clubs switch to buying under-21 players

The CIES Football Observatory has summarized club football transfer data over the past decade. In addition to the obvious conclusion that the English Premier League (EPL) plays the first fiddle in terms of player acquisition costs, CIES experts have noticed that the age preferences of clubs, which have a growing demand for young players, have also changed significantly. In 2023, nearly 30% of team signings were under the age of 21. And the total spending on the purchase of football players exceeded €12 billion.

The research structure CIES Football Observatory, established by the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the Swiss University of Neuchâtel, has published the results of a study of the transfer market for the period from 2014 to 2023. In addition to stating that clubs’ spending on reinforcements is growing (from €4.49 billion in 2014 to €12.42 billion in 2023), it also notes the continued drift in the age preferences of buying clubs towards young people. In particular, the authors of the study found that if ten years ago the share of funds spent on the acquisition of players aged 21 and younger was 23.6%, then following the results of the current summer transfer campaign, it has already reached 29.6%. It is also noted that until the season that began in 2018, that is, the last pre-pandemic season, the demand for young football players increased at a rather modest pace. But in the last couple of years it has increased dramatically.

The statement of CIES specialists can be easily illustrated with data on the largest transfers of the current season. The top 3 most expensive transfers of the summer include two players who fall into the category “21 years old or younger”. This is Moises Caicedo, bought by Chelsea from Brighton for €116m (the most expensive acquisition of the summer, according to Transfermarkt, was 24-year-old Declan Rice, who moved from West Ham to Arsenal for €116.6m). ), as well as Jude Bellingham, whom Borussia sold to Real Madrid for €103 million. Rasmus Heilunn (transition from Atalanta to Manchester City for €75 million). In general, transfers involving young players, worth €25 million or more, have accumulated two dozen over the past summer alone.

The CIES data on which roles of players are worth more than others is also interesting. There were no loud sensations here – clubs, as before, are ready to pay more for forwards than for players of other positions. However, it was noted that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for strikers still decreased by 3.7%. If in the period from 2014 to 2020 the expenses for forwards in the transfer budgets of clubs amounted to 53.3%, then by the summer of 2023 they decreased to 49.6%. At the same time, defenders became more in demand, especially central (increase by 1.2%) and midfielders (increase by 2.1%). Only the demand for goalkeepers remains stable – the change over the decade was only “plus 0.1%”.

CIES experts also drew attention to the anomalous activity of Chelsea over the past year that attracted public interest. In three transfer windows, Londoners, who were sold by Roman Abramovich to American entrepreneur Todd Boehley last summer, have spent more than €1 billion on new players, breaking all records for generosity. In total, over ten years, Chelsea has invested € 2.64 billion in strengthening the squad. This is also an absolute record. However, the authors of the study dug a little deeper, calculating the balance of expenses and income of clubs from transfer activities in the studied period of time. And it turned out that Chelsea in this sense is not a champion at all. The negative balance of the work of Londoners in the transfer market for ten years amounted to € 1.033 billion, but this is only the second indicator, inferior to the achievement of Manchester United. Manchester United bought players for €1.959 billion, sold for €563 million and received a balance of “minus €1.396 billion”. There is only one other club in the world with a negative balance of more than 1 billion – PSG. Even winning everything in a row, Manchester City is only in fifth place with minus € 856 million (fourth – Arsenal, minus € 871 million).

Benfica became the sales champion. She has a positive, at €764 million, a balance of work on the transfer market for ten years. In second place is Ajax (€434 million), in third is Salzburg (€421 million).

As for the balance sheets of expenses and incomes of the leagues as a whole, here the CIES specialists once again confirmed the superiority of the English Premier League (EPL). During the study period, Premier League teams spent €21.48bn on player acquisitions, with a negative transfer balance of €11.11bn (a significant portion of this money went to teams outside of England). In second place in terms of spending is the Italian championship (€9.95 billion), which has a negative balance of only €1.12 billion. In third place is the Spanish league (€7.84 billion) with a balance of minus €920 million. The Russian Premier League (RPL) is also in the top 10 most wasteful leagues – ninth place. For ten years, its clubs have spent €1.44 billion on players, and sold for €1.14 billion. So the negative balance was €300 million.

Alexander Petrov