Neel Shelat assesses the trading relationship between England’s second tier and the Belgian Pro League, one of Europe’s most astute importers of global talent
On the whole, the English pyramid is the strongest footballing ecosystem in the world, not just in terms of team and player quality but also from a financial standpoint. This is perhaps most evidently reflected in its second tier, the Championship, which is ranked in and around the top ten world’s strongest leagues by all models and experts. Its status only seems to be growing year after year as it continues to attract serious investment from wealthy owners, not least thanks to the allure of the promised land of the Premier League. In 2024/25, for example, the aggregate player payroll of the Championship was around twice that of the Portuguese Primeira Liga, Dutch Eredivisie or Belgian Pro League.
As a result of the league’s financial status, Championship clubs are increasingly able to attract talent from these best-of-the-rest European leagues since they can offer bigger salaries and a potential launchpad to the strongest league in the world. Indeed, the three aforementioned leagues are among the most-frequented foreign markets for Championship clubs.
In particular, the Belgian Pro League’s popularity has surged in recent years. Since 2022, 28 players have left the division for the English second tier, a huge increase from just six in the previous three years. That figure is also equal to the number of players who moved over from the Portuguese and Dutch top flights combined in the same time frame.
Given these obvious trends, the Belgian Pro League to English Championship player transfer pathway certainly warrants closer investigation.
The Trigger: Vincent Kompany’s arrival at Burnley
Even at a time when international scouting is being made ever more accessible with the widespread availability of in-depth data and video footage alongside the relative ease of establishing an on-ground presence through travel and/or scout networks, clubs are always hesitant to veer into unproven markets. So, the arrival of a fresh face with knowledge of and experience in such markets can often be the triggering point that leads to the emergence of a new pathway.
That certainly seems to be the story in this case as just one club was responsible for over half of the transfers from the Belgian Pro League to the English Championship in the summer of 2022. That team was Burnley, who had hired Belgian head coach Vincent Kompany soon after their relegation from the Premier League. With ambitions of bouncing straight back up to the top flight, the Clarets went to Belgium for five of their eleven permanent summer signings before going on to bring in two more players from the league in the mid-season transfer window. Kompany, whose previous job was at Anderlecht, must undoubtedly have been one of the key figures in driving this new transfer strategy.
Among the most obvious upsides of this approach was its low financial risk and cost-effectiveness, as Burnley did not spend more than €4.2 million on an individual transfer fee that summer. Furthermore, the signings from the Belgian Pro League did not command high wages either as they only fell around the middle of the Clarets’ player payroll even after having their base salaries multiplied manifold.
| Player | Previous League | Transfer Fee (€m) | 2022/23 Base Salary (€k) | Wage Ranking in Club Payroll |
| Anass Zaroury | Belgian Pro League | 4.2 | 616 | 23rd |
| Manuel Benson | Belgian Pro League | 4 | 1,019 | 17th |
| Darko Churlinov | German Bundesliga | 3.5 | 521 | 24th |
| Josh Cullen | Belgian Pro League | 3 | 1,078 | 15th |
| Arijanet Muric | English Premier League | 3 | 1,232 | 13th |
| Scott Twine | League One | 2.9 | 213 | 30th |
| Luke McNally | League One | 1.85 | 1,055 | 16th |
| Vitinho | Belgian Pro League | 1 | 711 | 21st |
| Samuel Bastien | Belgian Pro League | 0.8 | 924 | 18th |
| CJ Egan-Riley | English Premier League | N/A | 332 | 28th |
| Denis Franchi | French Ligue 1 | N/A | 36 | 33rd |
Burnley’s permanent signings in the summer of 2022.
Of course, Burnley went on to have a very successful campaign as they ran away at the top of the standings and accumulated over 100 points. Among their stars were some of the Belgian Pro League signings, including midfielder Josh Cullen and winger Manuel Benson. So, even as Kompany’s side prepared for the Premier League by branching away from Belgium and making signings from more expensive markets, other Championship clubs were shown that the Pro League was a market with huge potential.
