France: "Transfers are now part of the economic model of French football" (D. Quillot, LFP)

"For the first time in seven years, French professional football is break-even (net profit of €3m), and thanks in particular to €429 million in profit from transfers (20.2% of the 2015-16 cumulative revenue of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs, which reached €2.12bn in total). Today, transfers are part of the economic model of French football," said Didier Quillot, the CEO of the LFP, in presenting the 2015-16 DNCG Financial Report of French football on 09/03/2017. Excluding transfer revenue, the operating profit remained negative (-€387 million), and increased by 31.1% (-€295m in 2014-15).

"The record profits realised in the transfer market were made possible thanks to the work of scouting and training made by the clubs. They were able to negotiate their assignments while continuing their efforts to maintain competitive strength in Europe," said Henry Cheng, chairman of the DNCG, in opening the body's 2015-16 financial report.

"The development model of many clubs now fully accounts for the transfers of players. The summer transfer window (2016) has shown that this model includes…