Selling Players for €1.72 Billion: Three Clubs Are Reshaping the European Football Food Chain

Since the summer transfer window was established in 2002, Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, Porto, Benfica, and Sporting CP have long controlled the main channels for supplying talent to Europe's top five leagues. But this talent pipeline is being disrupted by three clubs.

Red Bull Salzburg's summer player exports have risen to second place

According to Transfermarkt statistics, since 2020, Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg has completed 28 summer sales to the top five leagues, ranking second among all teams outside the top five leagues. Belgian club Club Brugge ranks sixth among teams that have completed at least five sales, with an average summer transfer income of €17.2 million per deal.

Club Brugge's example of buying low and selling high

In July this year, Christos Tzolis joined Arsenal for €40 million. Earlier, Ardon Jashari moved to AC Milan for €36 million in August 2025, while Igor Thiago transferred to Brentford for €33 million in an earlier summer. Club Brugge originally signed these three players from Fortuna Düsseldorf, Lucerne, and Ludogorets for a combined €23.5 million.

Club Brugge sporting director Maarten De Dobbeleer said the club looks for clear player profiles that match eight football principles, helping the scouting department identify new talent more accurately. In an interview with the De Klokke podcast in June, he said that when he sees other teams sign certain players, he can accept saying, "We knew him, but we rejected him," because the reason is not that the player could not perform in the Belgian league, but that he did not fully fit Club Brugge's profile.

Scouting is only half the story; the other half is youth development

Club Brugge's scouts are required not to focus only on physical attributes, but also to assess whether players can perform specific tasks within a particular style of play. For example, a shorter midfielder can become an excellent header of the ball because of his jumping ability or timing. At the same time, Club Brugge develops its own players through the Club NXT academy system, with its U23 team competing in Belgium's second tier to give young players experience in senior football before promotion to the first team.

Charles De Ketelaere, Chemsdine Talbi, and Maxim De Cuyper are recent examples of successful youth development. After helping Club Brugge win the Belgian top-flight title, they respectively transferred to AC Milan, Sunderland, and Brighton.

Club Brugge's commitment to a "dominant" style of play is also an important reason it has become a destination for top-five-league buyers. Elite teams want new signings who can adapt to this approach, and Club Brugge players possess this quality. Since the summer of 2019, Club Brugge players have continued to attract increasing interest from the top five leagues.