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Ali Barat, the super-agent who dominated the summer with multiple market-defining deals, including Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson’s loan to Bayern Munich, Chelsea winger Noni Madueke’s transfer to Arsenal and Chelsea target Xavi Simons’ switch to Tottenham Hotspur, has spoken to Confidential on his whirlwind window.
The favourite to be crowned Best Agent at the Golden Boy awards for the second time later this year, Barat exudes calmness when he speaks.
It was that approach which the owner of Epic Sports, whose other clients include Blues lynchpin Moises Caicedo and Brentford's Kevin Schade, applied to negotiations when chaos threatened to take over.
In Munich ahead of Bayern’s Champions League clash with Chelsea, we discussed his hectic summer — from reviving the Jackson deal when at one stage it seemed dead due to Liam Delap's injury, the role Harry Kane and Vincent Kompany played in persuading the Senegal striker and Simons' brutally honest chat with Thomas Frank to convince him to choose Spurs. All is detailed below.
Nicolas Jackson's loan move to Bayern Munich was one of the most dramatic of the summer
England captain Harry Kane has already played a big part in welcoming Jackson to Bavaria
The hectic 48 hours where the Jackson loan was revived…
‘It was very intense. There was a willingness and the ability of the clubs to take into account. Nico had a really clear vision of his next step, but obviously, he was a Chelsea player and we had to respect their wishes. It required a lot of diplomacy and patience, but in the end, Nico was super happy and the deal was done. Hopefully it will be a success for Chelsea in the end and for Bayern Munich. Absolutely there was a sense of satisfaction. We were fortunate because all of the other deals — like Piero Hincapie to Arsenal and Xavi Simons to Tottenham — were done, so I could give Nico all of my attention, because he really needed it. It was satisfying to get done because I know how big that can be for Nico. Bayern Munich is such a big club.’
On whether they truly thought Jackson’s move to Munich might not happen…
‘Absolutely. At one point, it was certainly under a huge doubt but we just had to keep everyone calm, patient, and in the end, we were in Chelsea’s hands. If Chelsea didn’t get their replacement, there was a big chance that Nico would have to go back.’
On Jackson being a success at Bayern and staying beyond next summer…
‘I really think so, because off the ball, Nico is probably one of the best strikers in the world, if you look at all his data. Now he needs to improve in other aspects of his game, but I think playing with Harry (Kane) is going to be perfect for him because Harry can help him improve massively.’
On Kane being key to Jackson joining Bayern as it means not all of the goalscoring burden is on the 24-year-old…
‘Honestly, Bayern is huge, but Harry being at the club was a big reason why we wanted Bayern from all of the options we had. Harry had a big part to play for us and so did Vincent Kompany, who wanted Jackson to join. The final decision always belongs to the player. My role really is to provide them with all the scenarios, all the information, and then fully respect their choice. Decisions have to be made, good and bad, and the players have to know we will stick by them in every decision they make.’
On Bayern's option to buy Jackson…
'If Nico performs well, in today’s market, when you see what strikers are going for, I hope that £56m for Nico would provide good value for everyone.’
On Chelsea target Simons joining Tottenham…
'There was genuine interest from both sides. Chelsea had certain constraints at that moment, which made it difficult for them to move forward, which we totally respected and they were really clear with us from the beginning about where they were at with it. So when discussions with Tottenham began, their connection and clarity stood out and it quickly became clear that their project was a great fit for Xavi’s development. A talk that Xavi had with Thomas Frank was really key because he hit on a lot of good points. Xavi has heard 'Oh, you’re amazing' before, but Thomas really hit him on the points that he had to work on. It was total honesty. Xavi has got a monster mentality. He's been a wonderkid since 14 years old. He’s not afraid of challenges. He really took those words from Thomas in a positive way.’
Xavi Simons eventually chose Tottenham over Chelsea after a chat with Thomas Frank
On what happens now the transfer window is closed…
‘Can I be totally blunt and honest about it? I’ve been working just as hard. My tempo is so high. You can imagine all the deals we did in the last week of the market, so maybe I was at 120mph, but I'm still at 100 now easily. You’re going to see, over the next months, how we are hopefully going to announce the players with whom we're now in talks to represent. We’ve had verbal agreements in the last 10 days with players who were disappointed not to get their transfers in the summer so September and October are up there with my busiest months.’
