Former winger of the Ukraine national team Yevhen Konoplyanka shared how his business as an agent is progressing in the foreign market.
— Do you want to work with foreigners as well? Perhaps you already have some?
— Yes, I have them, only not on paper yet. Many want, just like before: "Find something, and then we’ll sign." Right now this function is not quite working, and I explain everything to them very easily. If something goes wrong, I am a man of my word — I’ll terminate this contract and throw it in the trash in front of the player. If I don’t do something, he can give an interview to the first or second person. Will this be a plus or a minus for me? He answers: "Minus." I say: "So who are you afraid of?"
Now I want to explain why paper is needed. When I call the club: "This is such and such, I want to offer you a player." They ask: "Are you really an agent?" I show: "Here is the document." Only for this. You know how it used to be? You give the agent a document, don’t even know who he is, and he disappears. And what can you do about it? You can't sign anything without it. Now I tell everyone: "You know me well as a player, as a person. You will later say something against me in an interview, and that will be a minus for me. And I don’t want that."
I want to be able to communicate openly with my players and clubs. So that at 70, I could lie down, watch football, and show: "Oh, that’s my Cossack running, who has received two Golden Balls." I will enjoy this because I will know that I haven’t deceived anyone.
You asked about foreign players. Yes, we have them, we are in touch with them, but so far without contracts right now. But I think we have only just entered this market and we had little time. Slowly but surely — and everything will be.