– It is recognition of Norwegian football, says news’s football expert Åge Hareide. Norwegian football has never been as profitable as this winter. Norsk Toppfotball’s figures from the transfer window in January show that Norwegian football has sold male footballers to foreign clubs for more than half a billion Norwegian kroner. The old transfer record, set just one year ago, is being smashed. In 2023, Norwegian clubs have sold abroad for approximately 150 million more than during the whole of 2022. THE RECORD MAN: David Datro Fofana scored 13 goals in Molde’s golden season. Then he was brought in by Chelsea for NOK 130 million. With that, he became the most expensive export from the Eliteserien of all time. Photo: Marius Simensen / NTB Stars, national team and Europe National team manager Ståle Solbakken is on a tour to follow the Norwegian national team players when news calls. He is pleased that Norway is getting more players in bigger leagues. He believes that is important for the national team. – It is recognition of Norwegian talent development and what Norwegian clubs have done. And then there are several things that have ripple effects: Bodø/Glimt and Molde have proven themselves in Europe, the national team has done well and we have two big profiles in Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard who are fronting Norwegian football well, he says on the phone from the coastal town of San Sebastian. Dag-Eilev Fagermo and his Vålerenga have been a contributor to the profitable winter. On the last day of the international transfer window, Osame Sahraoui left Vålerenga for Dutch Heerenveen. – I am not worried that the best players, and the profiles, will disappear, but it is important that you replace them so that you keep the quality of the product up, he says when news meets him in Ekeberg. FAREWELL: Osame Sahraoui replaces Vålerenga with Heerenveen. Dag-Eilev Fagermo thinks it’s sad, but is happy about the money coming into Norwegian football. Photo: Svein Ove Ekornesvåg / NTB He highlights several reasons why Norwegian clubs are doing better in the transfer market. – The fact that we have two Norwegians among the world’s best players (Haaland and Ødegaard) helps to create more attention around other Norwegian talents. Norwegian clubs do well in Europe and we have a national team that does better, says Fagermo, and emphasizes: – The sum of it is that it is easier to sell, and easier to get more for the players. The ten biggest transfers from Norwegian football in January David Datro Fofana from Molde to Chelsea – NOK 130 million Casper Tengstedt from Rosenborg to Benfica – NOK 120 million Joel Mvuka Bodø/Glimt to Lorient – NOK 60 million Married Emmanuel Orban from Stabæk to Gent – 35 NOK million Christos Zafeiris from Haugesund to Slavia Praha – NOK 30 million Daniel Karlsbakk from Viking to Heerenveen – NOK 27 million August Mikkelsen from Tromsø to Hammarby – NOK 21 million Igoh Ogbu from Lillestrøm to Slavia Praha – NOK 20 million Osame Sahraoui from Vålerenga to Heerenveen – NOK 18 million Johan Hove from Strømsgodset to Groningen – NOK 11 million Source: Transfermarkt/TV 2 The previous transfer record, set in 2022, was NOK 355 million. Vålerenga’s sporting director, Joacim Jonsson, sees it as exclusively positive that he and other Norwegian clubs can grin all the way to the bank. He could tell about a hectic “deadline day” when news met him. – It is good for Norwegian football that it has become attractive. That means more scouts and people watching. You may lose some profiles, but then new ones come. And this will improve the finances of the clubs. All clubs in Norway are selling clubs, he says. IMPORTANT: Martin Ødegaard and Erling Braut Haaland have played big for Arsenal and Manchester City respectively. The experts agree that it has done Norwegian football good. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB The arrow points upwards Jonsson also singles out Premier League stars Haaland and Ødegaard, who both dominate for their respective big clubs. Haaland is the Premier League’s top scorer, while Ødegaard is captain of league leaders Arsenal. – It sounds trivially simple, but they have put Norway on the map, says Jonsson. He also points to what Bodø/Glimt and Molde have delivered in European tournaments in recent seasons. The former made it all the way to the quarter-finals of the Serie A league in the 2021/22 season, impressing by outplaying clubs such as Roma. The season before, Molde also showed off, including by making it to the round of 16 in the Europa League in the 2020/21 season. – Those who previously looked to Sweden and Denmark for players are now looking to Norway. And we should be happy about that. The value of the players and our league is increasing, says Åge Hareide, who himself has a long career in Norwegian football. He is absolutely right: the Eliteserien’s market value in terms of player numbers has increased. In 2022, Norwegian Top Football estimated that the value was 150 million euros, equivalent to 1.7 billion kroner at today’s exchange rate. According to the football database Transfermarkt, it is now over NOK 1.9 billion. THE ARROWS POINT UP: The market value of the elite league teams is getting higher. Photo: Mark Tonkin / news – Now it is important to further develop the academies and ensure that as many as possible can play football and have access to good training conditions, believes Hareide, who points out that Molde, Bodø/Glimt and Rosenborg, the clubs that have sold for the most money, gets an obvious advantage. But this will eventually level off when those with financial muscle will sign new players. Then the money is distributed around. – You get a financial separation now at the start, but work is done well in Norwegian football and it means that you bring out talents and players elsewhere too, says Hareide. Crushes own goal The very profitable month of January has led to the jubilation at Norwegian Topfootball. Now you are well on your way to smashing the goal you have set yourself of selling players for one billion kroner by 2028. – I am quite sure that the good trend will continue, says a satisfied Kenneth Wilsgård in Norsk Topfotball to news. – The Eliteserien wants to be a selling league. When others leave, new profiles can emerge and young, exciting players emerge. And that is only positive, he adds. TO BENFICA: Casper Tengstedt was sold from Rosenborg to Benfica in the January window. Photo: Svein Ove Ekornesvåg / NTB He credits the clubs and systematic work over time for the transfer boom. – In Norway, there has been national development work that has never been better. And now you get better finances, which is good in the short term, you get to invest further in the Norwegian model and can continue the good development. Although Sahraoui (Heerenveen), David Datro Fofana (Chelsea), Casper Tengstedt (Benfica) and Johan Hove (Groningen) have left the Norwegian grass and artificial turf pitches, Dag-Eilev Fagermo has no doubts: – The elite series has probably never been better than it is now.
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Broken transfer record in one month – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
