Rebuilding a squad after the sale of key players is always a big task and one which many clubs have struggled to do over the years. Take for example the case of Liverpool who went from beating Real Madrid 5-0 on aggregate in the Champions League and finishing second in the league in 2009, to failing to finish in the Top 4 for four consecutive seasons.
The sale of top players like Xabi Alonso, Yossi Benayoun, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez over the years played a big role in Liverpool’s downfall.
Another similar example is that of Tottenham Hotspur, which struggled following the departures of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in successive seasons.
However, there are many clubs who have managed to keep their competitiveness alive even after losing some of their top players. Some of these clubs are thus referred to as feeder clubs because they constantly nurture players into stars and later sell them for hefty fees.
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Borussia Dortmund
Few years ago, Bayern Munich were struggling to win the Bundesliga title due to the incredible rise of Borussia Dortmund under Jurgen Klopp.
Under Klopp, Borussia Dortmund won the league title in 2010-11 and the club’s midfielder, Nuri Sahin, was voted as the best player in the league as well. However, prior to the start of the 2011-12 season, Sahin moved to Real Madrid and he was replaced by Ilkay Gundogan.
Dortmund managed to retain the Bundesliga title again in 2011-12, but their success came with a price once again as they lost Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United before the 2012-13 season. With Kagawa gone, Marco Reus was drafted in as his replacement.
The following season Dortmund finished as runners-up in the league and UEFA Champions League and once again they lost a star from the team in the summer. This time it was their prodigy Mario Gotze and that too to arch rivals Bayern Munich.
Gotze was replaced by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but more trouble followed as the club’s star striker Robert Lewandowski left for Bayern Munich on a free transfer in 2014. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who arrived at Dortmund in 2013, stepped into the shoes left vacant by Lewandowski.
Although Dortmund endured a difficult season in 2014-15, they had managed to replace their outgoing stars effectively and this is probably why their current manager, Thomas Tuchel, is able to do so well this season with the squad he inherited.
Schalke 04
When it comes to producing great talents, Schalke are up there along with the likes of Ajax or Barcelona or Bayern Munich. Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Benedikt Howedes, who were all starters in the 2014 World Cup final are products of Schalke’s famous academy.
Despite their ability to produce so many players, the club haven’t had the ability to keep their prized possessions when other clubs come knocking. For example, in the ongoing season the club lost Julian Draxler to fellow league rivals Wolfsburg, but players like Leroy Sane and Max Meyer have stepped up from the academy to fill the void left by Draxler.
In fact, Schalke are currently above Wolfsburg in the league table.
Some of the big players Schalke have lost since 2008 include Manuel Neuer (to Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (to Werder Bremen, now at Arsenal), Ivan Rakitic (to Sevilla, now at Barcelona), Lewis Holtby (to Tottenham Hotspur, now at Hamburger SV), Rafinha (to Genoa, now at Bayern Munich), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (to Bayer Leverkusen) and Julian Draxler (to Wolfsburg).
Despite the sale of so many top players, Schalke haven’t relied on spending heavily to reinforce their squad. They’ve rebuilt by drafting in players from the academy or by purchasing promising young players from other clubs or by loaning in players like they did with Afellay or Raffael or Belhanda.
Players like Howedes, Fahrmann, Kolasinac, Matip, Meyer, Goretzka and Sane are all key members of the current Schalke squad and are all players from their academy.
Schalke have managed to finish in the champions league places more often than not and even won the DFB-Pokal in 2011.
Southampton
Southampton is another club known for producing top players from their academy and they’ve been stripped of their best talents over the years. In addition to losing valuable players from their academy, the Saints have also lost players like Schneiderlin, Lambert, Lovren and Clyne who rose to fame while playing for the club.
The Premier League club had an amazing season in 2013/14 under Mauricio Pochettino as they finished eighth and it was their best finish since 2002-03.
In the close season, Southampton lost many of their players who helped them finish the previous season strongly. This list included club captain Adam Lallana who moved to Liverpool along with Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert. Promising teenage players Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers also moved to Manchester United and Arsenal respectively.
In addition to this, Artur Boruc moved to Bournemouth on loan and later joined the cherries on a permanent deal when his contract expired and former club record signings Gaston Ramirez and Dani Osvaldo were also sent out on loan.
The departure of so many first team players and the manager in one go made Southampton favourites for relegation. However, the appointment of Ronald Koeman and the players he signed like Sadio Mane, Dusan Tadic, Ryan Bertrand, Fraser Forster and Graziano Pelle, helped the Saints finish one place better in seventh at the end of the 2014-15 season.
In the summer transfer window of 2015, Southampton lost more key players in Nathaniel Clyne and Morgan Schneiderlin. They also failed to beat Spurs to the signature of Toby Alderweireld. Despite all this, they are currently seventh in the league.
A starting XI of former Southampton players currently playing in the Premier League would look like this and let’s not forget that this list doesn’t include Gareth Bale – who is yet another gem to have emerged from Saints’ academy.
Shakhtar Donetsk
Ukrainian city Donetsk is not just a repository for coal, but also for talented young Brazilian players aiming to make it big in Europe.
Shakhtar built a formidable side under the guidance of Mircea Lucescu and with the Romanian in charge, the club won several domestic honours as well as the UEFA Europa League in 2009.
The Ukrainian side built their squad by relying on the flair of Brazilian players to build their midfield and forward line-up while the local lads from Ukraine took care of goalkeeping and defensive duties.
