Following a completely unconventional career trajectory, Italian agent Giuseppe Riso went from waiting tables in an Milan restaurant to running a high-paying soccer player agency in 10 years.
“Just sitting at the negotiating table lightens my heart,” said Riso, 40, founder of GR Sports. GR Sports currently tops the list of Italy's most valuable soccer agencies, with a client portfolio with a market capitalization of over $300 million.
Learn from the best in the business
Riso first approached the world of agents in the early 2000s, when he was working as a young waiter at one of Milan's busiest restaurants. It was once a place where football club executives met for meals and to discuss the most sensitive issues. Calcio Mercato Good value.
Among our regular customers are Mino Raiola, who was considered the preeminent football agent, and Adriano, AC Milan's historic CEO, who was responsible for signing world-class stars such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and David Beckham.・Mr. Galliani was also there. For them, it was common for transfer negotiations to take place over the dinner table.
“Galliani allowed me to listen to his conversations, sometimes eavesdropping,'' Riso recalled with a smile during the interview.
Riso cherished every one of those moments, with a keen grasp of the tricks of the trade. He learned the vocabulary used in negotiations, observed the body language of the parties involved, and became accustomed to the tensions that arise when exchanging millions of dollars. At risk.
“I have always had a strong entrepreneurial spirit, but sitting at the dinner table with Mino (Raiola) and Galliani so many times has honed the way I think, reason and act,” he said. Told. “When you have dinner with people like them and listen to their stories, you'll never be the same again.”
All these years spent next to some very influential football figures shaped Riso's character, expanded his knowledge and gave him the confidence he needed to forge his own path. In the spring of 2013, he founded GR Sports, a player representation agency. Control 100% of the stock.
Riso's Edge: Harnessing young talent
In addition to accessing direct advice from the best in the industry, Riso says there is another secret behind the football agency's rapid growth: its focus on young players. he pointed out.
“We are investing heavily in discovering and discovering young talent and building a tailored pathway for each of them,” Riso said. “And our goal is to consistently increase their market value and salary from season to season.”
The 20-man team, coached by Riso's younger brother, Andrea Riso, continues to monitor footballers from early academy teams. And while technology provides real-time insight into emerging stars in all kinds of soccer leagues around the world, Riso says that to get an idea of an athlete's personality traits, it's best to be physically present during a game. He emphasized that this remains important.
“My collaborators keep traveling to different soccer fields and stadiums and are spread out all over the place,” Riso said. “They have a well-trained eye for spotting talent from both a technical and human perspective.”
The top three players on GR Sport's market value list, Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali, Inter Milan's Davide Frattesi and Torino's Alessandro Bongiorno, are aged 23, 23 and 24 respectively, but their estimated market values are: The total has already reached $100 million. This is a testament to Riso's commitment to working with young football players and their ability to increase their value early in their professional careers.
Riso, who has continued his tireless search for talent, has also secured the right to represent Italy's teenage star Francesco Camarda, who made headlines when he made his AC Milan debut at the age of 15 years and 8 months in November last year. was completed. The youngest player to ever stand on the field in Serie A.
“We have been following Francesco (Camarda) since 2021, and most of the credit goes to strategic advisor Marianna Mecacci,” Riso said. “He was followed by Italy's most important player agency, but we signed him because we found him earlier than others and quickly established a strong relationship with his family. .”
At a time when transfer fees for young soccer players have skyrocketed in recent years, as evidenced by the 17-year-old Endrik joining Real Madrid from Palmeiras in Brazil in a deal worth more than $70 million including add-ons, Camarda is a world-class player. He has the potential to become one of the top players. The next generation's most valuable and coveted soccer players.
Agents recognize that a young footballer's long-term success is often the result of strategic choices made early in their professional career, so they make a difference, especially in such a delicate scenario. produces.
“As we always do with all our clients, we need to take a hard look at what is the best path forward for Camarda,” Riso said.
The rise of a new soccer market
According to Riso, GR Sports' customer portfolio currently stands at $345 million. Transfermarkt”Latest market value calculations.
In 2022, the Milan-based player agency's revenue exceeded 12 million euros ($13 million), but 2023 could be considered a breakthrough year. Last summer, Riso put together a fantastic deal to bring Tonali into the English Premier League from Serie A giants AC Milan. League side Newcastle United have set a new record for the highest transfer fee ever for an Italian footballer (70 million euros, or $76 million).
After establishing itself as a major player in the Italian market, Riso expressed a desire to expand GR Sport into overseas markets.
“We have the idea of scaling up, but with a 'boutique' approach where we tailor each player's path from a very young age to their specific needs, which varies depending on factors such as the academy they grew up in. We want to do that while keeping the concept, their family background, where they grew up,” Riso said.
When asked about emerging football markets, Riso pointed out that Scandinavian countries are large “talent exporters”, which is why competition in these regions is increasing among elite clubs. he said.
He also noted that the landscape of soccer in the United States has undergone significant changes over the past decade, going from Major League Soccer being seen as a retirement league to a place where promising young players can gain international recognition. He said he was experiencing a change.
“The United States is now a market for promising young players and is no longer the final destination for older players,” he said. “It's a developing market.”
Riso explained that the rise of football markets outside continental Europe has led agents and scouts to broaden their search for talent and invest significant amounts of money to keep tabs on these areas.
“Today, we are moving towards absolute globalization. Europe remains the focus, but emerging markets such as the United States and the Middle East are raising the bar for competitiveness,” Riso concluded. Ta.
“Five years from now, the next generation of players will be heavily influenced by how these markets evolve.”
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