Football agent Sky Andrew believes the transfer window will bring few surprises

The summer transfer window has opened and football agent Sky Andrew believes there will be few surprises as the top teams again dominate the big-money dealings.

Andrew says European clubs are likely to hold out until the end of August believing they will make more money out of their Premier League counterparts.

Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, he said: “It's about demand and supply. Everybody wants the same players. Everyone is waiting, a bit of cat and mouse, and the bigger clubs with the financial power are trying to get the top players.

“I think that there will be two or three big transfers. Maybe they won’t happen until the end of the window because everyone in Europe knows that the money is in the UK, so they hold out for bigger transfer fees.

“The skill in football as a club is to always make sure you have irons in the fire. Clubs always make sure they’ve got a number one choice, a number two choice, also if a club is going for a player they are going to make sure they are not left short, so it’s a lot of talk in football. That’s why there is so much speculation.”

The player’s representative insists clubs still have all the power in the game, contrary to popular opinion among football supporters.

The skill in football as a club is to always make sure you have irons in the fire. Clubs always make sure they have a number one choice and a number two choice.

And Andrew, who represented Sol Campbell, and was involved in the deal that saw the former Tottenham defender move to local rivals Arsenal at the end of his contract in 2001, believes agents are simply providing a service for football clubs.

“Agents never really know if their player is going to go, the clubs never really know if they are going to get a player, and sometimes when you are speaking to clubs they’ll say, ‘we want a striker’," he said.

"But they will not want just one type of striker, they might want a No 10, they might want someone in behind, they might want someone who holds up the ball so, a lot of talk behind the scenes and most transfer speculation doesn’t come off.  

'Power'

“People talk about players having the power. I don’t see that. If you look at it you’ve got a player and his representative and the club. It’s the club’s job to do their job. So for me, clubs will always have the power because they can always navigate the situation with the employees they’ve got.

“You’ve got a director of football, you’ve got a chairman, you’ve got a chief executive, you’ve got scouts, clubs have got relationships with other clubs. If a club wants to sell a player, all they need to do is speak to other clubs.

“Players want to play football. We see many examples where players are put in the reserves training with the kids. If a clubs wants a player not to be at the club they can make it very difficult I don’t believe the players have the power.

"Very few players have any form of power. Most players sign contracts, most players when they are offered something will sign it, very few players stick their neck above the parapet and say, ‘hang on a minute, I might not want to sign this’, but as soon as a player does that it seems like the whole wrath of football turns on that individual.

“What clubs should ask for and what fans should ask for is for players to just honour their contracts, because then it’s a very clear message.

"If we have a system where a player is honouring his contract he gets slaughtered by the press, if he doesn’t he gets slaughtered by the press. In the end players feel, well why should I conduct myself in the right way? Why should I just honour my contract?

"Let’s give the players a clear message, honour your contract. There shouldn’t be this grey area where if a player honours his contract that anybody criticises him.”