Clubs such as FC Bayern and Manchester City receive millions. But smaller clubs also benefit from the distribution of UEFA transfer fees. For example, thanks to professionals such as Justin Ospelt.
The goalkeeper for the Southwest Regional League club FSV Frankfurt has already traveled quite a bit. Born in Nassau in the Bahamas, Ospelt joined FC Vaduz in Liechtenstein as a teenager. He also played for the Alpine principality’s youth national teams.
UEFA pays €3,659 per game per player
Finally, the 25-year-old, who has been playing for FSV since 2023 after loan spells at KFC Uerdingen and 1. FC Dornbirn, made his debut for Liechtenstein’s senior national team on October 7, 2020, in a 2-1 win over Luxembourg. As a “Frankfurter,” Ospelt was nominated by national coach Konrad Fünfstück for the two matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina (0-2) and Iceland (0-4) in the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championship in the fall of 2023. This has now earned FSV 7,318 euros from UEFA.
The confederation pays €3,659 per game and per player on loan. In total, it paid out a record sum of €233 million in the most recent four-year cycle, which included the European Championship, European Championship qualifiers, and two Nations League tournaments. Of course, top clubs such as Manchester City (around €5.17 million), Real Madrid (€4.79 million) and FC Bayern (€4.37 million) benefit the most. But even the smallest clubs are included in the list.
Omosanya almost earned back his transfer fee
Energie Cottbus received the minimum amount of €3,659. The reason was the appearance of Ospelts’ compatriot Yanik Frick on November 17, 2020, in the 1-1 draw against Gibraltar in the Nations League. Frick had only signed for the Lusatian club on October 8, 2020. Bad luck for the current third division club: the striker missed the October transfer window because he had contracted the coronavirus, otherwise they would probably have received another €3,659 on top. Frick, a real cash cow in terms of transfer fees with 30 international caps, left Cottbus in the summer of 2021 and moved to Italian club PDHAE Calcio.
Another regional league club, Eintracht Trier, owes a total of €14,636. The reason for this is the two Luxembourg players Michael Omosanya and Leon Elshan. Omosanya was in the squad for both the Nations League matches against Turkey (3-3) and Lithuania (1-0), earning €7,318, almost the €10,000 transfer fee that Trier is said to have paid CS Fola Esch for the striker. Elshan, who like Omosanya is under contract with Eintracht for 2022/23, albeit as a U-19 player at the time, made it into the Luxembourg squad for the European Championship qualifiers.
Priestley played 18 times for Gibraltar and even scored once
Probably the most curious beneficiary of transfer fees is English tenth division club Yorkshire Amateur, which owes its €7,318 to Adam Priestley’s nominations for Gibraltar in the 2020/21 Nations League. Incidentally, the 34-year-old even played 18 times for the British outpost, scoring once – today, the striker plays for Knaresborough Town FC.