R51 million in 15 Minutes: How Sundowns swiftly landed Marcelo Allende
Chilean club boss Cristian Ogalde has detailed the story of the lightning-fast R51 million acquisition of Marcelo Allende by Mamelodi Sundowns ahead of the 2022/23 DStv Premiership season.
In the past, Club Deportivo Magallanes, a club based in San Bernardo, Chile, primarily conducted transfers with other Latin American teams.
They relied heavily on their established network, but accomplishing these deals often required intermediaries.
This dependence limited Magallanes’ ability to generate wider interest and secure the necessary funds from selling their homegrown talent.
The club, in turn, couldn’t reinvest those funds back into strengthening their first team. That was until 22 March 2022 in Madrid, Spain when CD Magallanes owner and president, Ogalde, made his first player sale on TransferRoom.
The convenience of direct communication came to life at the Madrid Summit. There, Ogalde met one-on-one with Flemming Berg, Sporting Director of Sundowns. The meeting wasn’t just a formality.
It sparked discussions about a potential transfer for Allende, a talented midfielder co-owned by Magallanes and Uruguay’s Montevideo City Torque. Remarkably, the entire conversation lasted just 15 minutes.
THE SWIFT SIGNING OF MARCELO ALLENDE
“It was a great opportunity to showcase a quality player who maybe not many clubs in the world were aware of,” Ogalde explained. He was speaking to the TransferRoom Blog at the just-ended Summit in Rome, Italy.
“Then the timing was right with the TransferRoom Summit in Madrid to sit down with clubs and discuss talents. When I sat down with Mamelodi Sundowns, they told me what they were looking for and I presented the profile of Marcelo Allende.
“Two days later, they already had all the information about the player and they had verified everything I told them about him.”
Ogalde reveals that the main element he appreciates about TransferRoom “is that you get in touch directly with Presidents or Sporting Directors without needing intermediaries in the communication between clubs”.
He believes it gives huge value to how much your time is worth because you speak directly to the relevant person.
“I believe it was an amazing opportunity for Mamelodi Sundowns and ourselves to meet. This was thanks to the TransferRoom Summit. TransferRoom has a great added value for us as a country which is far away, to look for opportunities on the transfer market.”
In a mere 15 minutes, Downs secured the talented playmaker for a staggering US$3 million [R56 million today’s rate], marking a historic moment for both clubs.
THE DEAL MOVED SWIFTLY
Within 15 days, Sundowns finalised the purchase, reportedly securing 80% ownership rights for the attacking midfielder.
“As a Chilean club, it’s massively important to have a developed network at an international level, create new relationships and maintain the ones we already developed thanks to the very efficient platform that is TransferRoom,”
The deal, orchestrated through the platform designed to connect clubs directly, bypassed traditional intermediaries and expedited negotiations.
This swiftness proved crucial in securing Allende, a player who had garnered interest but remained relatively unknown outside of South America.
ALLENDE IMPRESSES RULANI MOKWENA WITH BRAINS AND HUMILITY
For Allende, the move to South Africa presented a thrilling new chapter in his career. He has had the opportunity to showcase his skills on a bigger stage and contribute to Sundowns’ continued dominance in South African football.
The Chilean midfielder has been an ever-present figure in Downs’ starting lineup since arriving in the country. He has started 58 games out of 64 in the last two seasons. According to Transfermarkt, he has 14 goal contributions [seven goals and seven assists].
He has already lifted the DStv Premiership trophy and the inaugural African Football League title. The 24-year-old has impressed coach Rulani Mokwena, who highlighted the player’s intelligence, humility, and the positive impact he has on the team.
Mokwena has spoken glowingly of Allende, praising his natural talent and ability to elevate the team’s overall performance.
“There are things that players have that a coach can never take credit for. Marcelo Allende has so many of those attributes,” Mokwena said.
The coach pinpointed two key qualities in Allende: his exceptional footballing mind and his humble personality. “I think he will be a top coach,” Mokwena remarked, emphasising Allende’s strategic understanding of the game. “The level of discussions that I have with Marcelo… He provokes my brain so much,” he added.
However, Mokwena went beyond just footballing skills, stressing Allende’s character. “The second and most important thing about him is that he is an incredible and humble human being,” he concluded.
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