New report analyses the root causes behind failed transfer deals which have cost Premier League clubs £1.1bn since 2021

• ‘Failed transfers’ in the Premier League create a net loss of over £1.1B

• 31% of inbound Premier League transfers are considered ‘failed transfers’

• The loss per club per year stands at over £19.6M over last 3 years

• Player-care issues said to be a key factor of all ‘failed transfers’

It is only a matter of days since the closure of another summer transfer window, with another cohort of Premier League stars looking to shrug off multi-million fee tags to become on-pitch heroes for their expectant new clubs and fans.

Yet, new research from The Player Care Group – football’s leading body of player-care experts and Way to Play – a sports statistics company – assesses that almost one third (31%) of deals are classified as ‘failed transfers’. The question remains: what can clubs do to minimise the potential of unsuccessful deals which created an estimated net loss of £1.1bn for Premier League clubs between 2021 and 2024?

With findings unveiled live at Training Ground Guru’s ‘TGG Live 2024’ conference at St George’s Park, an annual meeting of leading sporting director, coaching and football practitioners, the groundbreaking white paper from The Player Care Group exposes the vast financial implications these moves have had across the league, whilst providing a look at how a greater investment in player care in the future could help negate some of these losses.

NOTE: For the purposes of the report, a ‘failed transfer’ is one in which a player, who was signed by a Premier League club either on a free transfer or for a fee, was then sold or loaned to another club during the same 2021-2024 window, with those playing fewer than 60% of matches across their length of contract.

• Failed transfers had an average Net Loss of £19.6m per club for each season between 2021 and 2024.

• Player care-related issues are one of 7 root causes of failed transfers, according to Dr Ian Graham, Director of Research at Liverpool FC.

• Average spend on a failed transfer based on transfer fee was £13.8M, with costs to a club increasing to £25.8M after factoring in salary and average contract length.

• In terms of age and previous league, players aged between 18 and 21 years, arriving from overseas leagues account for 39% of failed transfers – the highest proportion of those that fail.

• 70% of those failed transfers were from players who did not have English as their native language

• The largest share of inbound transfers to the Premier League are from Europe, followed by South America and then Africa and this trend is mirrored exactly for failed transfers.

• Player Care departments are so cost effective, that even if they only prevent 1% of transfers from failing, it’s cheaper to have a full time 3 person team than to just let them fail.

The explosive findings, which incorporated data drawn from several public platforms, including Transfermarkt, call into question whether clubs are proactive enough in their Player Care approach with huge transfer outlays not being adequately supported at a player care level, with signings not given the requisite systems to succeed in their new surroundings.

With the level of outlay across the Premier League hitting such highs, coupled with recent analysis from Liverpool Football Club’s Director of Research, Dr Ian Graham, that Player Care-related factors being one of 7 key reasons transfer fail, this could be a watershed moment for the football industry to further its investment in player care.

Hugo Scheckter, Founder & Managing Director of The Player Care Group said,

“The process of commissioning this research and assessing its findings has been truly fascinating here at The Player Care Group. Top-level football is an incredibly complex industry, and unquestionably there are a number of factors which impact the potential success of a transfer. Clubs that prioritise proactive Player Care with full departments see a decrease in onboarding times, ensuring the player care hit the ground running on the pitch as quickly as possible.

It is always critical to remember that footballers, no matter how talented, are humans with their own unique concerns and insecurities. However, we know first-hand how important bespoke and considered player care programmes can be for increasing the chances of success.”