A necessary evil they may be at times, but there’s little doubt that agents oil the wheels when it comes to deals being done for high-profile football players in the modern game.
For one Manchester City star, however, things haven’t perhaps turned out how he might have wanted.
According to Het Nieuwsblad and cited by the Daily Mail, Kevin De Bruyne had made a complaint about his agent, Patrick De Koster, leading to the latter’s arrest on Thursday.
The issue apparently centres around a financial dispute which is related to events that took place when De Bruyne was at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga between 2013 and 2014.
The Daily Mail report that Eric Van Duysee, the spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office, notes that De Koster is suspected of ‘money laundering and forgery.’
Het Nieuwsblad, cited by the Daily Mail go on to say that when there were payments made regarding De Bruyne’s contract with Wolfsburg, they were diverted through Liechtenstein, known as tax paradise, and therefore suggesting that they weren’t above board.
Having been De Bruyne’s agent since 2004, De Koster has brokered significant deals for his client, but such a potential breach of trust may well lead to their relationship soon being terminated.