Recent Football Successes Attract Interest in the Transfer Market

Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez at the match against Lithuania on June 20.

The good performances of Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez will greatly increase the market value and transfer chances of young Hungarian footballers, sports economist Gábor Szabados told Világgazdaság.

On Saturday, Liverpool FC and AFC Bournemouth clashed in the world’s strongest league. For the Hungarians, it was an event we have not seen in a long time, as two of our players, Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez, also took to the pitch. Szoboszlai was delighted, and also earned the Player of the Match award, but Kerkez was also among the best in the field.

Gábor Szabados explained that

from a marketing point of view, any event of this caliber is an image-booster for Hungarian players.

“Think of it like in the global market: the image of a company depends largely on how much it advertises, in which case Liverpool has a huge advertising value.”

pic.twitter.com/eysLxsI2pI

— Kerkez Milos (@MilosKerkez5) August 19, 2023

He noted that Szoboszlai and Kerkez’s performances help build their image, and it is small steps like these that help to raise the international profile of Hungarian players.

The good performance of our youngsters in the Premier League is also important because managers often think like car buyers: if you put a Hungarian and a Serbian footballer of the same ability next to each other, they will choose the Serbian because they trust the market more, as it has a better reputation and they are more willing to invest, the sports economist explained.

These two players have a good impact on the market value of other Hungarian youngsters, as managers, scouts, and club leaders realize that it is worth watching Hungarian youth and adult national team matches.

A similar value-adding factor is when a national team qualifies for a European Championship or a club team plays in an international cup. When they qualified for the 2016 continental tournament, Roland Sallai and Norbert Balogh were immediately signed by Palermo after the Norway game, even though they were not key players during the qualification. László Kleinheisler played so well in the qualifiers that Werder Bremen would have taken him anyway. After the 2021 European Championships, Wolverhampton Wanderers from the Premier League liked the play of Bendegúz Bolla.

Szabados stressed that these results, that are fortunately becoming increasingly frequent, exclusively help young players, as the top European championships do not sign “older” footballers from Hungary, i.e. those who are not teenagers or in their early twenties.

There is no demand for ready-made home-grown players, only for those with development potential, making them an excellent investment,

he pointed out. As an example, he said that if Ferencváros qualifies for the group stage of the Conference League, and 21-year-old Péter Baráth and 28-year-old Barnabás Varga play outstandingly there, it is almost certain that the young midfielder would have a greater chance of moving up within Europe.

Unfortunately, there are few players who did not go abroad as youngsters, but were brought up at home, then played well for their club team and went on to become multi-million euro players, he said. He noted that

the national team would only be strong in the long term if players with such careers were the backbone of the team.

The economist added that once that happens and we regularly produce players of that caliber, the price difference between a Croatian and a Hungarian player in the national league will be less.

Although youth education should be much more efficient, the Hungarian Football Federation is doing a good job in finding and recruiting players with Hungarian ties to the national team, he said, adding that this is a global trend, and every nation is taking advantage of this opportunity.

Not only is the Hungarian national team looking better and better in terms of results, but the players’ club teams are also looking good overall. It is also good to see that the number of our players playing in top leagues is increasing every year, Szabados concluded.

Via Világgazdaság, Featured image via Facebook/MLSZ – Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség