TA: Brighton has suffered from negotiations on Taobao + in South America for nearly 10 years, and Chelsea Football Club’s poaching supervisor is useless.

December 30-The Athletic UK Brighton wrote a column with team reporter Andy Naylor to analyze the “hard work experience” of the Brighton team in the South American market to all TA users.
The arrival of Argentine midfielder McAllister’s teenage compatriot Farkundo Bunanot is another example of Brighton in signing and nurturing young talent in South America.
The versatile 18-year-old will complete his transfer from Rosario in the January transfer window at an initial fee of about £5 million, which could double if there is an additional fee. Like McAllister, he can play in different midfield positions, such as No. 6, No. 8 or No. 10.
Brighton has been working hard for years to build a good reputation in South America. Owner and chairman Tony Bloom’s global player data model, scouting, networking and negotiation skills enable the club to set goals and close deals.
But in fact, the road is not smooth.
In the 2010-11 season, Uruguayan star Poet used his connections to bring in midfielder Augustine Batti and winger Christian Baz from Argentina’s third-tier team Comunicaciones. However, they had no effect on Brighton’s campaign in League one.
In 2015, when Brighton was in the Championship, they boldly tried to buy striker Jonathan Carrelli from Argentine giants Boca Juniors. A year later, Carrelli was loaned to West Ham and started playing in the Premier League, but it was a valuable experience that made Brighton understand the complexity of the South American transfer deal.
Since then, Paul Barber, chief executive of Brighton, and Paul Winstanley, former director of recruitment, have traveled to South America several times to learn how markets work and how to succeed.
In addition to the language barrier, Brighton faces more than just negotiating with the sales club. Players are usually “owned” by several different stakeholders, from multiple agents to family members.
TA gives an example of when they were negotiating and a man who was obviously a stranger broke in. At the time, Brighton thought the two sides were having a private meeting and they were interested in signing a player. As a result, the stranger turned out to be the player’s uncle.
Brighton has learned that there are two ways to talk about transfer deals in South America-once the day’s work is over, they are very generous hosts and entertain guests. But in negotiations, they are good at bargaining, often reaching an agreement at the last minute of the last day of the trip.
As big clubs tend to focus on Brazil and Argentina, and these markets are often too expensive and too many players, Brighton has set its sights on small countries. Such as the signing of Caicedo from Ecuador and Enciso from Paraguay.
Of course, Brighton has not completely abandoned the Argentine and Brazilian markets, and McAllister is a good example. But he was first rented back to the parent team, and then loaned to Boca Juniors, which is a process.
Brighton’s ties to South America have been further strengthened in a number of deals, including Estupian (former Villarreal), Ecuadorian compatriot Salamento (former Charlton and Benfica) and London-born Colombian international Alsalat, who was poached from Leiden East’s youth training by Brighton.
Previously, they signed Argentine striker Leonardo Ulloa from Almeria, Spain in 2013 and right-back Ezquel Shilotto from Atletico Lisbon in 2017.
TA can also reveal that Winstanley’s move to Chelsea will not adversely affect Brighton’s direct trading in South America or the operation of the market as a whole.
The promotion of Sam Sam Jewell to acting director of recruitment fits Brighton’s model that when an employee leaves, someone inside must be ready to take over. Jewell has been the club’s emerging scout director for the past four years, during which time he has travelled to South America, including Ecuador and Chile. COVID-19 also took Spanish courses during the blockade of the epidemic.
Jewell played an important role in signing Caicedo and Enciso, and if he takes over permanently as expected, keep an eye on Brighton digging up more gems from South America.