Transfers have always generated high interest from fans, media and generally everybody. While the business of transfer is used to build a club’s team, there are some clubs who have utilised this as a road to profitability. Before we get into that it’s worth noting that transfers of-late have taken an interesting turn. As per Tifosy Capital, transfer data over the last 5 windows have indicated an increasing interest in younger players. To illustrate the point, average age of Chelsea FC players in 20/21 was 25 years which dropped to 23.1 in 24/25, especially with the infusion of young players in the transfer business conducted by them in the last few windows
Why did we mention this? It all ties into the transfer business strategy to generate revenues. In this blog we will look at some of the clubs (in no ranking) who have utilised transfer business as a revenue generating stream successfully especially in the last few years
The Brighton Story
In the 2022/23 financial statements, Brighton announced a record profit of £122.8m, the most successful season in the Premier League club’s history. That kind of profits in European football is far and few and it made all the headlines. So how did that happen? A sizeable portion of Brighton’s income in 2022-23 was generated by their ability to make a profit by selling players who arrived for much smaller fees, after of course delivering successful performances on the pitch. This has been one of the pillars of Brighton’s success. Unearth and identify undervalued players all around the world, and grow them at the club into superstars and sell them at a higher price
The practice really requires two simultaneous but interconnected paths of identifying the right talents and delivering performances on pitch with the underlying connector being data. Mastered in his own way, Tony Bloom, majority owner of the club who also owns data and analytics company using complex data modelling tools to generate probabilistic predictions in football betting, reengineered the tools to create a data-led process at Brighton. And the results are nothing short of spectacular
In 2021/22 Brighton recorded an operating loss of £40mn but more than made up for it through profits on player sales to the tune of £62mn resulting in a PAT (profit after tax) of £24mn. By 2022/23, the modest operating profit of £9.3mn is substantiated by the hefty £121mn profits generated on player sales ballooning the PAT to a record £122mn
Just a sample of their strategic deals done succesfully
- Ben White, brought in free from Southampton in 2014, was sold for £65mn to Arsenal
- Marc Cucurella was bought for £18mn and sold for £65mn to Chelsea
- Alexis Mac Allister was bought for £8mn and sold for around £35mn to Liverpool
- Moises Caicedo, bought for £4.5mn from Independiente del Valle and sold to Chelsea for a record fee of £115mn
Clubs with Incredible Transfer Earnings
Transfers are often associated with the spends, however, there is the other recipient side. Some clubs have an intentional strategy of player sales to augment their revenues taking their club to profitability. In the last 10 years, while Chelsea has spent €2.33bn in acquiring players, they also have received the highest income from selling players raking in €1.32bn, still they are at a high negative balance. Here is the list of top 10 clubs with the highest positive net balance
Predictably, it is from the lesser known and discussed clubs/leagues which produces most the players who end up in the bigger clubs within the‘big five’ leagues. Amongst these, 5 clubs are from Liga Portugal and Dutch Eredivisie while the other 5 comprises of 2 clubs from French Ligue 1, LOSC Lille and AS Monaco and one club each from Serie a (Atalanta) and Croatian top league (Dinamo Zagreb). Portuguese clubs specially have enjoyed unbelievable success at developing academy talents which forces MCO’s to look at establishing footprint in here
In Conclusion
Player sales as a revenue stream in a long term sustainable manner requires a strategic planning, concentrated effort and dedicated resources. Once done, this can prove to be a steady stream
Talking of transfers, taking this space to inform you about the specialized program on the Agent preparation course at SBI. The role of football agents remains crucial in facilitating player transfers and if you are interested in pursuing the career as an agent, then this is the course for you. Starting 28 October 2024, our 5-week online course will prepare you with the knowledge and practice that you need – guided by Malle Koido, a licensed FIFA agent in the UK who’s successfully coached many professionals to pass the exam
You can have a look at the program details here
