The Trial File

Five trials. Offers in three countries. No contract. I said no five times. Here is what I learned, with the receipts.

A 30-page guide for American players who want a professional trial and keep being told to find an agent.

What’s inside

• How asking one friend for his agent’s name got me a week at a German fourth-division club.
• The seven ways into a trial, ranked by what each produced for me and what each cost.
• The number that decides whether a German club can sign an American: €4,225 a month.
• Every offer I received, from €700 a month down to $100, and why I said no to each.
• Who asked me for money, what I paid, and what I would pay for again.
• How to get known by the people who run a combine or an ID event before you pay for it.
• Why to save first: money decided three of my five no’s.
• The messages I sent, ready to adapt.

Plus five one-page tools to use the next day: readiness audit, 60-day plan, pre-flight check, offer test and budget sheet.

What it won’t promise

• No contacts for sale. I show how I found each person and what I wrote. Other people’s names and numbers stay out.
• No contract. I never signed one, and page one says so.
• No passport fix. It is written for a player without an EU passport, and tells you what that will cost you.
• Not legal advice. I am a lawyer, but I am not your lawyer or your agent.

30-page PDF, instant download.

One player’s experience from 2015 to 2020, checked against the rules as they stood in October 2026. Not legal advice, and I am not acting as an agent.