LISTEN: Inside football transfers on It’s All Kicking Off! Negotiating with Putin, why agents now need bodyguards and which star could dodge red lights in his Ferrari after a deal with police?

Transfer deadline day is rapidly approaching, and as such the latest episode of It’s All Kicking off delves into just what goes on during the summer window. 

Football agent Jon Smith therefore joined regular hosts Ian Ladyman and Chris Sutton to lift the lid on some of his experiences in the trade, including several staggering stories. 

In a fascinating episode, Smith discusses everything from negotiating a deal with Zenit St Petersburg with Russian president Vladimir Putin pulling the strings, to agents being accompanied by bodyguards in Eastern Europe. 

But perhaps the most outrageous of Smith’s revelations came when discussing football legend Diego Maradona, who he had the honour of meeting in Naples, only to help negotiate a very particular deal with the Italian police for the Argentinian icon. 

‘We went down into his garage and there’d be all these Ferraris parked there and they’re four of them and five of them at one particular visit were all beaten up. I said to Diego, “what’s that all about?” And in his best broken English, he goes, “John, the people, the traffic lights, they jumped on the Ferrari and boom, boom.” 

‘I spoke to the chief of police in the Naples, traffic office. And I managed to get him the ability to drive through red traffic lights in Naples. And he will say to you, that was the very best deal anybody ever did for him.’

To find out more about Smith’s dealings with Putin, Maradona and transfer deals, Listen to It’s All Kicking Off! here: