The 523rd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the world's smartest clubs on the transfer market since January 2021 in terms of the financial balance sheets of players recruited as professionals (i.e. excluding youth academy signings) and already permanently transferred to other teams. Eintracht Frankfurt tops the list with a positive balance of +€286m: €364m in revenue and €78m in expenditure.
The Germans are ahead of Brighton & Hove (+€221m) and Stuttgart (+€178m). Atalanta (+€150 million) and Benfica (+€147 million) round out the top five. In contrast, the most negative trading balances for players signed and transferred over the last five years were recorded for two Saudi clubs, Al-Hilal (-€197m) and Al-Nassr (-€104m), followed by three English teams: West Ham (-€99m), Aston Villa (-€85m) and Manchester United (-€74m).
If we add fist team squad recruits since 2021 who are still under contract with their signing clubs, and subtract their acquisition price from the current estimated value according to our statistical model, Eintracht Frankfurt is once again the best club with a balance of +€670m (+€286m for players recruited and already sold; +€384m for those recruited and still owned), ahead of Real Madrid (+€591m), with Manchester United at the opposite end (-€482m).
* The rankings only include clubs whose total transfer spending and income since 2021 exceeds €10 million. The balance sheets take into account add-ons regardless of whether they have actually been paid or received, as well as sums earned through sell-ons
Financial balance sheets of players recruited as professionals since January 2021 (€ million)
[Trading balance] for players already permanently transferred to other teams
[Expenditure] for players already permanently transferred to other teams
[Income] for players already permanently transferred to other teams
[Value balance] for players still under contract (current value and fees paid)
[Total balance]: sum of trading balance and value balance