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THU 29 SEP 2022 | GLOBAL GROWTH
Report shows LaLiga Santander was the only major European leagues to extract positive value from the past decade of transfer market investments
Report shows LaLiga Santander was the only major European leagues to extract positive value from the past decade of transfer market investments
  • A study from the CIES Football Observatory has analysed transfers between 2012 and 2022 and found that only Spanish sides had a positive difference on average between estimated value and amount invested.
  • The three clubs that secured the most value across LaLiga Santander, Premier League, Ligue 1, Serie A and Bundesliga were all Spanish, namely Atlético de Madrid, FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC.

Every player investment that is completed in the world of football is an opportunity to gain value, and a new study has demonstrated that Spanish clubs found much more value in the transfer market over the past decade than their counterparts in Germany, Italy, France or England. In fact, LaLiga Santander was the only league whose clubs extracted positive value from their player investment over the period between summer 2012 and summer 2022.

The CIES Football Observatory, the renowned football research organisation, calculated the amount that clubs from Europe’s top five leagues invested in transfer fees over the past decade and the estimated value of the players they were purchasing, working out the gap between these two figures. The three clubs that were found to have secured the most value were all from LaLiga Santander, namely Atlético de Madrid, FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC.

Atlético de Madrid sat first overall on the Underspending Table as the capital city club’s sporting department was able to extract €82m in extra value from the transfer market over the past decade. That’s because Atlético were estimated to have invested €593m on players whose actual worth was a combined €675m. FC Barcelona were second with €47m in extra value and Sevilla FC were third with €44m.

The study assessed all clubs that had spent time in Europe’s top five leagues and that had completed at least 10 fee-paying transfers in the past decade, with deals concluded by triggering buy-out or option-to-buy clauses excluded from the sample analysed. This produced a list of 86 clubs, 16 of which were Spanish. These LaLiga Santander sides were found to have achieved €5.75m on average in extra value from their transfer market investment. In other words, the sporting directors of Spanish clubs were able to attract talented players for less than their market value. 

None of the other top five leagues managed to achieve a positive total in this sense. The Bundesliga was next closest, but still had a negative figure in terms of extra value, as the average German club had a difference of -€4.47m between estimated value and amount invested. Then, the average for a club from Serie A was -€22.53m, from Ligue 1 was -€31.50m and from the Premier League was -€66.60m.

Smart and responsible investment by LaLiga clubs

The results show that LaLiga clubs were able to identify and obtain value in the transfer market, acquiring talent at the same time as investing responsibly. This makes sense given that LaLiga implemented its Economic Control framework in 2013, just one year after the start of the period studied. The stated aim of the Economic Control policy is to guarantee the sustainability of the competition and of the clubs themselves through a priori financial review. Identifying extra value in the transfer market helps LaLiga Santander clubs to remain competitive in continental competitions, while also balancing their books.

Other leagues don’t have the same kind of a priori financial review, however. This means non-Spanish clubs can invest and spend beyond their means and the CIES Football Observatory identified this as a factor in transfer market inflation.

Analysing their own findings, the CIES Football Observatory stated: “Only three Premier League teams figure among the 36 clubs that invested less money than expected to conclude the fee-paying deals assessed. This confirms their key role in driving up inflation on the transfer market.”

This is an issue that LaLiga president Javier Tebas recently addressed in a press conference, explaining: “There’s a need to explain what is happening in the Premier League, which is being sustained by the multi-million personal investments of shareholders, which isn’t the model being followed in Spain or in Germany, while it’s also not the model that’s going to be followed within UEFA. We have carried out an in-depth study of the Premier League and we must correct what is happening because it is inflating the market and leading to an unsustainable business. The Premier League has an economic control framework that, in our opinion, isn’t being complied with. It is a matter of whether we want European football to be sustainable.”

Even with the overspending of other leagues, LaLiga clubs are still consistently winning in UEFA competitions. On this, Tebas concluded: “I don't see the Premier League as being a super league. Spanish clubs, in this century, have won 37 European titles, while the next closest is the Premier League with 13. This is what makes a track record, not that the Premier League signs many players by getting out the chequebook.”

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