NB I retains its value – in the region, the number of foreign players is the highest in Hungary

There are several measures of the current international or even regional perception and comparability of Hungarian football. One of these is the current performance of the national team, another is the results of our club teams at the international cup, and the third is the performance of the football market, by which we mean changes in the players' market, the income of clubs, the value of new players coming to NB I, or even where players leaving the NB I can be transferred, and to what league. In the first two categories mentioned above, in the current results of the national team (Nations League, League A, 2^nd place) and in the international cup (FTC is fighting for the group win in the Europa League, as in trying to reach the final eight), it is clear that there has been a gradual improvement in recent years.

Market performance is more difficult to measure, and it is not always possible to quantify results in the same way as the number of goals scored in a match. It's also because the value of a new signee can often only be realistically assessed in 1-2 years. That is why the development process is slower, but the available figures show that there is a shift and that the domestic top league, the OTP Bank Liga, is becoming more valuable every year. Of course, this is also a complex issue, because there has been no improvement in the number of players leaving for the top leagues or the stronger leagues abroad.

In the football world, Hamburg-based Transfermarkt (TM) is the only site that tracks transfers from almost all European leagues on an hour-by-hour basis, and in addition to the transfers, it also provides the transfer fee of the players - although if the clubs do not make an official announcement, it is often only based on estimates and press reports. The site also provides an estimate of the value of the players, which is calculated using a proprietary methodology. This time last year, TM estimated the total value of the squads of NB I teams at €133.59 million. Now, in its estimate following the summer transfer window, that figure has risen marginally to €133.85 million, while the value of Ferencváros, which is a significant contributor to the total, has fallen marginally from last year's €40.25 million to €40.05 million.

As these are estimated figures, it is not worth going into the minutest details of the "war of numbers," how the figures developed, but rather to examine the market developments and trends behind the Transfermarkt figures and their development. One of the significant domestic market developments of the summer was that with the return of Vasas, a new club appeared in NB I, which is not only looking for players who can be transferred for free but is also willing to pay a transfer fee for players, such as this summer for Filip Holender or Dávid Zimonyi. On the other hand, the club was able to make an offer for Soma Novothny, who was valued at €400,000, which made it worth for the striker to come home. Novothny last played in Cyprus, and before that, in Germany in the Bundesliga and became a free agent in the summer. In addition, the return of more Hungarians from abroad than in previous years may have contributed to the small increase.

In the last two years, six-six players have returned to Hungary from abroad in the summer transfer window. Now, in addition to Holender and Novothny, ten more, making a total of 12 (not counting the player movement between ZTE and its Slovenian partner NK Nafta). Age-group national team players Bertalan Bocskay returned to Honvéd from loan in Bačka Topola, Sámuel Major transferred to DVSC (Admira Wacker - Austria), Balázs Megyeri left AEL in Cyprus, and Krisztofer Horváth played for Torino in Italy, although he also played here in the spring on loan at NB II Szeged. Szabolcs Schön (FC Dallas - USA), and Ákos Szenderi (DAC -Slovakia) signed with MOL Fehérvár, while János Hahn (DAC - Slovakia) transferred to Paks, Zsombor Gruber (Basel U21 - Switzerland) and Tamás Kiss (Cambuur - Netherlands) to Puskás Akadémia, and Dániel Csóka (Wimbledon - England) for ZTE.

According to TM, eight out of 12 clubs this season - with the exception of one or two a few years ago - have been willing to pay a transfer fee for their picked players, totaling around €6 million. A transfer fee is not mentioned for Kecskemét, Paks, Újpest, and Zalaegerszeg. This has also played an important role in NB I retaining, and perhaps even minimally improving, its market image.

Ferencváros, which has the most revenue, spent the most money. According to TM, new players have arrived at Fradi for €3.5 million, the most expensive being Adama Traoré from Sheriff Tiraspol that plays in the Champions League, whose transfer fee is estimated to be €2 million. As for the 47-time Mali national team striker, the mere fact that a player of this caliber, who helped the Moldovan champions reach the main round of the Champions League with six goals last season (he scored four in the qualifying round and two in the group stage), was persuaded to continue his career in Hungary is a sign of the increase in value of NB I. Yet, presumably, there was no shortage of others also being interested in him after scoring against Italian club Inter last season. Now he is playing a key role in Ferencváros' international march: he scored twice against Puskás Akadémia in NB I last week, even if he was unable to help FTC in the Hungarian Cup match against Iváncsa.

It's no coincidence that Traoré is currently considered the most valuable player in NB I, with an estimated value of €5 million, which is also a record in NB I. Muhamed Besic, whose market value in his first season at Ferencváros was €4 million when Everton signed him, holds the previous "value record." (According to foreign press reports, the Liverpool club is now also interested in Traoré).

According to Transfermarkt, teams bought new players for €6.1 million this summer and sold them for the same amount. According to the portal, the clubs' spending on players has fallen by €4 million, while their revenues have increased by €1.7 million. A key factor in the latter is the fact that Shakhtar Donetsk bought back two of their club-raised players, Oleksandr Zuubkov from Ferencváros and Ivan Petrjak from Fehérvár from NB I, due to the war in Ukraine. According to TM, they paid 2 million euros for the former and 1.5 million euros for the latter, and in addition, Fehérvár also received proceeds from the sale of Romanian national team player Adrian Rus (reportedly for 1 million euros). Paksi FC sold the playing rights of their top scorer, Martin Ádám, to South Korea (reportedly for 1.2 million euros).

However, these transfers are due to specific reasons (the war situation for the Ukrainians, and the outstanding performance for Martin Ádám), not to a general, significant improvement in the market image of NB I. This is also confirmed by the fact that while 11 Hungarian NB I players transferred abroad last summer, this summer, apart from Martin Ádám (not counting the player movement between ZTE and its Slovenian partner team NK Nafta), only Roland Ugrai (from DVSC to Pendikspor - Türkiye, 2nd division) and Nemanja Nikolic (from Fehérvár to Pendikspor - Türkiye, 2nd division) have transferred abroad. The latter two players left for free to a second division team. If we add to these three players, all over 25 years of age, the fact that twelve age-group or senior players returned from abroad, it is clear that the number of Hungarian players playing in stronger leagues abroad has decreased this summer, and the interest in young players of NB I has not increased. Nevertheless, even foreign players who played for us were not able to leave for top leagues, the only exception is Slovenian national team defender Miha Blazic, who was transferred for free from Ferencváros to French first division side Angers when his contract expired.

To sum up the above, there has been no increase in market demand for NB I players, but foreign national team players or even experienced top league players still gladly play in the OTP Bank League. Examples include midfielder Amer Gojak of Ferencváros who has 34 caps for Bosnia and the European League-winning Honvéd winger Jairo Samperio. But the summer also saw the arrival of players from the Belgian (Xavier Mercier - FTC, Fernand Gouré - Újpest), Danish (Rasmus Thelander - FTC and Kasper Larsen - MOL Fehérvár), and Dutch (Mats Knoester - FTC) topflights, too.

This has also contributed to the fact that, according to TM's data, the percentage of foreign footballers in the top leagues in Hungary and neighboring countries is currently the highest in NB I (as it was this time last year) at 43.8 percent – up 2.2 percent since the past twelve months.

Source: Transfermarkt

Translated by Vanda Orosz