Why does every Transfer Saga need a villain? | Alvarez, Martinelli, Watkins - The Sports Agents

**Nedum Onuoha** (0:02)
This is a Global Production.

**Gabby Logan** (0:05)
Yeah, the Croatian version of The Sports Agents, Nedum, is having very different conversation about this fight.

**Nedum Onuoha** (0:09)
Oh, without question, we're rivals, so we don't really talk about them too much. You should mention them again, Gabby.

**Frank Warren** (0:14)
Whatever you do, don't mention the Croatian.

**Nedum Onuoha** (0:17)
There is loyalty in football, but it's the fans towards their own football club.

**Gabby Logan** (0:20)
Well, I can't help but draw parallels with relationships. You know, once a cheater, always a cheater.

**Saif Rubie** (0:25)
Anyway, and the minute that a bigger club is swirling around him, all of a sudden the player wants to down too. That's a big difference.

**Nedum Onuoha** (0:32)
The way that, say, they speak, like they're the voice of the fans. They're not because they're running a business themselves.

**Gabby Logan** (0:38)
A lot of guys, and they are all men, with egos, wanting to be the one that feels they've got the best deal.

**Nedum Onuoha** (0:44)
Do you believe players have significant power in football now?

**Gabby Logan** (0:47)
Yeah, I do.

**Nedum Onuoha** (0:49)
Why? Because I don't think they do.

**Gabby Logan** (1:01)
Hello, and welcome to The Sports Agents. It is just you and me today, Nedum. How are you?

**Nedum Onuoha** (1:06)
I'm very good. I'm very good. How are you?

**Gabby Logan** (1:08)
Yeah, I've had an eventful morning.

**Nedum Onuoha** (1:10)
Come on, tell me more. Tell me more.

**Gabby Logan** (1:11)
Well, my button popped off my trousers in the toilet in the Global Building. Somebody walked in because I hadn't locked the door. It was a bloke because there's kind of unisex toilets. I think I panicked and then, yeah, it was raining. I had an umbrella. You know, just everything kind of start to the day that you just didn't ask for. That kind of start to the day, really. So I'm sitting here with a safety pin keeping my trousers up.

**Nedum Onuoha** (1:34)
At least you know when all these bad things are happening, it can only get better. It cannot get worse.

**Gabby Logan** (1:38)
I haven't spilled coffee over myself today. So that's good.

**Frank Warren** (1:40)
Congratulations. That's a start, yeah?

**Nedum Onuoha** (1:42)
This is what we do in adulthood. Did we spill coffee on ourselves? No, we didn't. It's a great beginning.

**Gabby Logan** (1:46)
Small kind of successes, small wins. That's what I'm building today on. So hopefully it'll get better as we chat over the next hour or so. And we do have a lot to chat about because we're going to be touching on potentially the story of maybe Britain's next great heavyweight. Well, he is a hope already, but maybe next heavyweight champion, 21-year-old Moses Itauma could become the second youngest heavyweight world champion in history. Behind who, Nedum?

**Nedum Onuoha** (2:15)
Britain's youngest ever.

**Gabby Logan** (2:16)
Yeah, but the world's, the world's.

**Nedum Onuoha** (2:17)
Oh, it probably Mike Tyson then.

**Gabby Logan** (2:19)
Absolutely. Frank Warren is going to join us, who of course is his promoter to talk about him.
And of course, we discussed this on Monday's episode as well, the summer transfer window and the drama that is ensuing from that. It closes on Monday. A lot of players are still at the center of sagas. I think it's fair to use the word saga with this.

**Nedum Onuoha** (2:37)
Yeah, saga is right, yes.

**Gabby Logan** (2:38)
Yeah. We've got Alvarez, Atletico Madrid, not wanting him to go to Barcelona. We've got Ollie Watkins, who we talked about a little bit on Monday's episode. Then Jean-Philippe Mateta, who's had arguments in the past year, hasn't he, about leaving Crystal Palace. We all saw, of course, the reception that Alexander Isak got at St. James' Park, a lot of booing for him at the weekend. It was very pantomime-esque. I was for it. I thought it was good entertainment.
Nothing sinister, just a bit of booing. In fact, actually, what was better was just that he didn't really feature in the game massively.
And then Ian Wright has kind of waded in a little bit, hasn't he, on Martinelli's treatment from Arsenal. And that's the other side of the coin, if you like. So that's got us thinking about where blame should be or is attributed in these situations. You're going to come at this from a very different perspective, I imagine.

**Nedum Onuoha** (3:30)
Yeah, who would have thought, the former player? Who would have thought?

**Gabby Logan** (3:34)
Were you at the PFA Awards on Tuesday night?

**Nedum Onuoha** (3:37)
No, and to be honest, for several reasons, I just would never choose to go to it. I'll let you know on something here. Sometimes, say if you go on holiday somewhere as a player, and you see lots of other players there, you call it the PFA Awards. That's not really something nice to ever do.