Jude's transfer through an HR lens.

The reason I ‘stumbled’ into HR had everything to do with sport. As a Liverpool?fan I became very interested in a man called Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s then?Sporting Director. He was instrumental in the signings of players like Sadio?Mane, Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk. Players that allowed Liverpool to have?their best spell since my birth!

After playing years of Football Manager and FIFA career mode, I asked the?question, how can I do this in the so called ‘real world’? The answer: HR.

Jude Bellingham

As a lifelong Liverpool fan, this one hurt! Up until around eight weeks ago, I, along with most Liverpool fans thought Jude Bellingham would be wearing the blood red of Liverpool, pictured with a ‘Liverpool F.C’ scarf over his head, reminiscent of Fernando Torres in 2007. Instead, he was unveiled in the galactico white of Los Blancos, Real Madrid just last week. A team that has beaten Liverpool five times since 2018, including twice in the Champions League final! As a Liverpool fan, I was almost certain Bellingham was coming to the Kop, but he ended up in Madrid. It’s sort of the same feeling you have when a candidate all but accepts your offer but ends up accepting another offer from a different company. Of course, this happens to the best of us, but happens to some more than others; so, let’s try and use Jude Bellingham’s transfer as an example as to why.

Career Journey

Bellingham joined Championship side, Birmingham City at seven years old and became the club’s youngest-ever player to play in a competitive first-team game at 16 years and 38 days. In the summer of 2020, he joined Borussia Dortmund for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be in the region of ￡25-￡30 million. Fast forward three years, and he is a Real Madrid player! He cost them between ￡88-￡115 million in transfer fees plus ￡12 million a year for 6 years in wages (not bad)!

What attracts top talent, just money?

So, this transfer is costing Real Madrid approximately?￡170m?(not including agent fees). That is a lot of money! The fact of the matter in this situation is that many clubs cannot afford to spend that money on one player. It’s that black and white. The best talents are more likely to go to a place that can afford their wage demands and the best companies tend to have that money to spend! After eliminating the clubs who couldn’t afford/were not willing to spend that money on the 19-year-old Englishman, such as Liverpool, you are left with fewer clubs that could afford him. Real Madrid, the two Manchester Clubs, Chelsea, PSG, Newcastle and any team in the Saudi Pro League!

It was reported that Jude Bellingham was set on playing for a team with a reputation and not a ‘plastic club.’ This then eliminated Chelsea, PSG, Manchester City, Newcastle, and any Saudi team as these are clubs that have found success in recent years due to being state-owned, these were the clubs Bellingham was reportedly talking about. These, however, are all teams that would have paid both Jude Bellingham and his former team, Borussia Dortmund a lot more money than Real Madrid. Highlighting this move was not only to do with the money. This shows us, in order to get the most conscientious talent and talent with integrity, your company needs to have a reputation that is respected by all. Something those clubs were unable to offer.?

‘What about Manchester United?’ you may ask – they have the money and the reputation.?

In the middle of the 2022/23 season, the Glazer family, the owners of the Red Devils, put the club up for sale. After years of backlash from fans and former players, the Glazers were ready to sell. Although this may seem like a good thing for fans, it creates uncertainty and makes the club even more unstable and to be honest, the club’s reputation hasn’t been great since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Alas, with the lack of certainty looming around Old Trafford, the move didn’t make sense for Jude Bellingham!?

How can you be attractive enough for top talent??

Depending on your company and the size, there are two main ways in which you can get your hands on top talent. You must either be the team giving away top talent or be the team acquiring the top talent. There is also another way, but that’s for the next post! In this case, you can either be Borussia Dortmund or Real Madrid.?

As an SME understanding the former’s process is essential. Borussia Dortmund, a team in Germany’s top division has become renowned for being the ultimate ‘feeder’ club. A team that identifies talent early on and then sells players for a premium. In this case, they bought Jude Bellingham for ￡30 million and sold him for between ￡88-115 million, a profit of over ￡50 million, AT LEAST. They have made over €1billon in player sales since 2000! So, you can see this isn’t their first rodeo. Due to this, they have built a reputation of being the best club in developing young talent. This provokes many young players from all over the globe to be interested in Dortmund’s project and attracted to signing for the club. The reality is, Dortmund and the player both know that the player will not be at the club forever and will want to move to a larger club, the same way most top talent would want to make it at a large company rather than an SME. And instead of loathing that fact, as an SME, you need to embrace it. If talent, early in their careers, know your company as the company that will develop them into superstars, they would be more likely to join your project rather than another SME. In turn, you are provided with a candidate striving to be the best and someone who will add value for the time they are with you. The same way Borussia Dortmund was a win away from winning the Bundesliga last season!

From a larger company’s perspective, to attract the best talent, throwing money at a candidate isn’t the answer. Does it help? Of course, but your reputation is vital to your attractiveness as a company. Real Madrid is seen as the pinnacle of football due to their reputation and the desire for continuous improvement even when they are winning! They have the biggest fan base in the world and accumulate the best players in the world.

Whatever the size of your business, your reputation precedes you. Jude Bellingham chose Borussia Dortmund as a club to aid his development due to their alumni - Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to name a few. He then chose Real Madrid as players such as Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric have reached their pinnacle at that club.

Top talents are always looking to reach the heights of success. In this current market, top talent have the most options, make them choose you!