Globe Soccer’s Best Agent Award – What is this all about
The BEYOND Developments Globe Soccer Awards have become one of the most watched stages in the global football calendar, celebrating not only players and clubs but also the agents who shape the transfer market behind the scenes.
For 2025, Globe Soccer’s official channels confirmed five nominees for Best Agent: Ali Barat, Jorge Mendes, Federico Pastorello, Fali Ramadani and Frank Trimboli.
This is more than a popularity contest – it is a snapshot of who really drives elite football careers in 2025.
The 2025 Best Agent shortlist
Jorge Mendes – the benchmark for modern super-agents
If Ali Barat represents the future, Jorge Mendes is still very much the present benchmark. Through Gestifute, he has shaped more than two decades of elite football:
- Long-term representation of Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the defining client of the super-agent era.
- Handling the careers of coaches such as José Mourinho and a long list of top players – from early-era stars like Ricardo Carvalho and Deco to more recent names such as Bernardo Silva, Rúben Dias and others.
- Deep influence in the Portuguese, Spanish and English markets, especially in pathways from Portugal to LaLiga and the Premier League.
Globe Soccer’s record reflects that dominance: Mendes has won the Best Agent award in nearly every edition since 2010, and in 2020 he was additionally crowned “Agent of the Century”.
Ali Barat – Epic Sports’ fast-rising power broker
Over the last few seasons, Ali Barat has gone from relative unknown to one of the most influential agents in the game. As founder of Epic Sports, he has quietly built a client list that now includes some of the most valuable young players in Europe.
Barat was central to Moisés Caicedo’s British-record move from Brighton to Chelsea in 2023, a deal worth around £115 million, and has also been involved in major transfers for Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke, Kendry Páez and others connected with Chelsea’s ambitious rebuild.
Tuttosport’s Golden Boy Awards have already recognised his work – Barat has twice been named Best Agent, most recently in 2025, reflecting both his deal volume and his focus on long-term career planning for his players.
Epic Sports reacted on LinkedIn by highlighting how the nomination crowns a remarkable period in which Barat has already collected two Golden Boy “Best Agent” awards and overseen headline transfers across Europe.
Given his age relative to some of the other nominees, Barat represents the new generation of super-agents – data-driven, globally connected and very comfortable operating at the intersection of Premier League money and continental talent pipelines.
Federico Pastorello – serial dealmaker across Serie A and the Premier League
P&P Sport Management and the art of the complex transfer
Federico Pastorello, head of P&P Sport Management, is one of the industry’s most recognisable faces, especially around the Italian and English markets. He has been central to some of the most discussed moves of the last decade, including multiple transfers involving Romelu Lukaku, and other operations across Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Premier League.
His work earned him the Globe Soccer Best Agent award in 2021, breaking Jorge Mendes’ near-total streak and underlining his own status as a top-tier operator.
Reputation built on resilience
Pastorello’s path is marked by:
- Handling turbulence – representing high-profile players in emotionally charged moves, often under intense media scrutiny.
- Bridging markets – regularly engineering deals between Italy, England and France.
- Club relationships – maintaining access to clubs even after complicated transfers, which is one of the hardest things for any agent to sustain long term.
His 2025 nomination confirms that, even in an era of mega-agencies, individual dealmakers with strong personal brands still matter.
Fali Ramadani – influential power broker behind LIAN Sports
A discreet, high-impact operator
Fali Ramadani is the driving force behind LIAN Sports Group, one of the most influential agencies in Southern Europe. While he keeps a relatively low public profile, his client list and deal history tell the real story.
Over the years, LIAN Sports has been involved with top-level players moving among Serie A, LaLiga and the Bundesliga, and has built a particularly strong presence in Italy and the Balkans.
Ramadani is known for:
- Strong club links in Serie A.
- A pipeline of talent from the Balkans and surrounding regions.
- A knack for placing players at Champions League-level clubs at key moments in their careers.
The specialist in strategic repositioning
Rather than just “first big move” transfers, Ramadani has often been involved when a player needs a career reset or upgrade – shifting from mid-table projects into genuine title-challenging environments. This ability to reposition players in the market keeps LIAN Sports deeply relevant at the top end of the game.
Frank Trimboli – CAA Base and the Premier League engine room
Frank Trimboli is a leading figure at CAA Base, the football division of Creative Artists Agency, one of the biggest talent-management companies in the world. CAA Base is headquartered in London and has become a major force in the Premier League, representing a host of top-flight players and several England internationals.
Under Trimboli’s leadership, CAA Base has leaned heavily into:
- Data and analytics to benchmark performance and value.
- A strong Premier League and Championship focus, while still working across mainland Europe.
- A broader entertainment-style approach, integrating commercial, media and brand work for its clients.
Trimboli’s nomination underlines the growing power of multi-sport, multi-industry agencies that can offer players not just contract negotiation, but full-scale career and brand management.
How This Shortlist Reflects Today’s Agent Landscape
Taken together, the five nominees tell you a lot about where the agent business is in 2025:
- Barat represents the new wave of specialists who marry boutique service with big-club relationships, especially around Premier League buyers.
- Mendes remains the archetypal global super-agent, still trusted for nine-figure deals at the highest level.
- Pastorello symbolises agents who excel in complex, politically sensitive transfers, often in Italy and England.
- Ramadani shows the power of regional networks, turning the Balkans–Italy–Spain corridor into a repeatable pathway for elite players.
- Trimboli highlights the rise of agency groups with entertainment DNA, where football is part of a wider ecosystem of sport and media.
It is a blend of classic super-agents and newer structures, all operating in a market that has never been more global, more scrutinised or more financially intense.
Globe Soccer’s Best Agent award – a decade of dominance
Since Globe Soccer introduced the Best Agent award in 2010, one name has towered over the category: Jorge Mendes. The Portuguese super-agent has won the trophy in almost every edition, underlining his long-term influence at the very top of the market.
With just two exceptions, Mendes has taken home every Best Agent award since the prize was created:
- 2010 – today: Best Agent award introduced
- All editions except 2016 and 2021: won by Jorge Mendes
- 2016: award went to the late Mino Raiola
- 2021: award went to Federico Pastorello
- 2020: Mendes was also honoured as “Agent of the Century”
- 2022: Rafaela Pimenta received Best Transfer Deal of the Year, reflecting the growing visibility of top agents in individual moves
Why fans and clubs should care
Awards for agents might sound abstract to fans, but the reality is simple:
- Agents decide where talent flows. Which league a wonderkid joins, where an experienced goalkeeper lands, whether a coach chooses Italy, England or Saudi Arabia – all of this is heavily influenced by agencies.
- They shape club strategies. Long-term relationships between sporting directors and certain agents often define which markets a club is strongest in.
- They protect (or mismanage) careers. The best agents are not only dealmakers; they are also strategists, crisis managers and long-term planners.
The 2025 Globe Soccer Best Agent shortlist is therefore more than a roll-call of big names. It is a snapshot of who is really steering elite football – and a sign that a new generation of power brokers, led by figures like Ali Barat, is now firmly in the global spotlight.
You can vote for your favourite player, manager or football agent via this link.
