A footballer’s transfer relocation: the first 30 days, step by step

Published 30 October 2026 · ATLAS MAISON editorial team

Day 1

Suite or furnished home ready; car and driver at the training ground

Week 1

Shortlist of secure homes; school applications started

Weeks 2–3

Viewings, staff interviews, residency and banking with advisers

Week 4

Move in; family routine established

Who leads

Agent and club on the contract; family office and advisers on legal and tax; concierge on everything else

A transfer can be agreed on a Tuesday and announced on a Thursday. By the weekend, a player may be training in a new country while the family is still packing. The first thirty days decide whether the move feels chaotic or calm. Here is how a well-run relocation usually unfolds.

Day one

The player needs a base close to the training ground from the first night: a suite or furnished apartment with space to rest, a car and driver who knows the route, and someone handling meals that fit the club’s nutrition plan. Everything else can wait a few days; sleep and recovery cannot.

The first week

While the player settles in, the family brief is written: how many bedrooms, which neighbourhoods, gardens and security, the children’s ages and schooling, pets, staff and the partner’s own work or studies. Temporary accommodation for the whole family is extended if needed, and school applications begin at once, because mid-year places at the best international schools are limited.

Finding the home

A shortlist of long-let or purchase options is viewed with security in mind: gated access, privacy from the road, distance to training and school, and room for staff. Many families rent for the first season before buying. Contracts and purchases go through the family’s lawyers; the concierge coordinates viewings, inventories, utilities, furnishing and the move itself.

Schools and the family

International schools, nannies and tutors are arranged through licensed agencies, with language lessons for the whole family. The partner and parents need their own settling-in plan: doctors, dentists, gyms, a social circle and someone to call when something goes wrong. A happy family is the best support a player has.

Residency, banking and insurance

Work and residence permits, local registration, bank accounts, car insurance and health cover all follow local rules and are handled with the club, the family office and licensed advisers. A concierge keeps the calendar of appointments and documents, so the player only appears where his signature is required.

Privacy from the start

Bookings under an agreed name, staff who sign confidentiality undertakings, side entrances at restaurants and no social media from anyone around the family: privacy is far easier to establish in the first month than to win back later. See our page for footballers and elite athletes.