In this limited series, we look into emerging scouting trends and how Wyscout’s Youth Competitions Pack can keep you ahead of the curve.
Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules were introduced to prevent football clubs from overspending and accumulating excessive debt.
However, the term FFP is no longer used by UEFA or the Premier League. UEFA have altered it to the Financial Sustainability Rules (FSR), while the Premier League have replaced them with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Although these are two different sets of rules with separate standards to adhere to, both have the same ultimate objective: stopping clubs spending more than they generate.
A knock-on result of these amendments has been the emergence of new transfer strategies employed by clubs as they look to comply with the updated regulations - particularly noticeable among Premier League clubs.
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One way of complying with the regulations is by amortizing incoming players’ transfer fees across the length of their contract.
This has led to an increased focus on youth for many clubs recruitment strategies. Given the potential for young players to develop and gain value, teams are spending more on prospects with high potential and signing them to longer contracts, allowing them to secure the best talents first whilst mitigating the outlay by spreading their cost over various years.
Chelsea have been a prime exponent of this transfer policy and have looked to Brazil to buy a number of promising talents, such as Andrey Santos, Angelo, Deivid Washington and, more recently, the exciting Estêvão.
Chelsea new signing, Estêvão's stats from the 2024 Copinha
Closely entwined with this amortization over longer contracts, is the growing number of homegrown academy players being sold, as their sales account for pure profit on the balance sheets and can be banked immediately, helping to offset any transfers coming in.
This unintended consequence of the financial fair play rules means that more recruitment strategies are increasingly focused around rival academy prospects, analyzing which players could raise transfer spending capabilities or be used in a mutually beneficial trade.
The Premier League is where this trend has been most abundantly felt. Last summer there were various examples of clubs cashing in on an academy graduate, with Mason Mount leaving Chelsea for Manchester United the most notable case.
But this year’s window has seen a veritable merry-go-round of clubs trading their top prospects to comply with PSR. Aston Villa signed Lewis Dobbin from Everton, with Tim Iroegbunam going in the opposite direction, while also selling highly-rated prospect Omari Kellyman to Chelsea and buying Ian Maatsen from them in return.
The need to monitor youth competitions around the world is therefore more important than ever. Identifying and tracking top talents from rival academies, while also providing a platform for their own academy prospects to build their reputation and value, is crucial.
Access to the biggest library of youth football content and data with Wyscout’s Youth Competitions Pack is essential for clubs looking to unearth young stars, monitor the best rising stars and maximize return on investment from their own prospects.
