Triumph as Football Industries MBA alumni come together to strike a deal
Mario de Rossi and Dylan Dewey met whilst studying the Football Industries MBA at the University of Liverpool Management School in 2015. Mario and Dylan started the course with a dream of becoming football agents and since graduating from the programme both alumni have gone on to achieve their goals as Mario is currently the Founder and CEO of MdR Sports Management and Dylan is the Founder and CEO of The Invictus Agency.
Prior to graduating our FIMBA programme with a distinction, Mario was working as a criminal defence solicitor. He then decided to pursue his passion as a career by working as a sports lawyer for a year and a half before applying for FIMBA and subsequently setting up his own agency, MdR Sports Management, which specialises in football intermediation and representation of elite youth talents.
Passionate about education, Dylan served as a high school maths teacher for multiple years before applying for our FIMBA programme. Since graduating, Dylan set up The Invictus Agency which boasts an extensive network that offers clients the opportunity to pursue careers virtually everywhere. Dylan has since gone on to work with clubs such as Liverpool, PSG, Marseille and has organised trials at Watford, Nottingham Forest, Antwerp, Köln, Werder Bremen and SPAL.
Not only did the ULMS FIMBA programme equip the pair with a variety of skills and knowledge in various areas of management, but Mario and Dylan also left the programme with a lasting friendship. In an increasingly competitive industry, it is rewarding to see both Mario and Dylan successfully set up their own agencies specialising in football intermediation, representing talents, endorsements and much more.
More recently, Mario’s and Dylan’s paths crossed again as they were able to work together to strike a deal enabling 27-year old Icelandic French forward, Árni Vilhjálmsson, to make a move to Ligue 2 club Rodez Aveyron Football playing as a striker. This was no easy feat as countless hours were spent on the transfer from negotiating, finding solutions, writing and reviewing documents (in a total of 3 languages); all of which was required to make the signing happen. But the main aim of Mario and Dylan was to help the player, allow a human being to change and improve his and his family's life once for all. And they did it, an absolutely priceless feeling and accomplishment for the pair!
As Mario and Dylan continue with their careers and look to their next signings, they both agree that they will do so in the right way with honesty, transparency and professionalism. They are here to motivate people and change the perception of what a football agent is.
Mario de Rossi says:
“The journey of becoming an agent since graduating has not been an easy one. Dylan and myself could have taken the easier path and chosen ordinary lives but we had a dream that we never wanted to give up on.
“You have no idea how many times we have failed, how many deals have fallen through for minuscule details, how many no’s we have gotten, how many doors shut on our faces, how many people have tried to stop and undermine us. But we are here to inspire people and try to change the industry for the better.
“With our shared goal, this definitely isn’t going to be the last time that Dylan and I strike a deal; it’s just the beginning.”
Dylan N. Dewey says:
“My journey of becoming a football agent has been twenty years in the making. From dreaming at eleven years old that I wanted to be a football agent, wanting to move to Barcelona at sixteen years old, to now signing players from major clubs worldwide; it has been an incredible journey and process.
“My relationship with Mario has been invaluable. The deal that we have struck together is something that I’ll never forget and is a true turning point for me. Education has been essential to becoming successful in our field. Not only has the University of Liverpool FIMBA programme opened doors for us, but enabled us to find each other and I look forward to us continuing to work together”.