Rafaela Pimenta was one of the most eagerly awaited guests at the Social Football Summit 2023. The well-known attorney spoke on the panel ‘Player Management and Evaluation, Rankings and Capital Gains’, moderated by Sky Sport journalist Luca Marchetti. “What is the first thing you say to sell a player? – argued Pimenta – The first thing you say is: ‘Do you need it? And how much do you need?’, because if you are in the rain and you don’t have an umbrella, that assumes one value, otherwise another. The decision of a price, it is decided according to the need, the urgency of having or not having a player and maybe it is not his real value’.

Pimenta then remarked: ‘I find it very interesting to talk about these players as assets, but the way I see it, it is also offensive. They are people, friends. The player accepts to be treated as currency. If you talk to some owners they don’t tell you that football is an industry, but passion. The player has to be involved in the decision on his price. If we don’t go just on the maths, you risk someone missing the opportunity of a lifetime’.

The well-known prosecutor ended by emphasising the need to find a new balance in the negotiations: ‘We are moving towards very high technology, extraordinary data. But in the right balance, exit strategies have to be found. Clearly you can’t expect a parent to come along and dictate that their child leaves a club for zero. You need the right compromises’.