By Andrea Caropreso
Index
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How many times have we heard about “free transfer opportunities” in the transfer market? Often—maybe too often. It’s a myth that the buying clubs are getting a bargain, acquiring a player without having to pay a transfer fee to another club. But is that really the case? Actually, no—or at least, not always. The reality today is that agents and their so-called commissions are in charge: extra money that doesn’t go to a club but still gets paid, this time to the player’s agent.
Hidden Costs
Looking at just the last five years (2020–2025), the free transfer market has become increasingly common. Players (and their agents) often intentionally let contracts expire so that money usually reserved for a transfer fee can instead go into a massive salary. Take Dusan Vlahovic with Juventus, for example.
The Serbian striker has no intention of renewing his contract, but also doesn’t plan to leave a year before it expires. That way, next year he can land another mega-deal (currently he earns €12 million net), leveraging the fact that his new club won’t have to pay Juventus a transfer fee. As a result, agent commissions have skyrocketed.
Inter alone has spent over €35 million in commissions for free transfers over the last two years, including Marcus Thuram. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich spent over €51 million in a single season on commissions for free agents like Guerreiro and Laimer.
Agent commissions on free transfers (2020–2025)
| Player | New Club | Year | Agent Fees (€) | Signing Bonus (€) | Transfer Fee (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Thuram | Inter | 2023 | €8.0 million | €4.0 million | €0 |
| David Alaba | Real Madrid | 2021 | €17.7 million | €20 million | €0 |
| Gianluigi Donnarumma | PSG | 2021 | €20 million | €15 million | €0 |
| Adrien Rabiot | Juventus | 2019 | €10 million | €7 million | €0 |
| Raphael Guerreiro | Bayern Munich | 2023 | €6 million | €5 million | €0 |
Budget Impact
The paradox is that these so-called “smart” and “cost-saving” deals often turn out to be much more expensive than expected.
Surprisingly, zero-fee signings can have a heavier short-term impact on a club’s budget than paying a transfer fee. Consider the acquisitions of Marcus Thuram by Inter in 2023 and Mateo Retegui by Atalanta in 2024.
To sign Thuram, Inter paid €8M in agent fees, €4M in a signing bonus, and offered a five-year deal at €6M net per season (around €11M gross). Add performance bonuses, and the French international weighed €23M on Inter’s books.
Atalanta, on the other hand, paid €15M plus bonuses for Retegui’s transfer from Genoa, but only €2M in agent fees and no signing bonus. His net salary was €1.5M (around €3M gross).
Including amortization and salary, Retegui cost Atalanta around €6.5M—less than half of Thuram’s impact. Of course, Thuram had a higher profile at the time, but this shows that free transfers today are far from being truly free.