Why the two leagues are a great match
There are various factors that make the Belgian Pro League a very attractive market for English Championship clubs. As previously discussed and demonstrated with the Burnley example, the financial aspect certainly is a big one. Squad payrolls are often a great reflection of clubs’ financial statures, so the fact that the average payroll of Championship clubs last season (€20.65m) was close to twice that of their Belgian Pro League counterparts (€11.78m) should make the gulf between the two leagues quite clear. As many as six Championship clubs had larger payrolls than the Belgian leader, and there was only one Pro League representative in the aggregate top 10. This disparity is likely to grow in the coming seasons as the two leagues’ broadcast rights deals are currently heading in firmly opposite directions.
Evidently, Championship clubs have the scope to strike good financial deals to sign Belgian Pro League players, but this would count for little if there were an equal disparity between the two divisions in terms of team and player quality. So, the financial gap can only prove valuable if most Belgian Pro League clubs are at a good level in relation to the English second tier. In such a case, the average Pro League player wouldn’t look out of place at all in the Championship despite being available for a relatively low cost.
We can test this idea using TransferLab’s Club Strength+ Global Rankings. As the below chart shows, the Championship’s mid table is quite strong in comparison to the Pro League, but the top teams are at a very similar level. Indeed, the average rank of all Pro League clubs at the moment (219th) is not far off at all from that of their Championship counterparts (200th).
Additionally, the Pro League is generally a very attractive market for clubs in all of the major European leagues thanks to its status as a hub for young talent from all corners of the world. SCOUTED’s Llew Davies recently wrote an in-depth piece analysing the league’s recruitment trends, which brilliantly describes how and why Belgian clubs have been able to get ahead of the curve in identifying and signing such players. Most Championship clubs also do a good job of promoting and developing young talent. The average player age (weighted by minutes played) in the Championship last season (25.82) was under a year older than the same statistic in the Belgian Pro League (24.96). However, Championship clubs’ scope for such international recruitment is limited by the GBE system. So, the Belgian Pro League’s status as a Band Two league makes it a great market for English clubs from this perspective as well.
Transfer Trends
Before delving into some interesting patterns in transfers from the Pro League to the Championship, it is worth noting that clubs from the English second tier do not necessarily have free rein to take their picks from the very best talent of the Belgian top-flight. Stronger and richer clubs, most of which play in the big five European leagues, are just as aware of the Pro League’s quality and potential. So, quite a few players leave Belgian clubs for places like France, Italy and Germany besides the Netherlands and even Türkiye at times.
As a result, recruiting from the Pro League is not entirely straightforward for Championship clubs, especially if they are not realistic promotion-chasers and do not have a big budget. They too often need to look to try and find value in their signings that might be overlooked or passed on by richer clubs. This is reflected in many of the transfer trends.
Most notably, Championship clubs focus on signing younger players from the Pro League. With the previously discussed reasons in mind, the rationale behind this should be quite easy to see. Still, it might be a little surprising to note that no player aged over 30 years old has moved from Belgium to the English second tier in the last three years.
| Age Range | Number of Players Transferred |
| 19-21 | 9 |
| 22-24 | 8 |
| 25-27 | 8 |
| 28-30 | 3 |
Age range breakup of players transferred from the Belgian Pro League to the English Championship since 2022.
Of course, these signings rarely ever include the brightest talents in Belgium, who go for relatively higher fees and are generally signed by big five league clubs. So, even though Championship clubs sign a lot of young players from the Pro League, they usually do not pay huge fees. Subtracting the six free transfers and three loans from the above set of 28 transfers, we find that the 19 other players brought in cost €76.4m in transfer fees altogether. The average of just over €4m per player is not too high, and that is despite it being skewed by two eight-digit fees paid by Burnley. In fact, the Clarets are responsible for four of the five most expensive moves in our dataset. If we remove them from our list, the average plummets to €1.47m.
Unsurprisingly, Burnley also stand out in the list of the most frequent buyers as they have been involved in over a quarter of the transfers in our dataset. Interestingly, though, no other relegated Premier League team features among the 15 Championship clubs to have brought in a player from the Belgian Pro League since 2022. The vast majority of them are mid or lower table teams. The only other sides to have made more than two signings from the Pro League are Watford and Queens Park Rangers. This suggests that there is some more untapped potential in the market for promotion hopefuls.
