Who is Jonathan Barnett? The now-retired football agent once considered the world's biggest

Updated: 15 Apr 2024 12:58 BST
6 min read

Jonathan Barnett is perhaps the most famous English football agent of all time.

He started Stellar Group with David Manasseh in 1994 and subsequently landed a wealth of huge talents as clientele at the firm.

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In 2020, ICM, which was named by Forbes as the most valuable football agency in the world, then forged with CAA Base in 2022, unifying the two largest sports agency firms in the UK.

But just who is Barnett and how did he get started?

What is Jonathan Barnett’s agency?

Barnett is now retired but he forged the agency ICM Stellar, which was recently renamed as CAA Stellar Sports after an acquisition by CAA Base.

What players does Jonathan Barnett represent?

Barnett's former company CAA Stellar has among its clientele names such as Eduardo Camavinga, Jack Grealish, Ivan Toney, Ibrahima Konate, Morgan Gibbs-White, Ben Chilwell, Kobbie Mainoo, Kalvin Phillips, Ben Chilwell, and Luke Shaw.

How good is Jonathan Barnett

Barnett grew up in the West End of London and soon became an employee of Curzon House Group, a casino business owned by his family.

His first client was legendary cricket player Brian Lara, but he since went on to predominantly work in football.

He is proud of his Jewish heritage and known to be fiercely loyal to his players. Despite the media portrayals of sports agents, Barnett has always professed that the best mode to carry out the work is to be truthful and honest.

It’s been an extensive career in the agent industry, with its pinnacle for Barnett arguably in 2019, when he was named the number-one most powerful sports agent in the world, according to Forbes.

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But like most people with rigorous devotion to others, Barnett was caught in controversy back in 2006 and charged by the FA for arranging a secret meeting between his client Ashley Cole and Chelsea, while the former England international was at Arsenal.

Barnett said ofthe incident “I did what I had to do for my client. I represented Ashley Cole. Time has proved if you look at what he’s achieved at Chelsea, it was the right move.”

Fellow agent Barry Silkman said of Barnett after the rendezvous caught the headlines: “It’s part of being an agent, and it doesn’t make you a bad person. I don’t look at him as one of the baddies. I find him good as gold. He’s definitely one of the better ones.”

© IMAGO - Jack Grealish is a client of Barnett's former firm

Despite his success as a sports agency and businessman, Barnett, who is a father of three sons, always maintained (via the Jewish Chronicle) “I’m more proud of my family.”

Barnett retired from the industry this year after what was reportedly a family bereavement.