More lucrative than Lobotka

The transfer of Jakub Kiwior has the signature of the Slovak-Polish agency FairSport, whose co-owner is BRANISLAV JAŠUREK

What does the transfer of Jakub Kiwior to Arsenal mean for you and for the FairSport agency?

“It is the largest transfer of our agency in history. As Kiwi grew, so did our agency. I wasn’t fully aware of it until his transfer was sealed. We didn’t take such a risk with anyone as we did with Cuba. It paid off, we did well.”

What do you mean you’ve never taken such a risk?

“In January 2019, we invested a lot of money at the time to buy him from Anderlecht and bring him to Podbrezova. In Belgium, there was no real chance for him to reach the senior team. I went to see him at a youth Champions League match. I really liked his game, calmness in the game with the ball, speed parameters. The general manager of Podbrezova, Miroslav Poliaček, also traveled with me to this match.

We agreed that, with the exception of Dávid Hanck, we do not have a left-footed stopper with such a huge potential in Slovakia. Convincing the management of Podbrezova to pay 100,000 for such a player was not easy. So we had to take a risk…”

In Podbrezová, he quickly established himself in the starting line-up. Did you already believe that he could achieve a lot?

“At that time, Podbrezova’s coach was Michal Hanek, and already after Kiwi’s second training, he called me that he was the best player he had ever developed. Mišo previously worked in the academy of MŠK Žilina, so he was used to talented players. Podbrezová did not stay in the top competition, so we looked for an alternative for Jakub. As always, only Žilina reacted correctly among the Slovak clubs. It was the only Slovak club that preempted the offer, in addition we had proposals from Bröndby Copenhagen and Nordsjaelland.

The Danish competition is excellent for young players, but Jakub was leaning towards Žilina. I was very pleased because he was able to appreciate MŠK’s excellent work with youth and the club’s ability to establish young players in the senior team. His family also played a role in this, because those closest to Kuba already understood why it was right to go from Brussels to Podbrezová.

They also correctly evaluated why it was better for him to accept an offer of about 3,000 euros per month from Žilina and not 10,000 from Denmark. They believed in the boy’s potential. At the opposite pole are players who leave Slovakia for the Italian Primavera as teenagers and then return as useless footballers. Big damage…”

In Žilina, Jakub Kiwior did not start in the starting line-up right away, but paradoxically, he was helped by the liquidation in MŠK, when seventeen players left the team…

“Yes, after arriving at MŠK, he had a bit of a problem with adaptation. The owner of Žilina, Jozef Antošík, had probably been preparing for the consolidation of the club for a long time, and then, in the difficult covid era, he finally made quick decisions. I remember that Jakub was at home, where he did not train much, and after returning to the training process, he was not ideally prepared.

Then we had a serious interview and the owner of MŠK approached it very well. We talked to Kub and he went back to what he was doing before. He made a big improvement in his performance, and he says to this day that coach Pavol Staňo helped him tremendously.”

He then became one of the leaders in Žilina and in the summer of 2021 headed to the Italian Spezia. Can you elaborate on the circumstances of this transfer?

“There were still covid times. At that time, the Italians told me with a smile: “Covid market is s..t.” (Covid market is h…o). In normal times, we would have maybe four to five offers for Cuba. Due to the circumstances, we registered only three interested parties, not even specific offers, I repeat, only interested parties. One was FC Porto, which we liked, we met a few times, but for various reasons it didn’t work out. The second was the French club Troyes, which is part of the Manchester City consortium. It looked promising.

We liked it there. Jakub speaks French and the competition there seemed to us to be a suitable step. However, the sporting director declared at the time that no player could come directly from the Slovak league to Ligue 1. That’s also why he’s no longer the sports director… At the same time, all the scouts from the consortium recommended Kiwi. The third interested party was Spezia Calcio, where the position of sporting director was held by a more sensible man – Riccardo Pecini. He believes in the Slovak market. He is the person who attracted Milan Škriniar to Sampdoria Genoa and since then he has had our environment in his little finger.

The negotiations were not difficult, Riccardo is personally acquainted with the owner of Žilina, who went out of his way to meet him. He was aware that in covid times he would not get as much money from Italy as he could get before. The negotiations lasted about a week, and even that only because of bureaucratic obstacles. The agreement itself was born very quickly. Everyone understood that Kubo had to leave and that Spezia could be a good move for him. The transfer amount was approximately 2.4 million euros.”

It took about half a year for Jakub Kiwior to establish himself in Spezia’s starting line-up. He first started as a defensive midfielder, later moved to the center of defense. What do you say about its development?

“Kiwi had the support of Riccardo Pecini, who believed in him. Thiago Motta saw that the boy had the prerequisites to play regularly, but at the beginning he was not completely convinced that he could start at the stopper position at a young age and in Serie A. That’s why he moved him up. Then a nice conversation took place. The coach came to Kuba and asked him: ‘Have you ever played as a number six?’ He answered him: ‘Once in your life.’ The coach replied: ‘And you won?’ So tomorrow you play as a six…’

Of course, in the recovering Spezia, he mainly focused on the defensive, often as if he was the third stopper. In any case, it was an excellent school for him. Thiago Motta explained to us at the time that he played with Marquinhos in Paris, who sometimes also jumped in the middle of the field and it helped him a lot in his career. Well, according to him, Jakub can be even better. The Kiwi later returned to the centre-back position before telling us how suddenly football is easier when you have the whole action in front of you. Every footballer knows that the most difficult thing is to play in the middle of the field.”

The two-and-a-half-year engagement in Spezia really worked out for Jakub. He established himself in the starting line-up, made it to the World Cup, where he played all the matches for Poland, contributed to progress to the round of 16, defended Messi and Giroud… Today he is an Arsenal player. Explain the circumstances of the transfer.

“There was already interest in his services in the summer, but we did not respond to anything. So we also agreed with Spezia, where he had a place in the team, a beautiful house and a good life to which he had become accustomed. This also led to him playing in the World Cup. AC Milan, Juventus Turin and SSC Napoli contacted us, but we waited until winter. We knew about Arsenal’s interest. I was at the Wales-Poland match where we met the Gunners’ head of scouting. We asked him why he came. Then Arsenal contacted us officially saying that they are watching him.

The first idea was that they would buy him and leave him in Spezia for half a year. Everything changed after the World Cup. After them, coach Arteta and sporting director Edu presented us with their plan with Kiwi. They explained to us that they have only one left-footed stopper and they still have a lot of games ahead of them and that they need him now. We checked that it would be more expensive this way… They responded that it is very important to them and they will do everything to get it.”

The British media write that the severance package with all bonuses will be more than 25 million euros. So is it a more lucrative transfer than the transfer of Stanislav Lobotka on the line Celta Vigo – SSC Napoli?

“The basic amount is significantly higher for Jakub Kiwior, but if we include performance bonuses for both players, it is about a million euros more for Kuba. Summa summarum, this transfer is the most expensive that our agency has participated in.”

So, you and your Polish colleague Pawel Zimonczyk are proud…

“As a former footballer, I always say that when a player plays well, deals are made easily. But yes, we are proud… Paweł and I built the agency from nothing as two normal guys and today we are welcome in Arsenal, Napoli or Juventus. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t pleasant. But what pleases us even more is that this transfer also helped two of our clubs economically. I grew up in Žilina and I also have connections in Podbrezová. It warms the heart.’