On Madueke's Arsenal move…
‘It’s important to make the right steps. You see with Noni how well it's going for him at Arsenal at the moment. I had dinner with his dad the other day and I'm so happy for them because they're such a great family. To be honest, the one who told me that Noni was brilliant was Nicolas Jackson. He said, “Ali, this kid is so good. Trust me, he's so good in training”.'
Chelsea’s new tagline
When it was announced in May that Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder, tech entrepreneur and husband of Serena Williams, had become a minority investor in Chelsea Women, he said he wanted to get the words ‘unapologetically ambitious’ – coined by the team’s chief executive Aki Mandhar – tattooed on him.
Well, Confidential can reveal the club have now trademarked those words with the Intellectual Property Office. They are Chelsea's for the next decade at least.
Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams with the Women's FA Cup in May, which Chelsea won by beating Manchester United 3-0 at Wembley
Bayern’s blistering session
Confidential watched Bayern train at their base on Tuesday and one word came to mind: intense.
For example, with 50 Cent blasting in the background, they started with a passing exercise between two teams. One of them had to pass from the back, the other had to press as if their lives depended on it. The losing team had to do 10 press-ups each when the whistle was blown.
That press is what Enzo Maresca’s side can expect at the Allianz Arena.
Revealed: Jackson ‘obligation’ not accepted by UEFA
UEFA accepted Jackson’s £14.3m loan fee when assessing whether Chelsea had passed their financial checks upon submitting their Champions League squad – but not the £56.3m obligation that came with that deadline-day switch.
After breaching UEFA financial rules which limit clubs to spending a maximum of 80 per cent of their turnover on wages, Chelsea had to prove to the governing body that they had made a profit on transfers this summer to be able to register new signings.
They managed to do so without that obligation being included however, with Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte a late addition to their Champions League squad to replace the injured Dario Essugo.
Even if Jackson does not reach the appearance total required to trigger his £56.3m obligation, Bayern are prepared to discuss signing him permanently next summer if he impresses.
Facundo Buonanotte has been given a reprieve by Dario Essugo's injury, allowing the Brighton loanee into the Champions League squad
Anyone need a throw-in coach?
Confidential spoke with Liverpool’s former throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark, who is not currently working with a Premier League club but is available for hire on a freelance basis.
This season, Gronnemark has worked with clubs from Germany, Spain and Japan, but with throw-ins becoming much more of a weapon among England’s elite, the odd side might benefit from bringing him in for his workshops.
Chelsea conceded their stoppage-time equaliser at Brentford from a long throw, with manager Keith Andrews previously working as the Bees’ set-piece coach. He took over from Bernardo Cueva, when he moved to Chelsea for a compensation fee worth around £1m.
PGMOL silence on Brentford equaliser… for now
The PGMOL are not saying whether they think Brentford’s stoppage-time equaliser on Saturday should or should not have stood, with many Chelsea fans feeling Dango Ouattara was offside and interfering with play before Fabio Carvalho tapped in at the far post.
The on-field decision was that no offside occurred, as they did not feel Ouattara had a clear impact. VAR James Bell looked at it while Brentford celebrated. It was a subjective decision and, with PGMOL chief Howard Webb having reminded his officials that they must stick to a high threshold for intervention, Bell decided that no clear and obvious error was evident.
Fabio Carvalho tucks in Brentford's last-gasp equaliser at the far post to deny Chelsea victory on Saturday night
That was why it stood. Personally, the more I rewatch that equaliser, the more I think Ouattara was interfering with play. We will need to wait to see if Webb includes the incident in his next episode of Match Officials Mic’d Up to see what he thinks.
Chelsea's squad the costliest
CIES Football Observatory fired an email to the world's media on Wednesday with the headline: ‘Costliest squads: Chelsea at the top.’
Chelsea's squad topped the list having cost a combined £1.14billion, followed by Manchester City (£980m), Man United (£930m) and Liverpool (£924m).
Next up was Arsenal (£869m), Tottenham (£845m), Paris Saint-Germain (£758m) and Real Madrid (£741m).
