‘I used to say to clubs Virgil van Dijk had it all, and then they’d buy someone else. I’d despair’

David Moss has been a player, an academy manager, overseen Celtic’s scouting division and been head of football operations at Huddersfield. Here he gives an insight into what awaits as the January window opens

The scene was a meeting room in a plush Istanbul hotel. The president of a high-flying Turkish football club sat on one side of the table crunching the numbers while David Moss, the agent charged with negotiating his client’s personal terms, allowed himself a moment of self-reflection. “It was fascinating watching it all play out, the negotiations on fees and pitch on salary packages,” he said. “I found myself smiling a lot of the time because I know how it works. The club know what they can pay and what they can’t even before everyone gets round that table. It’s all a game. But a game I can now see from all angles.”

Moss is in an almost unique position when it comes to the forthcoming transfer window, having filled virtually every role going in football’s recruitment business over a lengthy and diverse career. He has been the player, the nomadic midfielder crisscrossing the lower leagues from Doncaster Rovers to Chesterfield, Falkirk to Partick Thistle. He has spent time in youth football as academy manager at Swansea City and Crystal Palace, then seven years at Celtic which eventually saw him oversee their senior scouting division. At the end of last season he left Celtic Park to become head of football operations at Huddersfield Town, newly promoted to the Premier League, and directed a frantic summer of squad strengthening.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/dec/29/david-moss-celtic-huddersfield-town-player-recruitment-expert