Ajax and PSV among football’s top 10 for most profitable transfer policy

Eredivisie football clubs Ajax and PSV are in the global top 10 for the teams with the most profitable transfer policy, according to a study by Transfermarkt and eToro. The Portuguese top-level club Benfica has been the most financially successful on the transfer market in the past five years.

Benfica generated 356 million euros in transfer market profit, but the fees for agents and other costs were not included in the study. In the report, “profit” is defined as the difference between the buy and sell price of a player.

Ajax was second on the list with the largest profits since the transfer window in the summer of 2018, according to The Football Investment Report. The Amsterdam team earned a profit of 308 million euros on transfers in the past five years. To a large extent, Ajax owes that amount to the sales of Antony and Lisandro Martínez to Manchester United. The South American players jointly generated about 130 million euros in profit.

PSV was number eight in the ranking with 189 million euros. This year, the Eindhoven team sold Cody Gakpo and Noni Madueke to Liverpool and Chelsea, respectively.

Benfica and Ajax were trailed by Lille, Red Bull Salzburg, Sporting, Olympique Lyon and AS Monaco. PSV was followed by Porto and the Danish club FC Nordsjælland to round out the top 10. FC Nordsjælland, the former club of current Ajax player Mohammed Kudus, earned a profit of 125 million euros on transfers.

According to the study, Ajax is also the number two in the world when it comes to selling players from its own youth academy. Since 2013-2014, the reigning national champion has sold players with a total value of 376 million euros. Matthijs de Ligt was sold to Juventus for more than 80 million euros and Frenkie de Jong moved to FC Barcelona for a similar amount. However, Ajax had to give up part of De Jong’s fee to Willem II and RKC.

Benfica made the most of the sale of players it brought up in its own system. The club is led by trainer Roger Schmidt. They had more than half-billion euros left over from transferring players from its own youth: 543 million euros.

Real Madrid performed just slightly below Ajax with the sale of homegrown players on the market, taking in 375 million euros. The top 10 includes all European clubs: Sporting, AS Monaco, Red Bull Salzburg, Porto, Manchester City, FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid.