Which clubs are the best (and worst) at adding market value to their new signings?

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Every club ranked 

Imagine you are a young player with a promising career ahead of you. The summer transfer window beckons, with some of the world’s most illustrious football clubs hoping to snag your signature and add you to their squad for next season. Which club should you pick with the hopes of increasing your market value? Which clubs suit young players the most and which ones tend to offer little more than a dead end for ambitious players? Today Transfermarkt looks at the data to find out.

How we calculated our numbers 

To get to the bottom of this question, we have looked at every signing made by clubs since the start of the 2020/21 season and noted the market values of each new signing when they joined their new club. We’ve then considered the market value of said players in the current day and noted how much they have increased or decreased. When added together, we then get a final figure for each club to note whether their signings tend to increase or decrease in value during their time at the club. For the sake of clarity, we have excluded players that were promoted from the club’s youth academy and gained market value as they developed into first team players. So, for example, Gavi, Lamine Yamal & Co have not been counted at Barcelona despite seeing their market values soar. 

Another thing to note is that because Transfermarkt naturally downgrades any player that reaches 30 years of age regardless of their performances, older players will naturally impact on their clubs score. For example, Harry Kane, Ilkay Gündoğan and Robert Lewandowski have all performed admirably since they switched clubs in recent years, but have also seen their market values begin to drop because of their age. Be careful not to always attribute market value drops to sporting failure. 

Which clubs are the best at increasing the market value of new players?

To no great surprise, Premier League outfit Brighton happen to be the best club in Europe’s top leagues when it comes to providing an ideal springboard for young players. In total, the market values of the 30 players recruited by the Seagulls since 20/21 has increased by more than €257 million. This is largely due to the emergence of players like Moisés Caicedo (+€70m), Kaoru Mitoma (+€43.2m) Simon Adingra (+€28.5m) and Denis Undav (+€17m), who spent the season on loan at Stuttgart. 

However, it isn’t only smaller clubs that can specialise in developing young players that are signed in the transfer market. Just behind Brighton in the rankings are none other than London powerhouses Arsenal, who have seen their signings in the last four seasons increase by a combined €253.3m, while Manchester City come in fifth with an increase of €202.3m for their signings. In total no less than five of the top 10 clubs in the rankings play in the Premier League. 

Which clubs are the worst at increasing the market value of new players?

In stark contrast to the likes of Brighton, Arsenal and Man City, Manchester United are where most players seem to go if they wanted to draw a line under their career prospects. Since 20/21, no less than half of the players signed by the club have seen their market values plummet. In first place is none other than Jadon Sancho, who has seen his market value drop by a massive €75m since he made the move to Old Trafford. With other notable examples such as Raphaël Varane (-€45m) and Donny van de Beek (-€37m( underlining a clear trend in the English giants struggling to make the most of the players they tend to sign. 

In total, Man Utd’s signings since 20/21 have lost €229m in market value. However, the Old Trafford club aren’t the only European giants to struggle in the transfer market. In second place are Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain, who have seen €164m be whipped off the market value of their signings in the last four years. While Barcelona (-€149.5m) take fourth place, Juventus (-€126.6m) take sixth and Chelsea (-€55.8m) come in at eighth on this list of misfiring clubs.