Rangers and Celtic jet out with Man Utd + football's elite for transfer summit as January plans go global

Rangers and Celtic representatives will be in Istanbul this week as transfer planning for the January window kicks off.

Across Monday and Tuesday, TransferRoom is hosting a summit where key decision-makers at over 300 clubs and 40-plus agencies from across the world will be holding transfer talks. TransferRoom mission is to “empower football clubs, agents and players to be successful in the transfer market by giving them real-time market intelligence and direct access to a global network of decision makers.”

Many of the English Premier League giants will be there - Manchester United one club who will be in attendance alongside Man City and Liverpool - alongside clubs competing in the Champions League.

High profile players now in roles off the pitch at various clubs will also be attending. Ex-Chelsea and Newcastle striker Demba Ba, for example, will attend as Director of Football of USL side Dunkerque. Former Tottenham and Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Brad Friedel will be there, representing Besiktas, where he is an advisor to the board.

Rangers and Celtic will be in Turkey to see what they can gather from the event. At it, TransferRoom will launch StaffRoom, which is described as “the world’s first digital network enabling clubs to find and connect directly with football industry professionals all around the world.”

The nine positions that will feature on StaffRoom are Sporting Director (including Technical Director), Assistant Sporting Director, Head of Recruitment, Chief Scout, Scout, Loans Manager, Head Coach, Assistant Manager and Academy Director. Celtic recently made Paul Tisdale their head of operations while Rangers have a few key roles behind the scenes - like CEO - currently vacant.

Jonas Ankersen, Founder and CEO of TransferRoom, said of the StaffRoom project: “The reality is that the staff marketplace operates within personal networks, constraining the talent pools for clubs and discoverable opportunities for industry professionals are scarce.

“So we created StaffRoom, for clubs to discover the talent they need to win and industry professionals to accelerate their career and grow their network.

“TransferRoom is the marketplace for football transfers, a source of unparalleled market intelligence, and now StaffRoom is football’s only digital network for top industry talent.”