Diamonds Forever: This is how Benfica became the world champion in profits from the sale of players

Darwin Nunez's deal with Liverpool has completed another shine made by the Portuguese gold mine, which has been in a credit balance of more than 600 million euros since 2010. How does the method work, who are the real earners and why are the fans left frustrated?

Michael Yochin

15/06/2022

Wednesday, June 15, 2022, 7:30 p.m.

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We ticked off: Today's summary clip, 15.6 (Sports 1)

Two years ago, in the midst of the corona plague, Benfica paid 25 million euros for a player from the second division in Spain.

The signing of Darwin Nunez was very unusual in terms of the Eagles from Lisbon and broke the club's transfer record, but in retrospect it paid off handsomely.

The then coach Georges Jesus promised that he would be sold for a higher amount than Joao Felix who traveled to Atletico Madrid for 126 million euros, and here he erred a little - but not by much.

With the very easy bonuses to redeem, Liverpool will transfer to Benfica around € 100 million for the 22-year-old Uruguayan scorer, and the Portuguese bank's bank account situation will improve a bit more - as it improves every year.

Examining the balance sheet from buying and selling players in the long run brings up a pretty spectacular picture.

Benfica is the world champion in profits by a considerable margin, and in the period that began in 2010 it has a credit balance of more than 600 million euros.

Porto (450 million euros) and Ajax (375 million) are next in line.

Very intriguing, by the way, to find Red Bull Salzburg in fifth place - the club ostensibly set up to promote a liquor brand has in the last 13 years made a very handsome 275 million euros cash register from fine scouting and a phenomenal academy with excellent young coaches, but that is a separate topic.

In any case, Benfica does not see the Austrians even with binoculars.

It is in a league of its own.

More on Walla!

Liverpool bought Darwin Nunes from Benfica for 75 million euros

To the full article

The new name on the list of sellers at a huge profit.

Darwin Nunez (Photo: Official Website, Liverpool)

Here is the place to mention that the current management of Benfica has received the club in a catastrophic situation.

President Joao Valla ah-Azbadu, who ruled between 1997 and 2000, was convicted of fraud, and during his time the group even went into asset freezing.

Luis Felipe Vieira, who was elected in 2003 and vacated his place last year in favor of former star Roy Costa, who is in charge of the restoration work, in which he holds a particularly important role as CEO of Domingos Suarez de Oliveira. Budget.The stated goal is not only to succeed on the field, but also to make money, and when it comes to transfer market activity it is proving itself.

According to the simple rule, Benfica buys cheaply and sells expensively.

She is looking for a reality in the medium and small teams in the Portuguese league, where the scouting of the big clubs from the continent is not developed enough for some reason, and is also vigorously discovering talent in South America and Eastern Europe.

When someone succeeds beyond expectations, the tendency is to sell it as long as it is particularly hot, and the top Portuguese agents - led by Georges Mendes - certainly make sure to raise prices.

If you buy a star from Germany, it will cost significantly less compared to a star from Portugal, even if it is not justified.

It is clear as day, for example, that Arling Holland is a more proven and quality striker than Nunez, but Manchester City paid Borussia Dortmund less than the amount they will receive in the issue for Uruguay.

The Norwegian had a low release clause, Nunez did not.

And this is really not the first case.

For that matter, the amount that Atletico poured in exchange for Joao Felix was also quite unfounded.

The buzz around him was so powerful after several great months, that every price was seemingly acceptable.

The striker has not yet fully acclimatized to Cello Simeone, and there is a certain mismatch to the method of play and approach, even if last season was a little more positive personally.

If the Colchoneros want to sell him now, he's likely to do so at a loss, but Benfica no longer really care.

She had already made the checkout.

Benfica charges extras, simply because it is Benfica.

Roy Costa (Photo: Kobi Eliyahu)

Manchester City are very pleased with the two stars they signed from the Stadium of Light, and in her case the price has certainly justified itself - especially when it comes to Ruben Diaz, the ultimate defensive leader who was acquired two years ago for 68 million.

Ederson, the Brazilian goalkeeper who was signed in 2017 for 40 million and solved the problem between the posts for many years, is also a flashback.

Should Manchester United have paid in 2017 no less than 35 million euros for the Swedish stopper Victor Lindloff, whom the Eagles located at the time with almost no consideration?

This is already a complex and ambiguous question.

Did it pay off for Barcelona to spend a similar amount in exchange for right-back Nelson Samado?

Here the answer is clear, but at least the Catalans minimized damage when they sold him to Wolves - a club that is under almost complete control of Mendes.

Unsurprisingly, then, the Wolves paid broke the club record when they bought Mexican striker Raoul Jimenez from Benfica - he is an excellent player, but if he had come directly from Mexico, or in fact from any other team, his price would have been significantly lower.

Benfika usually charges extras, simply because it is Benfika.

This is how it is done, and potential buyers know the terms in advance.

This is not to say that the method is perfect - far from it.

First, Benfica really does not always hit a bull with the acquisition players, and like any club it has known quite a few failures over the years.

However, most players who do not acclimatize and do not deliver the goods do not cause material economic damage because they were signed for small sums.

And even a glorious fiasco like Luca Jovic, which was acquired in 2016 for around € 5 million from the Red Star Belgrade and played almost nothing at all, partly due to discipline issues, has become a dizzying financial success.

The loan and sale to Frankfurt was extremely worthwhile, and then Benfica also received a share of oil from the big sale of the Serbian striker from Germany to Real Madrid - because it took care to include the appropriate clause in the contract with Eintracht.

Abandoned to Monaco at age 20. Bernardo Silva (Photo: Reuters)

A fundamental and much more difficult problem lies in the fact that Benfica does not always know how to focus on talented academy graduates, and often prefers to promote procurement players.

It could cause potential superstars to leave early on, and that's exactly what happened with Bernardo Silva who left for Monaco at the age of 20 in 2014, and with Joao Canselo who left that year and at the same age in favor of Valencia.

Both did not get opportunities in the red uniform in Lisbon, so they were sold for much lower amounts than their true market value.

It is not known how many great players were missed at all along the way, and even Ruben Diaz had to wait too long in the reserve team - but he had patience.

The fans have long been demanding to give the locals a chance, and they are also unhappy that Benfica only finished in third place last season, so the sale of Nunez for a huge sum is a little less exciting for them these days.

One thing is for sure - Uruguay is not the last.

The Eagles will continue to sell stars frequently, and there is a reasonable basis to believe that Felix's record will also be broken in the foreseeable future.

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