With the imminent arrival of Andreas Skov Olsen (6 million), the total amount of incoming transfers at Club Brugge this season comes to 52.8 million euros, a club record and competition record. Never gave before Blue Black spend so much money on new players. The Belgian national champion spent as much as all competitors added together. It is the result of a change of course that started ten years ago. The wealthy Bruges no longer looks within national borders and, like Ajax, has set itself the goal of structurally wintering in the Champions League.
By Mart Oude Nijeweeme
Who at Transfermarkt looking at Club Brugge’s list of most expensive inbound transfers should immediately catch your eye. Of the top ten most expensive players, five arrived last summer. Among them also Noa Lang, who was obliged to be taken over from Ajax after a rental period for six million euros. The ages are also significant. Simon Mignolet, who was taken over from Liverpool for seven million euros in the 2019/20 season, is a high exception at 31 years old. Bruges is now aiming for talents in their early twenties, Niels Poissonnier also sees The last news.
“Club Brugge has been fishing in a different pond for a number of years,” notes the club watcher. “They are now competing for the same players as Ajax, where they previously had to compete with Belgian clubs. That is why they have had a difficult transfer summer. Players have the choice to choose Ajax and the middle bracket of the Premier League, while Bruges used to be the most interesting option for much lesser-known players. In addition, clubs are aware of the fact that Bruges now has a lot of money, a higher amount is automatically requested.”
Club Brugge had an agreement with Mohamed Daramy and FC Copenhagen last summer, but saw Ajax run off with the attacker.
A good example is Mohamed Daramy. The attacker seemed to be on his way to Bruges last year, even had an agreement, but was hijacked by Ajax at the last minute. “I have thought about it carefully. I heard that Ajax had reported itself and that is also a large club,” Daramy explained his choice for the team from Amsterdam. “They are known for training talents, so that’s good.” Ajax paid FC Copenhagen at least twelve million euros, an amount that can rise to fifteen million euros through bonuses. Bruges did not want to go further than thirteen million euros, after which it switched to Kamal Sowah.
“Bruges is considered an exemplary club in Belgium, just like Ajax is in the Netherlands,” Poissonnier continues. “Club Brugge is the Ajax of Belgium, with the difference that they are not nearly as far as Ajax in Europe. Even if we look at the expenses, there is a big difference. Ajax pays more than twenty million euros for Sébastien Haller. transfer from Bruges is Sowah (nine million euros, ed.). Those are completely different amounts. You cannot scale Bruges at the same level. But they do see Ajax as an example. It is easy to look at the five biggest competitions, but Ajax is not far below that.”
Policymakers
And so the current number two of the Pro League is jealously looking at the policy in Amsterdam. Get players at a young age, let them mature slowly and sell them on for a big profit. It is a policy that was started ten years ago by chairman Bart Verhaeghe and general manager Vincent Mannaert. Verhaeghe is seen in Belgium as a powerful man, someone who is listened to. “Not much will change,” said the stolid entrepreneur when he was appointed in 2011. “But football is evolving quickly. It is becoming more popular, more mediatized and more global. The players are now traveling around the world. Club Brugge must come along.”
Bart Verhaeghe (left) with former trainer Ivan Leko while winning the national title in 2018.
Verhaeghe is known in Belgium as someone who is straightforward and is not afraid to kick the sore leg. He left his mark in the past as a member of the Pro League and had a high position at the Belgian Football Association, where he was responsible for appointing Roberto Martínez as national coach. The fact that today’s football revolves around money has been clear to Verhaeghe from day one. In 2012, barely a year after his appointment, the entrepreneur took the next step in his Club project by also becoming a majority shareholder, after transferring the non-profit association’s commercial fund into a public limited company.
