French clubs, kings of capital gains on transfers

According to a ranking established by L’Observatoire du Football CIES over the last ten mercatos, Lille and Olympique Lyonnais are at the top of the clubs having achieved the greatest added value on transfers among the five main European leagues. Four Ligue 1 teams are in the Top 10.

Who Said Trading Doesn’t Work? This sporting policy which consists in valuing players from players before their resale on the transfer market is in vogue in many Ligue 1 clubs. At LOSC, the former management led by the duo Gérard Lopez-Luis Campos had claimed and applied this model before Olivier Létang, the new president, changed direction (a little): « We want to go from a very strong trading model to a more measured model, of a more classic football club perhaps with the ‘objective to be very efficient in sport,’ he said in December during his first press conference in the North.

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Four L1 clubs in the Top 6

However, we have to believe that this policy can pay off big. According to the CIES Football Observatory, LOSC is the club with the best financial record on transfers since 2016 among the five main European leagues. In this classification established according to the balance between sales and purchases over the last ten mercatos, the Mastiffs have a capital gain of 191 million euros (252 million in expenses, 443 in income). Lille is ahead of another Ligue 1 club, Olympique Lyonnais. Jean-Michel Aulas’ club has totaled € 151M in capital gains on transfers since summer 2016. Atalanta Bergamo (+ € 133M), AS Monaco (+ € 132M) and Hoffenheim (+ € 87M) complete the top 5. Good sellers, the French clubs are even six in the top 10 since Saint-Etienne occupies the 6th place of this classification (+ 78M €). Good salespeople, but not necessarily good managers. Recall that many elite clubs are in deficit, the health crisis having worsened their financial situation, which became very worrying after the abandonment of TV rights by Mediapro.

Less 455 million euros for PSG

In Ligue 1, two clubs are in deficit on the balance of transfers. PSG posted a capital loss of 455 million euros (854 million euros in expenses, 399 in revenue). Sanctioned several months ago by UEFA for not respecting the rules of financial fair play, OM is also in the negative with -71 million euros. Abroad, we will not be surprised to observe that the Premier League has a total deficit of 4.5 billion of all its clubs. Southampton is the one who is doing « the best » (-50M €).