Transfer market interview
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Ayman Dahmani is a player consultant and has been accompanying the careers of Bundesliga professionals and junior national players since 2020. In the interview, the 29-year-old explains what is important in the advice, when the right time for a change is and reveals what role transfer market plays in his work.
Transfer market: What are the most important aspects that a consultant should take into account when developing a player?
Ayman Dahmani: A career needs structure, perspective and trust. A player has to grow physically, tactically and mentally for years – and that is exactly what a consultant has to start. The best consultants not only invest in good deals, but above all in the development of their players: through targeted training planning, nutrition and mental advice, clever public relations and a resilient network. At the same time, characteristics such as communication strength, a safe demeanor, empathy and the ability to act quickly and carefully in crucial moments.
Transfer market: What distinguishes you?
Dahmani: As a player advisor, I am a mixture of career coach, confidante and door opener. I take care of contracts, transfers and convey between the club and players – but also about personal topics. At the same time, it is about strategically accompanying the player: Be it building a strong personal brand, public relations or financial decisions that extend far beyond the next contract. It is not just about the business, but also about the fact that the player is holistically well positioned and completely comfortable. In the end I am there to keep my back free so that the focus stays where it belongs – on the pitch.
Transfer market: How much time do you spend with your clients?
Dahmani: My claim is to turn young players into seasoned men. I don’t want to take babysitals or take everyday things. I have regular contact with most of my players – to reflect on the past few weeks and to look ahead. In phases of injuries or transfers, the exchange is significantly higher. This is exactly what players do not need entertainment, but orientation and support. It’s not about entertaining players in classic consultant style. It is about changing them to develop them further – sporty and human.
Transfer market: Please describe the relationship between you and your clients.
Dahmani: Of course, the collaboration is also about financial interests – in the end both sides benefit from each other. The better we work for the player, the more successful we are. But over the years, the close accompaniment often creates far more than a purely business relationship. You grow together, share success and setbacks – and sometimes experience a piece of your own youth through your stories, only in a different decade.
Transfer market: How do you recognize that the moment has come for a change in a player?
Dahmani: There is no general recipe for the perfect change of change. It depends on finding the right balance between sporting development, economic factors and the player’s personal goals. The perspectives of the current association and interested clubs also play an important role. A change is never just a question of the offer, but also of timing. Sometimes it is my job to slow down a player when a step is tempting, but it is not yet ripe. You can feel whether someone is ready not only on the pitch, but also in your head – in his attitude, its stability, its willingness to bear new responsibility.
Transfer market: How can the right time be predicted?
Dahmani: To fore the ideal moment is difficult, but it often results when all factors go together. As with ski jumping, the right timing decides: a jump that jumps out gives away potential, one too later takes the chance of maximum width.
Transfer market: How do you recognize how far a player can bring?
Dahmani: The establishment of a football career depends on talent, physical constitution, motivation, environment, livelihood and intellectual skills. However, mental resilience is crucial, because there is no way to go on rails in football. Only those who are constantly overcoming with patience and strength, regardless of whether they are sporty, physical or political in nature, can permanently establish themselves.
Transfer market is a valuable tool in daily work.
Transfer market: How do you use the transfer market at work?
Dahmani: Transfer market is a valuable tool in daily work. I use it to quickly get an overview of player profiles – for example through previous clubs, game minutes or injury history. The course of the market value also gives me an initial assessment of the development of the player. It is particularly helpful for unknown players to reconstruct their career path and to get classification aids for further analyzes.
Transfer market: What role do market values play?
Dahmani: Market values have a high level of relevance, especially for players – they are an emotional reference point. We also encounter assessments from time to time, where we have to smile. (laughs) Nevertheless: The market values on the transfer market enjoy enormous visibility in football and offer good first orientation. At the same time, it is clear that they do not always match the real negotiated transfer fees – the market often has its own dynamics.
Transfer market: Which group of people in football – apart from the players – do you have the most to do?
Dahmani: As a player consultant, we are in close contact with clubs – especially with sports directors, scouts and squad planners. In this business, information, speed and timing are of crucial importance. Early and comprehensive procurement of information, and always keep up with each other, is of crucial importance in this professional field in order to be able to make targeted and efficient decisions. The better the interlinking with these decision -makers, the better the decision -making process.
Transfer market: What do you think that young talents that have reached the teenage age are already being congested by consultants?
Dahmani: Many young players are contacted extremely early today by consultants – often too aggressive and with empty promises. But in my view, the right time has only come when a player begins to look at his career self -reflected, and not when he is just 13 and does not yet know what’s coming up tomorrow. I don’t think anything of the rim of fields or hunting twelve-year-olds with business cards. For me, trust does not arise from pressure, but by timing, honesty and substance.
Transfer market: How does your approach as a consultant differ from the competition?
Dahmani: The competition does not concern me great. My focus is on my players. The consultant market has grown strongly inflationary in recent years. An industry that was previously considered an elitist is much more permeable and overflowing. As a result, it is increasingly difficult for players to distinguish between real and superficial advice. Today, many bring a certain know-how into administrative or legal questions, but that is only a fraction of what makes good advice really. While the market is increasingly developing in the direction of 360-degree entertainment, I consciously adhere to clear, conservative values: in real advice, long-term thinking and substance, without leaving sensible innovation outside.
Transfer market: How did you become a player advisor?
Dahmani: My way to the industry was anything but classic. I am neither an ex-professional nor do I come from a football home and originally I had a career in the financial sector in view. It is all the better to work exactly at the interface between business and sport – two worlds that fascinate me equally. I see it as a real privilege to be able to act in such a dynamic and internationally characterized industry. My academic background, language skills and a good feeling for people certainly helped me to quickly build trust – something that is indispensable in this profession. Because in the end it’s not just about transfers and contracts, but about long -term relationships and real understanding of the person behind the player.
Interview: Pascal Martin (P_Martin)