Almost like a casino – the crazy transfer market has consequences for Swiss football

Not everything was better in the past. But some things were simpler, clearer, and more leisurely. When Erich Vogel talks about his time as GC's sporting director almost 40 years ago , it sounds like something from another life. He always knew during the winter break which players he would sign the following summer.

Today, Super League squads are often a patchwork, even after the season has started. Transfers are happening daily, and it's easy to lose track. FC Zurich has signed six players in the last two weeks alone: a Colombian, a Serbian, an Italian-Frenchman, another Colombian, a Senegalese, and finally, a Dutchman who plays for the Curaçao national team. The names are interchangeable, and the identification factor is low.

Faster, more global, crazier. The transfer market is a complicated construct in which Switzerland occupies a special role. On the one hand, because there is hardly any other top league where the season starts so early – and on the other hand, because the modest TV revenues have led to the Super League teams being quite low in the international hierarchy. "We are heavily dependent on developments in the top leagues," says YB sporting director Christoph Spycher. "Of course, the ideal scenario would be for us to have our squads together on the first matchday. But that's unrealistic."

Roger Stilz, sporting director of FC St. Gallen, confirms that the transfer market started even later than usual this year because of the Club World Cup. And player agent Baykal Bellusci says he's rarely experienced such a difficult start as this year. "And in the Premier League and Serie A, things always get going quite late anyway."

But now it's rush hour on the market. Premier League clubs have already spent around €2.5 billion on new players. Fresh money is flowing downwards – and hundreds of millions more will follow in the coming weeks. Top Istanbul clubs and clubs from Saudi Arabia are also throwing millions around.

There's this striking example from 2017 to illustrate the domino effect: Back then, Neymar moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain (world-record transfer fee: €222 million). Ousmane Dembélé went from Dortmund to Barcelona (€148 million). Dortmund signed Maximilian Philipp from SC Freiburg for €20 million, who in turn signed Yoric Ravet from YB for around €5 million. And Young Boys paid €2.5 million for Nicolas Ngamaleu to the Austrian club Altach, who bought Michael Cheukoua from Cameroon for just under €200,000.

Swiss clubs are quite creative in their attempts to get a small piece of the pie. The Super League has earned a respectable reputation as a "landing league," as Roger Stilz calls it; it's a decent showcase for those taking the first step into professional football. Currently, highly trained players from France and Italy are being signed.

The successful loan transfers of Federico Dimarco (Sion), Sebastiano Esposito (Basel), Mattia Zanotti (St. Gallen), and Aleksandar Stankovic (Lucerne) in recent years, all from Inter Milan, serve as a model. "There are many talented players who don't make it to the top at their clubs and take a detour via Switzerland," says Stilz. FC St. Gallen has also once again tapped into Inter's youth academy, signing winger Enoch Owusu from the U20s. And FC Basel is flirting with the 22-year-old Argentinian defender Tomás Palacios, who is almost two meters tall but has no chance of playing at Inter.

And now to FCB, which, under president and co-owner David Degen, has recently proven itself a master in the transfer market . Just two years ago, Degen was suspected of being a gambler who gambled away his transfers. Meanwhile, YB sporting director and co-owner Christoph Spycher has been praised for his serious transfer policy.

Today, it's the other way around. Spycher is under pressure in Bern, and transfer policy seems hesitant and lackluster, while FCB has earned nearly 150 million Swiss francs from player sales in the last 24 months. Leon Avdullahu, Thierno Barry, Renato Veiga, Zeki Amdouni, Andy Diouf, and many others are examples of this. Some even stayed in Basel briefly. The Super League serves as a water heater and trampoline.

This does not even include Basel's proceeds from investment transactions, such as the recent Dan Ndoye deal, when FCB participated in the Swiss international's €40 million transfer from Bologna to Nottingham with 15 percent, or €6 million.

This, too, is a fad – and not just in the Super League: agreements of all kinds, imaginatively worded to the point of absurdity, depending on the market, country, and time, with sub-clauses and secondary aspects, bonuses for success, goals, appearances, and awards. Consultant Baykal says these contractual clauses make sense for all parties. Performance is rewarded.

A cheap or even free loan deal with an option to buy has become established. Often, the selling clubs also secure the option to buy back this option—and, of course, a share of the next sale of 10, 20, or 40 percent.

David Degen has perfected this trading technique. There are many imitators in the league, such as FC Zurich and GC, although the Zurich clubs have significantly less money at their disposal than FCB. Grasshoppers recently signed several Italian talents, including Matteo Mantini from the U18 team, a player from Inter Milan.

GC has been granted two highly talented players on loan from partner club Bayern Munich. Jonathan Asp Jensen and Lovro Zvonarek are expected to gain match practice and thus increase their market value. The Munich squad still has several interesting young players who could be transferred to GC at short notice.

Grasshopper Club didn't pay any transfer fees this summer. Besides FC Basel and YB, no other club in the league is willing to spend large sums. Matteo Di Giusto reportedly cost a little over half a million Swiss francs when he moved from Winterthur to Lucerne. He could also have been considered for GC or FC Zurich.

FC Luzern was able to make this transfer because they had made a good deal with Inter. The Serbian Stankovic was loaned a year ago – and after a strong season, FC Luzern exercised the agreed purchase option of €1.6 million. Inter exercised the also fixed buy-back option, immediately re-signing Stankovic for €3.2 million, and ultimately selling the 20-year-old to Club Bruges for just under €10 million. Win-win-win. In Bruges, Stankovic is once again the successor to Ardon Jashari, who moved to Milan for €39 million – having been signed from Luzern a year ago for €6 million.

So, many things are connected. And dedicated, well-connected market experts like Degen are the beneficiaries of casino capitalism. FCB is in a league of its own, and several players, like midfielder Metinho, who was outstanding at the start of the season, and left winger Philip Otele, are already back in the squad and are likely to generate millions in profits.

Young Boys have so far lacked the courage to fork out 6 or 7 million francs. And FC Zurich, after years of financial disastrous fortunes, is forced to cut costs – coupled with the hope of finding a gem somewhere thanks to its good network. It's a bet on the players' development.

A few days ago, according to Italian insiders, FC Zurich even invested just over one million Swiss francs in a long-time youth international from the Netherlands, who is said to have great potential. The 21-year-old Livano Comenencia – now a Curaçao international – from the Juventus youth team is a desired player of the FC Zurich coach and his fellow countryman Mitchell van der Gaag.

It's noteworthy that young Super League players with interesting profiles, such as Lugano's Zanotti and Hajdari, St. Gallen's Willem Geubbels, or YB right-back Zachary Athekame, could move abroad for 6, 8, or even 10 million Swiss francs. Prices are rising. And there will be plenty of transfers in the coming weeks; thirteen players from Young Boys were already eyeing a departure.

Fantasies don't always pan out. But misplanning can be corrected during the winter break – as YB and FC Zurich did last January. But not, like Erich Vogel did back then, with an eye on the next summer.

An article from the « NZZ am Sonntag »