“Mannaert and Verhaeghe have modernized the club and brought in major sponsors,” said Poissonnier. “They have signed Unibet as a shirt sponsor for six million euros and have been active in the Champions League four times in the last five years. You do the math. More than a hundred million euros have been raised in that area alone. We can see that the gap with the other clubs is getting bigger, but in terms of organization and structure it certainly is.” Bruges currently has to tolerate Union Saint-Gilloise in the Belgian league. The PhD student surprises friend and foe and has a nine-point lead over Blue Black.
Poissonnier emphasizes that Verhaeghe and Mannaert have created a winning culture. The bar is systematically raised, with people in the office as well as on the field. In addition, Bruges has a gigantic network. “If the trainer says around Christmas that he is going to AS Monaco (Philippe Clement, ed.), there is no immediate panic. Then there is a list of possible successors.” The journalist refers to the arrival of Alfred Schreuder. The Dutchman has been in control at the Jan Breydel since the beginning of this year. “No, it’s not like that at every club. Maybe in the Netherlands, but not in Belgium. Club Brugge does its homework best of all clubs.”
The ten most expensive purchases in Club Brugge’s club history, five of which this season.
Purchase Policy
Club Brugge has adopted a purchasing policy that was considered impossible five years ago. The scouting apparatus in particular underwent a metamorphosis. Step by step, Mannaert developed Club Brugge into an attractive product for great foreign talents. In 2011, it was simply unthinkable that the West Flemish could hire an up-and-coming talent like Noa Lang. Or youth players from Manchester United (Tahith Chong). Over the past year and a half, it turned out to be the reality. And that certainly did not harm the club.
When Verhaeghe took the helm in 2011, Bruges had an annual turnover of around 43 million euros. In 2020, that amount had almost tripled to 137 million euros. This impressive advance goes hand in hand with the business plan of the chairman, who is supported by a board group with expertise. With the upcoming transfer of Andreas Skov Olsen (6 million), the total amount of incoming transfers this season comes to 52.8 million euros, an absolute club record and competition record. The competitors in the Belgian league together only exceed this amount with difficulty. The previous record dated from 2019/20, when just under thirty million was spent.
The contrast with the southern neighbors is poignant. While KRC Genk, AA Gent and Anderlecht all spent around ten million euros, Bruges alone paid nine million euros for Sowah. The 21-year-old attacker was considered an alternative to Daramy and came over from Leicester City last summer. This made him the most expensive transfer in club history. Anderlecht are currently in the phase where Bruges was ten years ago. A rebuilding phase. The return of Mignolet on the Belgian fields was significant. Only Bruges, which paid Liverpool around seven million euros in 2019, was able to bring the goalkeeper back to his native country.
“Club Brugge will never get a Thomas Vermaelen at the age of 36. Someone like Stanley Nsoki, who is 22 and has a lot of potential. Mignolet was an exception, as Bruges had a goalkeeper problem and knew that the 31-time Belgian international would play the next five year would be number one under the bar. Mignolet takes points and can make them champion”, said Poissonnier, who saw how competitor Anderlecht made a painful mistake in Samir Nasri, Zakaria Bakkali and in a sense also Nacer Chadli. “Privately and sportingly, it is just right at Bruges. Hans Vanaken has literally said several times that he does not feel like playing against relegation in the Premier League. He wants to become champion and play in the Champions League. Dusan Tadic has that too. He can also go higher, but is happy at Ajax.”
Noa Lang should break a new record next summer with a departure of thirty million euros.
With the lucrative sales of, among others, Wesley (25 million), Odilon Kossounou (23 million), Krépin Diatta (17 million), Arnaut Danjuma (17 million), José Izquierdo (15 million) and Marvelous Nakamba (12 million) still fresh in the market. memory, in the Jan Breydel one looks ahead with rubbing hands to the next clappers in the transfer area. It is expected that Noa Lang will leave next summer for a record amount of around thirty million euros. The attacker has already indicated that he wants to take a step and is well positioned in the market. The only twenty-year-old Charles De Ketelaere must also provide the club with tens of millions.
It is only a snapshot, but once again indicates that Bruges is currently on a completely different level than its closest competitors.