At first glance, a farmer and an agent don’t have much in common. 

Paddy Dominguez is one of Australia’s most respected football agents; an influential figure across football and other sports for three decades. 

He uses the agricultural analogy to explain how an agent structures his or her year.  

"The transfer windows represent the culmination of all the work that intermediaries/agents do during the other nine months of the year, which largely goes unseen,” he tells FTBL. 

“It’s a bit like a farmer who tends to his crops throughout the year constantly in order to reap the benefits and make his living when it is harvest time. 

"That farmer works hard and constantly out of sight so his produce can end up on supermarket shelves.”

Like any industry, there are good and bad eggs (to extend Dominguez's produce analogy) with the agent world no different. 

That said, Australia is blessed with some well-credentialed player representatives who love the game and are passionate about its future. 

Aside from Dominguez, Ante Alilovic, John Grimaud, Lou Sticca, Steve Panopoulos, and Zeljko Susa are just some Australian agents representing the game’s talent in the A-League and on the international arena. 

An agent is not just a deal maker, either. 

The role can often see an agent morph into a father figure, financial advisor, spiritual guru, life coach, or just a shoulder to cry on, particularly for players overseas and are away from their families. 

Stamps in a passport? Agents often have plenty, and toil in virtual anonymity. It’s not hugely glamorous. 

You need a thick skin, too, and an understanding family.

"Intermediaries/agents live through the ups and downs that their clients experience and this takes a toll on the intermediaries/agents too,” Dominguez argues. 

"All of this is generally unseen or unappreciated, so it is a tough environment for people to work in, never mind the stress of accepting responsibility for the livelihoods of the clients they look after, which is their fundamental role. 

"They are traveling, maintaining and building networks/contacts, spend weekends away from family at football games, scouting and tackling any ongoing issues that their clients may have either personal or professional on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.”

Dominguez as seen his fair share of deals for Australians around the world - including Socceroo star Aaron Mooy's English Premier League move - and now is president of a new agents' peak body (more on that later).

Some agents are also promoters who help arrange tours. Dominguez adds the role of an unofficial talent scout to an agent’s scope. 

"In the case of clubs in lower leagues who don’t have any scouting budgets or networks, intermediaries can often be a valuable scouting resource.

"Apart from their knowledge of the market valuations where they have an important role in ensuring that all parties come to a mutually beneficial outcome."

However, Dominguez feels frustrated by public perceptions. 

Some argue agents yield too much power. He says critics should take a holistic view. 

"I think that traditionally, agents have suffered from poor reputational capital. 

"I feel, and this touches on the previous point, as though the public perception is that intermediaries/agents do very little and just simply capitalize on football transfers. 

"Because there are two transfer windows which between them account for in and around three months of the year it is a misguided notion that they [agents] do very little work for great rewards.”