Manchester United News: Sir Alex Ferguson Has a Legit Gripe with Player Agents

It's been nearly a week since the closing of the summer transfer window. Whatever talk there is now of transfers is mainly just that—talk.

As far as Manchester United is concerned, a lot of people are still talking about a signing the club didn't make. That would be Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder, who the Red Devils toyed with signing in a relatively unquiet manner.

As for why the move was never made, club manager Sir Alex Ferguson dropped a rather interesting hint in a recent speech he gave in Rome, and it had everything to do with player agents.

"Regarding the transfer market, the player is never there when it is time to negotiate," said Ferguson, per Goal.com. He then went on to say, "Sometimes I wonder whether agents work for themselves or for the players."

Admittedly, it's unclear if Ferguson was talking or in any way referring directly to Sneijder. But even if he isn't, he has a point.

Instead of what may or may not have gone down between Man U and Sneijder, an interesting case study would be that of Samir Nasri, formerly of Arsenal and now with Manchester City. Had things gone a little differently, the word around the campfire is that he could have gone to Old Trafford instead.

According to an August report from People.co.uk, Nasri and Fergie had all but agreed to a deal during a meeting in Paris earlier in the summer. Things got complicated when Nasri's agents asked for £4 million, a demand that ultimately killed the deal.

Lo and behold, Nasri's agents very nearly killed his transfer to Manchester City later on, this despite the fact that reports (once again per Goal.com) only had them demanding £3 million this time.

Regardless of the figures, the trend is clear. Nasri's agents knew a deal was close, and that's when they made their move.

Referring back to Ferguson's question about whether or not the agents work for the players or themselves, it would be easy to say that they work for themselves. The reality is that it's more like both. But that's not necessarily a good thing.

On the one hand, you have to hand it to agents—Nasri's or anyone else's—for getting any of these deals done. It's their job, and they do it well.

But on the other hand, the fact that agents have the power and, apparently, the willingness to kill a deal with their demands is a little troubling. It indicates that they're not going to sign off on a deal until they make sure they're getting theirs too.

So, yeah, they're working for the players. But they're also using them.

In summary, I guess you could say they're just being agents. Contemptible bunch, them.