Long read but interesting.
AGENT Willie McKay will have exclusive control over transfers at Doncaster Rovers for the next two years, it has been revealed.
McKay has agreed a two-year deal - worth £100 a week - to work as a consultant for the club - and intends to utilise his contacts to bring players to Doncaster on short term deals from all over Europe.
McKay’s revolutionary link-up with Rovers has been verified by the Football Association after the agent wrote to the governing body with details of his plan on September 27 - five days after the arrival of new boss Dean Saunders.
The Scot is still hoping to entice former Real Madrid star Mahamadou Diarra to the Keepmoat Stadium, following the arrivals of Pascal Chimbonda and Herita Ilunga.
Rovers have also been credited with an interest in recruiting Fabien Robert, brother of former Newcastle winger Laurent, Saint-Etienne left winger Sylvain Monsoreau, France Under 20 defender Lamine Kone and Argentina midfielder Sebastian Dubarbier.
As part of the agreement, McKay is thought to have the final say on every player that either joins or leaves Doncaster - with only manager Saunders having the power to veto a transfer.
McKay told the Daily Mail newspaper that he was offered a role at Rovers by chairman John Ryan and vice-chair Dick Watson.
He said: “These guys approached me. They have a wage bill of £8m a year and want it reduced to £4m.
“My valuation of Donny was nothing. They have no fanbase and everyone in Doncaster supports Leeds, Sheffield United or Sheffield Wednesday, who can all get 30,000 in their stadiums.
“Donny have players on £7,000 a week and a core support of 10,000 people — nobody can sustain that.
“We are going to work with Lyon, Auxerre, Bordeaux, Saint-Etienne, Nice and Lorient by taking their unhappy players.
“In every squad there are two or three good players who aren’t getting a game for whatever reason.
“We will take them to Doncaster, put them in the shop window and sell them on with sell-on fees.
“Mahamadou Diarra has a CV with Monaco, Real Madrid and Lyon on it.
“I’ve told him if he comes to Doncaster he will be with us for six months before he’s playing in the Premier League.
“He was on €4.7m net at Real Madrid, but he’ll be playing for £2,000 a week if he comes to us.”
McKay confirmed that Rovers would get a fee from any deal which saw a player seal a big-money move on the back of a loan spell at the Keepmoat Stadium - as could be the case with West Ham's Herita Ilunga.
"Take Herita Ilunga as an example. He's on £26,000 a week at West Ham, not getting a game and they can't get him a move," he continued.
"I called the joint-chairman David Sullivan and offered £1,000 a week to take Ilunga on loan. David laughed and said, "Make me a sensible offer", so I said, "OK, £500".
"Anyway, eventually we agree the deal on £2,000 a week and West Ham make up the rest of his wages. We take him at Doncaster, who are no threat to West Ham, and give him a shop window to perform by playing every week.
"If he plays well and I get him a move, say to Turkey for £5m, then I'll reach an agreement with David Sullivan about the fee West Ham will receive, plus my commission, less his full £26,000-a-week salary for the period he was at Doncaster."
McKay added: ‘Dean has a right of veto, but is he seriously going to turn down Mahamadou Diarra, a guy who’s got 150 games on his c.v. for Lyon and 120 for Real Madrid?
‘I’m doing this to prove it can be done and I’ve been honest enough to admit I’m only here for the money. I don’t need the £100 and I probably won’t even invoice for it.’
DONCASTER Rovers manager Dean Saunders has defended the decision to give football agent Willie McKay a major role in the club’s transfer policy.
McKay, who lives in Bawtry, has already helped Saunders bring three internationals – Pascal Chimbonda, Herita Ilunga and Chris Kirkland – to the Keepmoat Stadium while talks have been held with a string of other big names including strikers El Hadji-Diouf and Kanga Akale.
According to both Saunders and club chairman John Ryan, the plan gives Rovers – a non-league club just eight years ago – a far better chance of winning promotion to the Premier League.
A section of supporters, however, are still uncomfortable with McKay’s involvement and the idea of short-term signings using Rovers as a stepping stone to a bigger club.
Saunders said: “Willie McKay is trying to help us. He’s using all his contacts to try and get good players in. He puts players to me and if I like them we try and sign them.
“If he finds a player, I decide whether I want him. I will have the final say.” he stressed. “And if they come into this club and don’t buy into what I am doing – they are gone.”
McKay has spoken publically about a firm intention to make money from the current link-up but Rovers also stand to benefit financially.
Saunders said: “Let’s say, for example, we take a player from Marseille who’s looking to get in the Premiership. He will play for us in the ‘shop window’ and (if sold) we will get a percentage of his transfer fee.
“While he is here, we are not paying much of his wages and if that player is sold for £3m, we might get 40 per cent of the transfer fee. There will be lots of other clubs trying to do the same thing soon,” Saunders added. “We are in a recession and we have got to find ways of bringing money into the club.”
Rovers chairman Ryan told the Yorkshire Post that former manager Sean O’Driscoll refused to work with McKay.
O’Driscoll had been in charge five years but was sacked last month after a sequence of 19 league games without a win and with Rovers in trouble at the bottom of the Championship table.
Ryan was not prepared to lose the club’s Championship status and felt a ‘different approach’ to buying and selling was needed to help turn things around.
“I have worked my guts off for this club for 14 years and put more money in than anyone else,” said Ryan.
“But if we had kept on doing things the same way, we were going to be relegated, sooner or later, because too many other clubs in this division have infinitely more resources and a bigger fanbase.
“It was the only way I could think of staving off relegation and moving forward,” he said. “We feel this different approach will give us a chance to compete with the big boys in the league.”
Ryan confirmed that Rovers’ involvement with McKay has also been approved by the Football Association and that the Glaswegian will be paid only £100-a-week for his services.
“We have been honest and told everybody what we are doing,” said Ryan. “Willie McKay will make money but so will we. He’s been involved in over 500 transfers and his contacts are beyond belief.”
