Zero transfers in two years… Then we analysed the data.

For two years, we tried to move our European players into the MLS.

We had solid talent. We had the relationships.

We had zero transfers.

It sounds obvious in hindsight, but I realised the problem wasn't effort. The problem was economics.

A player in Europe is significantly better paid than their counterpart in America at the same level.

So when an American club came calling with their salary offer, our players weren't interested. They were already earning more.

That forced clubs to look at the next tier down. Players who they could actually afford.

But the problem was that those players weren't good enough to improve their squads.

We were stuck.

The players clubs wanted were too expensive.

The players the clubs could afford, they didn't want.

So we stopped banging our heads against a brick wall and started analysing.

We pulled the data on player movement into the MLS.

One number stood out: at the time over 200 players from South America were already in the league.

Not Europe where our HQ and network was. South America.

The reason was obvious once you saw it:

Player quality in South America is high.

Player salaries are low.

American clubs could afford the talent they actually wanted, that talent would genuinely improve their teams, and the players were happy to go because they were getting a pay rise not a pay cut.

The economics worked.

Instead of continuing to force a strategy that the data said wouldn't work, we made a strategic call and opened an office in Colombia, and brought in one talented agent to run it out of Medellin.

The results came fast. That January we completed three transfers from Colombia to the USA. That was three more than we'd done in the previous two years combined.

Within a year we'd completed eight, and now we've done over 20.

Same goal. Different strategy. Much better outcome.

The lesson here applies beyond football.

When something isn't working, most people double down on effort. They assume they just need to work harder.

Sometimes that's true. But sometimes the strategy itself is just plain flawed, you're swimming against the tide and no amount of effort will fix that.

Data doesn't lie. If the numbers consistently tell you one path is blocked. Step back, analyse the landscape, and find the route that actually leads where you want to go.