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FootballBasel among the most skillful clubs in the world in transfers
In its latest study, the Football Observatory highlights the clubs with the best financial balance for 5 years. FCB is in 16th place.
Sports director Daniel Stucki (background) and president David Degen (foreground) are the guarantors of a policy resolutely focused on trading.
Martin Meienberger/FreshfocusAt the end of a glorious 2024-2025 season, punctuated by the Cup-Championship double, FC Basel is struggling to confirm, which is currently 4th in the Super League and 24th in the Europa League. On the other hand, there is one area where the Rotblau continue to excel: the transfer window. In recent years, they have gotten into the habit of making a fortune from the sale of their best players, and a recent study by the Football Observatory illustrates the fruits of this.
In his weekly letter published last Wednesdaythe Neuchâtel-based institute has established the world ranking of clubs displaying the best financial balance linked to transfers since January 2021, bonuses included. More precisely, the analysis focuses on the movements of players who have already been definitively transferred to date. The best positioned Swiss representative, by far, the FCB appears in 16th place, with a balance sheet surplus of 92 million euros.
The world’s top 20 clubs having, since January 2021, the best financial balance linked to the transfers of players already definitively sold, to date.
CIES Football ObservatoryMany significant sales
Over the period under review, Basel invested 40 million euros while it recovered 132 million euros. Including some 25 million euros thanks to Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori, adding the 4 million euros received during his transfer to Bologna in the summer of 2023 then the participation in the resale – up to around 50% – following his departure to Arsenal against 45 million euros 12 months later. The same system allowed the Rhinelanders to pocket around 20 million euros with French striker Thierno Barry, now at Everton after a spell with Villarreal.
Before becoming one of the most highly rated defenders in the world, Riccardo Calafiori revealed himself in Basel during the 2022-2023 season.
Marc Schumacher/FreshfocusFC Basel may have been at the bottom of the sporting wave, but it was able to maximize its assets. Particularly in the wake of his epic in the Conference League (semi-finalist in 2023), when he successively sold Zeki Amdouni to Burnley (18 million euros), Andy Diouf to Lens (14 million euros) and Dan Ndoye to Bologna (10 million euros), in addition to Riccardo Calafiori. Let us also remember the great changes made by sending Arthur Cabral to Fiorentina (15.5 million euros) and Edon Zhegrova to Lille (7 million euros) in January 2022, as well as Renato Veiga to Chelsea (14 million euros) in July 2024 and, recently, Kevin Carlos to Nice (6 million euros).
Systematic resale clauses
There is a model there, today orchestrated by sports director Daniel Stucki, whose effectiveness must be recognized. That is to say the capacity of the recruitment unit to target the right profiles and that of the technical staff to put in place the necessary conditions to exploit their potential. Once this valuation work has been carried out, it is the responsibility of managers to monetize it. And in this game, the people of Basel demonstrate great skill. Beyond knowing how to sell well in the moment, they make sure to anticipate the future. “We never sign a contract without a resale clause,” Daniel Stucki told “Blick”. History of capitalizing in the long term on the progress of players, including when they explode elsewhere.
When it comes to trading, since that’s what it’s all about, Basel has no equivalent in Switzerland. The second Super League club to appear in the Football Observatory rankings, Lausanne-Sport has a profit of +18 million euros, or 74 million euros less than the reigning champion. Behind are Young Boys (+16 million euros), St. Gallen (+13 million euros) and Lugano (+11 million euros).
The ranking of Swiss clubs appearing in the Football Observatory study.
CIES Football Observatory.The world prize goes to Eintracht Frankfurt (+286 million euros), ahead of Brighton (+221 million euros) and Stuttgart (+178 million euros).