Shakhtar has honed some of the best Brazilian players in Europe right now. This list includes Chelsea’s Willian, Manchester City’s Fernandinho and Bayern Munich’s Douglas Costa. In addition to these players, other players like Matuzalem, Elano, Jadson, Eduardo da Silva (later adopted Croatian citizenship), Luiz Adriano and Fernando have all come to Shakhtar and made a huge impact before leaving for greener pastures.
Almost every year the club has lost its valuable assets and yet have been able to do well in domestic and European competitions. In the ongoing season, they lost players like Douglas Costa, Alex Teixeira, Luiz Adriano and Fernando, and even then they are just three points behind league toppers Dynamo Kyiv and are also through to the quarter final of the UEFA Europa League after beating Schalke and Anderlecht in the previous knockout rounds.
Sevilla
When it comes to Europa League, no club can boast a better record than Sevilla. The Spanish outfit has won the prestigious trophy on four occasions and are also the two-time defending champions. Sevilla are currently through to the quarter-finals of the current Europa League campaign and will be looking to make it a hat-trick of titles.
Sevilla’s success in Europe, as well as their consistent performance in the league in recent years under Unai Emery, deserves more praise than they’ve received, considering the constant changes they’ve had to make to their squad every season.
Take for example the massive change their squad underwent prior to the 2013/14 season. They lost Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas both to Manchester City, Geoffrey Kondogbia to AS Monaco and Gary Medel to Cardiff City. These players were all very important to the side.
Despite losing these players, Sevilla went on to win the Europa League at the end of the season. The following season they sold Federico Fazio to Tottenham, Alberto Moreno to Liverpool and Ivan Rakitic to Barcelona, and still managed to defend their Europa league title.
Even at the start of the current season, Sevilla had to sell Carlos Bacca to AC Milan and Aleix Vidal to Barcelona. However, they are still as competitive as they were in the previous seasons.
In addition to the players mentioned above, Sevilla have lost other top players like Sergio Ramos, Dani Alves, Seydou Keita, Adriano, Martin Caceres and Diego Lopez in recent years and still continues to be one of the top teams in Europe.
Benfica
SL Benfica is one of the most successful clubs in Portugal and is also a two-time winner of the European Cup. However, despite all their achievements, Benfica like many other Portuguese clubs, is known for grooming some of the most talented players to grace the game.
Benfica like their rivals Porto and Sporting have an extremely efficient scouting network in South America. David Luiz, who is the world’s most expensive defender and Angel Di Maria, who holds the British transfer record, are both former employees of the Lisbon-based club.
In addition to the likes of David Luiz and Angel Di Maria, some other prominent players who left Benfica in recent years include Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Nemanja Matic (Chelsea), Fabio Coentrao (Real Madrid), Ramires (Chelsea), Javi Garcia (Manchester City), Ezequiel Garay (Zenit), Axel Witsel (Zenit) and Lazar Markovic (Liverpool).
Even after the sale of so many quality players Benfica have won three league titles in the last decade. They are the two-time defending champions in Portugal at the moment and are on the road to making it three in a row. They also reached the finals of the Europa league in 2013 and 2014, but failed to win on both occasions –blame it on the Bela Guttmann curse.
Porto
When it comes to nurturing young players, selling them for a huge fee and later rebuilding the squad, no club can match FC Porto. Not only have they sold numerous players for hefty fees in recent years, they’ve also been incredibly successful in domestic competitions and in Europe.
In the current century alone, they’ve lifted 9 out of 15 league titles, six league cups, one UEFA Champions League and two UEFA Europa League trophies. This sort of success is incredible for any club, but it is simply outstanding in case of Porto because of the number of stars they lose every year.
A closer look at some of the stars Porto sold in the last decade will give a clear cut idea of how well the club has done to maintain its stature. These players include modern day stars like James Rodriguez, Hulk, Radamel Falcao, Joao Moutinho, Diego Ribas, Pepe, Nicolas Otamendi, Fredy Guarin, Beto, Fernando, Eliaquim Mangala, Bruno Alves, Raul Meireles, Ricardo Costa, Anderson and Boswinga.
The players who left Porto this season includes Jackson Martinez, Danilo, Ricardo Quaresma, Alex Sandro and Giannelli Imbula.
These are some of the many players who left Porto and yet this list gives a huge indication of how well Porto have coped with the departure of top players. Another thing that deserves praise it that the club mostly relies on their efficient scouting network to replace the outgoing players instead of splashing a lot of money on new recruits.
Atletico Madrid
For the most part of football history, Atletico Madrid lived under the shadow of their glorious city rivals Real Madrid, but now they’ve won back to back league games at Santiago Bernabeu of all places. At present, Atletico are above Real Madrid in the league table and might finish the season the same way.
Atletico has always been a club that has been home to some great strikers. This list includes players like Fernando Torres, Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao, David Villa and Diego Costa. Even after selling these strikers, the club continued to move forward and found great replacements for their outgoing striker, with the current star striker being Antoine Griezmann.
In the last few years, Atletico have taken massive strides forward as a club and have several honours to show for it. This includes a La Liga title, a Copa del Rey, two UEFA Europa Leagues, one Supercopa de Espana, two UEFA Super Cups and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. In addition to this, the club also reached the final of the UEFA Champions League in 2014.
Interestingly, 9 of the 18 players who were part of the squad that played the Champions League final in 2014 were not at the club in the season that followed.
Atletico have also had to deal with the departures of many stars who were not strikers. This includes two of the best keepers in the game at the moment– De Gea and Courtois. Some of the other major departures Atletico coped with recently include Arda Turan, Miranda, Mario Mandzukic, Toby Alderweireld, Jackson Martinez, Filipe Luis, Diego Ribas, Ignacio Camacho, Maxi Rodriguez and John Heitinga.
