Transfer deadline day is a stressful day for just about everyone.
Players can often be left in limbo and be told they're on the move at the eleventh hour, forced to rush to training grounds all over the country for late-night medicals without any consideration for the families that may also be forced to move with them.
But few could claim to have it tougher than the agents themselves when it comes to stress levels. One man who knows all about how difficult deadline day can be is Dr. Erkut Sogut, who boasts the likes of ex-Arsenal duo Mesut Ozil and Kieran Gibbs as just two of his clients.
The agent, author, lawyer and lecturer spoke exclusively to Mirror Football to share his experiences of a particularly memorable deadline day and how difficult it can be to broker deals under immense pressure.
Deadline day dramatics
"I’ll tell you a story about deadline day - I was living in London at the time and though the English market closes at the end of January, Turkey’s is open one week longer until the 8th of February, players can’t come to England [in that time] but they can leave if coming to the Turkish market.
"On one deadline day, I had a player playing for Fenerbahce, a German-Turkish player, and a couple of weeks before the deadline I was talking to the club and to Antalysaspor.
"It seemed as if the deal wasn’t going to happen, the two clubs were too far apart and the player was expected to remain – literally one day before the deadline, I said to my wife who was pregnant at the time, ‘the deal is off the table’, the baby was expected soon and we’d be able to rest. That night [early hours of deadline day] my wife said ‘I think the baby is coming’.
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"We left home at around 7 or 8 in the morning to the hospital and on the way, my phone is ringing constantly and I am thinking ‘wow, what’s so urgent’, I am driving but we get to the lights, I’m checking my phone to see who called and I am seeing Fenerbahce called, Antalyaspor called and the player called – I said ‘oh my god, I think the deal is on again."
Sogut went on to explain how he was forced to organise a multi-million pound deal from his wife's hospital bed while she was giving birth to their child.
"Imagine, I’m on the way to the hospital and I look at my wife having contractions, the pain is coming, she looks at me and I say ‘you know the deal that was off a couple of days ago that didn’t work out, it was off the table yesterday but I think it is on again now.
"This call comes in at 8 and literally as soon as we arrived at the hospital I started to make phone calls, they put my wife in this room, the two midwives were there helping and I was constantly on my phone, I couldn’t stop – the player calls, then the lawyer calls, the player’s family calls then the president of the clubs and suddenly you need to negotiate.
"My second son is born and I have this photo where they have given me my newborn baby and I’m holding him while still on the phone – I don’t even look at my son, all the interest is in finishing this deal. Finally one hour later it was finished - it was the most craziest day of my life."
Mesut Ozil
By now, Sogut is used to the pressure that comes with being the middle-man in these exchanges between player and club. After all, he helped negotiate one of the most memorable deadline day deals ever in Ozil's move to Arsenal as well as one of the biggest contracts in Premier League history when he penned a £350,000 per-week deal.
Sogut also discussed the off-pitch factors that made the playmaker such an attractive proposition to the Gunners.
"It was a long process, it took months and months – Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in England with a huge history and then Mesut has a huge reach on social, put those things together and it isn’t all about the football it is also about things off the pitch.
"That’s why Mesut, at times, earned more than any other player at the club, because he brings so much off the pitch and football is more commercial today, that’s what some people don’t understand – they ask why a player is earning more but that player has 100million followers which is good for the club."
Ozil's demise
The 42-year-old also explained how Ozil's controversial fall-out and eventual Emirates exit impacted the player.
“It is always difficult when the player is not playing, especially a player on the scale of Mesut Ozil – he was the hero a couple of years ago, and then a few years later you’re not even in the squad so it is not easy for a player to be in that situation and it is not easy for me as an agent.
"You want the player to be happy and you want the club to be happy, it makes things more difficult but you also have to be professional, it is what it is. The most important thing is to respect each other, to look each other in the eyes despite the difference of opinion.
"This is what happened in the end, I had a really good time solving the issue with Edu, we worked quite professionally, made an agreement and everything was very good. I couldn’t say anything bad about dealing with Arsenal, it was the sporting decision of the coach.
"I learned a lot and yeah if you go back you could say there were things we should have done differently, it wasn’t easy for Mesut, though he is a strong player that has so much experience, he has seen so many things in life but is a human being like any other. I think it made him a lot stronger in the end, going through that process."
Keeping clubs on side and past clashes
Sogut explains how maintaining relationships with individuals rather than organisations is the key to success as an agent.
“In difficult times, it is important to be calm. You need to be a good problem solver, you need to be a good communicator, it’s not easy but you learn these things from doing and I learned so much [from the Ozil saga].
“Keeping the club on side, you have relationships within the clubs – people come and go. Sometimes you have different opinions on things, but you find a way to keep it moving."
Pressed for comment on whether he has clashed with any one during negotiations before, Sogut adds: "No I wouldn’t say clashed, we have different opinions – this is normal, like in any other business.
"It is just human beings, often we represent different interests, they want to get the best for the club and we want to get the best for our clients. Sometimes you don’t find that middle ground."
Find Dr Sogut's new book 'Remember My Name' here.
