. Since then I have negotiated contracts with thousands of vendors and hundreds of clients. These skills can be transferred to the football industry. It’s all about being informed.

With all the time I have spent playing, watching and working with football I would have to be rather dim witted not to pick up a thing or two. I count 7 years organising the biggest corporate football cup in Malta, 6 years organising the biggest corporate football league in Malta, 5 years as a football journalist, 4 years a football coach, at least 3 lifetimes of playing Football Manager, top 2K in Fantasy Premier League 21/22 and 1 lifetime of playing football myself. I still keep active on the 7-a-side team of Ørn Horten and I can’t help myself from desperately wanting to win the trophy. Football and a winning mentality will remain in my blood until the linesman flags me offside 6 feet under.

My ability to network has been perhaps the biggest reason for my success in the past 15 years. I am open-minded and generous. I love talking to people about things that interest me. Usually I end up talking about football for some reason. Respect and hard work goes a long way.

I am an efficient communicator. Having travelled to almost 100 countries and lived in 5 of them, I take great pride in my ability to talk to almost anyone. I have signed deals with people from all continents except Antarctica, and I plan to utilise the resources from my translation company in my football agent career. For instance, I have easy access to interpreters in any language when needed.

I am law-abiding in my business dealings and promote respect and care for others. Honesty, integrity, loyalty and fairness are fundamental principles for me. Diversity in the workplace has certainly been a success factor. I believe in equal opportunities regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, age, family status, disability, and religious or political beliefs among others and I only make decisions on the basis of competence, attitude and experience.

To be honest I don’t consider any of these my strengths, which is why I always bring in experts when needed. Delegating to the right people is an important skill too. The fact that I am the sole owner of healthy companies in Norway, Malta and Portugal, having dealt with numerous complex legal and financial challenges, and always landed on both feet, proves that I have the necessary skill set even if the financial section of the newspaper isn’t my favourite.

I can’t wait to dive into this part of the job of being a football agent. I’m an all-in type of person and the players and coaches who chose to be represented by me will quickly understand this. My job is to make the most of your career in football and in order to make the right decisions you need to see the whole picture. Sometimes one step backwards leads to two steps forward, but other times the road to greatness is swift. I will do my utmost to accommodate whatever my clients need to maximise their careers in football.

I think this is simply in my DNA. With a strong desire to make people around me happy, I have developed an efficient way of finding solutions that works for everyone.

Being short and ginger growing up in the 80s left me no other choice than to develop a personality with plenty of resilience and perseverance. I usually get what I want, either by working smart, hard or both. Determination is key.

In order to succeed as a football agent you need players, coaches and clubs to trust you. I can only achieve this by putting my clients first. I am easy to reach, supportive, nonjudgmental and I understand that the decision is eventually yours. I am all-in and will go the extra mile.