New bung sensation: 'English football is totally corrupt', says McClaren's agent

Sensational claims: Colin Gordon
13 April 2012

England manager Steve McClaren's agent today said English football was totally corrupt.

In an astonishing attack, Colin Gordon said that the "majority of agents" are taking bungs, with some taking millions of pounds on individual transfer deals.

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Mr Gordon - who represents McClaren as well as Arsenal star Theo Walcott - dubbed England "the dirty man of Europe".

He said: "We're not talking about the £50,000 bungs... or the old brown paper envelope stuffed with a few notes. We're talking about millions upon millions. It is a very, very sophisticated business. It's cleverly disguised."

He went on: "Are agents corrupt? Not all - but the majority. It's accepted abroad. We pretend we are holier than thou. But I've spoken to people over there and the English game is considered the 'dirty man of Europe'. We are the worst - and it shouldn't be accepted."

The revelations are a huge embarrassment for the Football Association, who said it will investigate the claims if presented with the evidence.

Mr Gordon's comments come after a BBC Panoroma investigation claimed Premiership managers had accepted money directly from agents in return for signing their players.

For the first time Mr Gordon revealed how the scandal works. He said: "If I buy a player from eastern Europe and find he is valued at £2 million by his club I say, 'I can sell him for £ 5 million in England'. The club gets £500,000 but the other £2.5 million makes its way into a separate account.

"Since the Premiership began, I would estimate that tens of millions of pounds has gone out of the game this way."

Mr Gordon also said the system is so sophisticated that investigators will never trap the agents and managers.

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