The Hidden Pathway: How We Signed 7 Pro Spanish Clubs in 12 Months (And Why We Turned Down 10 More)
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By Alan Deriard, Co-CEO of Elite Football
People always ask how we’ve built so many exclusive connections with top European clubs so quickly. In the last 12 months alone, we've signed partnership deals with seven professional Spanish clubs, names you’ll definitely recognise.
But the real secret isn’t how many clubs we sign. It’s how many we turn down.
This year, we could have added 17 new clubs to our roster. We only chose seven. Why? Because most agents will send a player anywhere they can. We only send players where we would send our own family.
This is the playbook for how we built a trusted pathway to Europe, how we vet professional clubs, and why our players get treated differently when they arrive.
Our Newest Partners: 7 Clubs in 12 Months
First, for credibility. These aren't small, unknown teams. These are professional clubs with world-class facilities and a history of developing talent. While the deals started with calls and emails, I solidified every single one in person, on the ground in Spain.
Our partners from the last 12 months include:
•Real Sociedad
•Atlético de Madrid
•CD Leganés
•Levante UD
•Madrid CFF
•AD Alcorcón
•UD San Sebastián de los Reyes (UD Sanse)
Building these relationships wasn’t an overnight success; it’s the result of an 8-year foundation. But today, we hold our own leverage, our own brand, and our own set of non-negotiable values. This allows us to be selective, ensuring we only partner with clubs that are truly invested in our players' futures.
The Elite Football 4-Point Club Vetting Process
Just like a player has to go through a checklist to work with us, so do the clubs. When I visit a club in Europe, I’m not just there for a friendly chat. I’m there to audit their entire operation. If I spot a red flag, I pull the plug.
Here is the four-point checklist every club must pass before we even consider sending them a player.
1. A Real, Verifiable Footballing Pathway
We look for a clear structure and an actual chance of progression. We need to understand their funnel, whether it’s a large club with multiple steps or a smaller club with a more direct path to the first team.
A key indicator I look for is the number of international players already in their system. Are they willing and able to handle the visa work for a non-EU player? If a club has no history of signing international talent, it’s a major red flag. It tells me they see our players as a number, not an asset.
2. Residency and Player Welfare
This is probably the most important point. A player’s off-pitch environment is just as critical as their on-pitch development. If a player on trial has to share a room with four other people, it’s an immediate “no” from us.
While you’d expect this from smaller clubs, it still happens with big clubs. They’ll stick five, six, or seven players in one room to save costs. It creates a toxic environment for a young player who is already battling homesickness and immense mental pressure. Not having personal space is a deal-breaker.
If a club’s residency setup isn’t good enough, we either walk away or use our own internal team in Spain to provide private, high-quality accommodation for our players. Their well-being is not negotiable.
3. Contractual Clauses for Player Protection
This is where we differ from 99% of other agents. I negotiate player treatment directly into our legal agreements with the clubs.
While I can’t reveal the specifics, think of things like guaranteed evaluation periods or a minimum number of training sessions with higher-level teams. I legally enforce clubs to treat our players better than a player coming from another agent.
I’ve had our own players mention that it seems “unfair” how much more attention they get. My response is always the same: Game is the game. I only care about the players who have put their trust in us. If a club has a problem with these protective clauses, it’s a red flag, and we won’t work with them.
4. Operational Philosophy (Beyond the Pitch)
Many big clubs have a fantastic on-pitch philosophy but have zero operational systems for anything outside of football. They don’t think about education, transport, or the logistical nightmare of relocating a teenager from the other side of the world.
If a club lacks this operational backbone, we have to be prepared to fill that gap ourselves with our own team in Spain. We assess their entire operational model to ensure our players are supported in every aspect of their new life, not just between the white lines.
The Real Reason Clubs Sign Exclusive Deals With Us
So why are these top clubs willing to agree to our terms? Why do they give our players preferential treatment? It comes down to two things: Leverage and Brand.
1. Leverage: We Provide Value Beyond Just Players
Clubs are businesses with multiple departments: marketing, international relations, investments, and more. They are all trying to make the club money. Over the past eight years, we have built relationships with these clubs in other areas of their business, making them significant revenue outside of our player agency work.
When you are making a club X amount of money in one department, they are more than willing to repay you in another. For us, that repayment comes in the form of opportunities for our players.
Instead of taking a huge fee, we get rewarded in other ways:
•They let us know when their starting striker gets injured and they need a replacement.
•They give us access to their player database and tell us exactly what positions they need to fill.
•They are more open to giving our players a real chance to move up the ranks.
Most agents work with a handful of players a year and provide no other value to the club. They are just another number. We are strategic partners.
2. Brand: We Match the Right Player to the Right Club
Because we now work with over 25 professional clubs, we have a deep understanding of each one’s unique culture, style of play, and needs. This allows us to match the right player to the right club, dramatically lowering the failure rate before a trial even begins.
It’s not about getting you a trial; it’s about getting you the right trial.
The Bottom Line
Most agents will send you wherever they can. We focus on sending players only where we would send our own family. The environment has to be safe, the football has to be spot-on, and there has to be a real pathway up, whether you get signed on your first trip or not.
If you’re a serious player or parent looking for the right opportunity, not just any opportunity, then we should talk.