We don’t run a roster. We build careers — one athlete at a time, quietly prepared for every conversation that defines them.
Most agencies are measured by roster size. We measure differently. A career is not a portfolio to scale — it is one life, one window, one chain of decisions where the agent in the room is part of every conversation that defines what comes next.
So we move slowly. We work with a small number of athletes. We commit fully to each. The roster is deliberately quiet, deliberately small, and deliberately chosen — because the alternative is the thing we refuse to be.
The thing we refuse to be is a broker.
Three things sit behind every decision we make for an athlete we represent. None of them are negotiable.
The intelligence layer runs underneath every contract review, every trial offer, every transfer conversation. MATE doesn’t play. MATE prepares the ones who do.
Vitalii Lomov, founder and UEFA-licensed coach, sits inside every athlete file. The technical read of the player and the operational read of the deal are the same read.
We do not sell access. We do not sell signatures. We work on the five-year shape of a career — and price representation around the shape, not the transaction.
We are not the right agency for every player, and we are honest about it. The athletes who fit Talent Mates share four things — and the absence of any one of them is a signal we will not represent the player well.
The technical foundation is there on tape, in matches, in training. We don’t represent potential we cannot see. The work begins with the football, not with the narrative around it.
The athlete knows where they are now, knows where they want to be, and is honest about the distance between the two. Coachability — for the player, the family, and the agent — is the precondition for everything.
The decisions that matter most rarely feel urgent. Families who value the five-year shape over the quick deal find the right partner here. Families who don’t, won’t.
Contracts in front of the player. Trials being discussed. A move between countries, leagues, or categories. The harder the decision in the next 12 months, the more we add. The easier it is, the better the player is served elsewhere.
Whether the answer is yes or no, every enquiry receives a clear decision within 14 days. We don’t keep families waiting.
A short message from the athlete, family, or current coach. Who the player is, where they are now, and the decision they are walking toward.
A video call with Vitalii. Forty minutes. Football first, paperwork never. The aim is to understand the player as a player.
Footage, situation, current paperwork, current pathway. Reviewed against the four criteria. MATE supports the read. The human makes the call.
A clear answer, explained in writing. If yes, the next conversation is about the work. If no, the reasoning is honest — and where we can, we point to a better fit.
“When a family puts a son’s career in your hands, the room becomes very quiet. Everything I have built — the coaching, the football work, the AI — exists to deserve that quiet.”
I started Talent Mates because the football industry talks too much about access and too little about preparation. A player doesn’t need an agent who knows everybody. A player needs an agent who has read every clause, watched every minute of tape, and is in the room when the decision lands. That is what we are building here, one athlete at a time, and that is why the roster is small.
If your son or daughter is approaching a moment that will shape the next five years of their career, you are welcome to be in touch — directly, plainly, and without obligation.
VITALII LOMOV · FOUNDER, TALENT MATES · UEFA-LICENSED COACH · LONDON
A small number of athletes, each working toward a defined moment in their career.
If the work above sounds like the partner your son or daughter needs, write to Vitalii directly. Every enquiry is read. Every athlete is reviewed against the four criteria. A clear answer arrives within 14 days.