Football's speed-dating transfer system

Three years ago, Bournemouth knew exactly who they wanted. It took three bids before Bristol City accepted, but in the end they got their man and he was well worth the wait. Antoine Semenyo has since lit up the Premier League, scoring from all angles with both feet. With six goals and three assists, he has been involved in more than 80% of Bournemouth’s 11 goals this season.

What many people don’t know is that Bournemouth picked him up via TransferRoom, a global online platform where clubs and agents connect directly over player transfers. Three seasons ago, Bristol City used the platform to inform the Cherries and several other clubs of Semenyo's availability. Bournemouth followed up and eventually signed the Ghanaian international for £9m plus add-ons.

Viktor Gyökeres, another top striker in the Premier League, also had one of his transfers partly facilitated through the digital marketplace. In 2023, Sporting in Portugal used the platform to express interest in the striker to Coventry City.

Merseyside clubs Everton (Neal Maupay to Marseille) and Liverpool (Ármin Pécsi from Puskás Akadémia) have also been recently helped in their recruitment by the network.

Still, not much is known about this international football transfer system, founded in 2017 by a Danish entrepreneur, Jonas Ankersen. The younger brother of Rasmus, director and shareholder at Southampton and president of Göztepe in Turkey, began developing the idea around nine years ago when looking at the expenditure of clubs worldwide. It made him realise the transfer process could be more structured and transparent. He created a digital platform where clubs could openly communicate about players they were offering or looking to acquire. TransferRoom was born and clubs started to buy into it.

Fast forward to 2025 and there are more than 800 affiliated clubs from more than 125 leagues around the world, with more than 130 teams from the UK. Almost all Premier League clubs are involved.

Matt Hargreaves, director of football negotiations of Manchester United, explains how they have been utilising the TransferRoom for several years. “We’ve always used it for sending players out on loan. The platform helps us filter information, so we don’t have to call around 25 clubs,” says Hargreaves. “On the application, you can easily see which players are available in which positions. You can also see when a club is actively looking to fill a specific position, so you can pitch a player to them.”

The big European clubs tend to use the platform mainly for loaning players out. Federico Balzaretti, former Italian international and loan player manager at Roma, has been using TransferRoom for years – also during his time as director at Vicenza and Udinese. He says the platform helps him work more efficiently.

“You quickly understand whether the other is interested or not when you make inquiries or list players on the platform. It allows contact with many clubs worldwide and helps you be proactive.” Balzaretti gives an example. “Before proposing the player to my sporting director, I can ask the sporting director at the other club: ‘Is he available?’ You can quickly filter information.”

At first TransferRoom was only for clubs, excluding middlemen, but four years ago verified agents were allowed on to the platform, to be able to work in a constructive way together. One such agent is actor Ray Winstone, who has turned his passion for football into business by co-founding Integral Sports Management.

A small but important part of the activity takes place in person during the so-called summits, where clubs and agents can meet each other face to face. They are held a few times a year in cities around the world. The Observer attended summits in Istanbul and Berlin, speaking with executives like Hargreaves and Balzaretti.

One of the most interesting parts of those gatherings is when clubs and agents meet in “speed-dating format”, with tables set up for 15-minute sessions. A buzzer signals the start and end of each round of talks. The officials move around the tables quickly.
A club who have made good use of both platform and summits is Millwall. Last year, they held a one-on-one meeting with Serbian side FK Vojvodina at a “Deal Day” summit in Madrid, discussing striker Mihailo Ivanović, who later joined them. Earlier this year, the south London club reached out to Dutch side Sparta via the platform to ask about Camiel Neghli. They obtained contact details to coordinate with the club and agent, leading to the transfer. This summer, Derek Mazou-Sacko arrived from French second division side Rodez AF.

It is these intercontinental collaborations which make the site so valuable. Balzaretti cites the example of Vizela from Portugal, a club he connected with when he was at Udinese. “That’s an example where the platform plays an important role, because generally it’s not easy to get the information of a Portuguese second division club.” It helped Balzaretti to make a deal for Domingos Quina, who Vizela took out on loan from Udinese in January 2024. “Now I have a very good relationship with Vizela’s sporting director. Since that deal, we are in regular contact to share information and explore other potential transfers.”

Clubs use the platform to gather market intelligence – understanding what other clubs are offering and requesting in terms of player profiles, positions, wages, and transfer fees – to decide their own market strategies. “If you want to find out salary information, for example, TransferRoom is very useful because that info is not in the public domain and there you know it’s really coming from the clubs,” sayss Hargreaves.

TransferRoom also focuses on improving clubs’ internal operations by developing tech solutions to make financial processes more efficient. Recently, they introduced “Contingency AI”, a tool designed to help clubs track, manage and forecast complex contingency payments, such as sell-on clauses, solidarity payments or minimum appearance requirements before fees are triggered.

All of this helps clubs make their accounting more transparent. Next month, a new summit in Lisbon will once again bring together clubs and agents from around the world. All hoping to recruit the next Semenyo.