On the flip side, most of the sellers from Belgium are teams that compete towards the top of the standings. This season’s Championship playoff contestants – Union Saint-Gilloise (1), Club Brugge (0), Genk (2), Anderlecht (3), Royal Antwerp (4) and Gent (3) – have been involved in almost half the sales to the Championship in the last three years. Among the others, Standard Liège have made four sales, while Westerlo’s three include Lyle Foster’s €11m move to Burnley. On the whole, it can be said that the vast majority of players moving from the Pro League to the Championship come from top-half clubs, though rarely title winners/contenders – another reflection of the English second tier’s relative strength and attractiveness. However, Championship clubs may yet be missing out on some underrated gems from lower-table sides.
Besides the aforementioned Burnley signings that helped the Clarets win promotion to the Premier League, other players have also gone on to succeed in the Championship after leaving Belgium. A recent example is Jesper Daland, who left Cercle Brugge for Cardiff City in a €4.1m move last summer. The Norwegian centre back’s numbers naturally changed a bit as he found himself playing for a team with a different style of play, but he remained quite a solid defender in England’s second tier.
Another interesting transfer from earlier in 2024 was Romaine Mundle’s move to Sunderland. The Tottenham Hotspur academy graduate had joined Standard Liège ahead of the 2023/24 season in search of regular first-team action, but he did not get much of it. Financial issues were also growing at the club as 777 Partners’ ownership came under increasing scrutiny, so the Black Cats were able to sign him for €1.8m in the mid-season window. After gradually being eased into the team, Mundle grew into quite a valuable rotation option as Régis Le Bris’ side won promotion to the Premier League this term.
Arguably the best signing from the previous summer was Giorgi Chakvetadze, who came to Watford from Gent in a €2.5m deal. Although he made the move on the back of a couple of loans to Hamburg and Slovan Bratislava, he had shown promising signs in Belgium previously. He has certainly gone on to deliver in England, where he has been a consistent standout in an otherwise disappointing side.
Of course, not all transfers have panned out so well. In fact, a couple of Chakvetadze’s teammates who have also moved from Belgium have not quite enjoyed as much success. Young Pierre Dwomoh has not seen a great deal of game time so far, while €5.8m striker Vakoun Bayo has not earned a favourable reputation among most fans despite breaking into double digits for goals scored this season.
In general, it seems unwise for Championship clubs to spend big fees on Pro League players. The reason behind that is simple: the brightest talents in Belgium will inevitably be picked up by clubs from stronger top-flight leagues, so the remaining options will be riskier. Indeed, the two signings more expensive than Bayo in our dataset (namely Mike Trésor and Lyle Foster) have also seen their market values drop well below the transfer fees paid for them.
Instead, English second-tier clubs should look to target youngsters (particularly in the 19-21 age range) who might not be popping up on top-flight clubs’ radars but have the potential to develop into such quality players. Burnley have provided a blueprint for this approach as well, although they are certainly helped by their bigger budgets. Ameen Al-Dakhil is a great example as he joined the Clarets from STVV for €5m in 2023 and went on to move to Stuttgart for nearly twice that amount over a year later.
Championship sides should certainly have been following the Pro League closely this season, so more transfers between the leagues should be expected this summer. Using TransferLab’s search filters, we can try to identify some potential targets.
One of the first names that stands out is Yassine Titraoui, who is reportedly set to leave Charleroi this summer. Some recent reports have suggested that Lille are interested in his signature, but if they opt against completing a deal, the 21-year-old Algerian midfielder should prove to be quite a good signing for an upper-mid-table Championship club.
Cercle Brugge’s Nazinho should be an even bigger standout for a side looking for an attack-minded wide player. He only moved to Belgium from Sporting CP last year and therefore might not come cheap (especially as Cercle have gotten better at selling recently), but he could well be worth a slightly higher fee.
Among centre backs, Bram Lagae could be an interesting option for mid-table Championship clubs looking for a left-footer in the position. He spent the season on loan at Kortrijk from Gent, and while there are some aspects of his game that need improvement, he could be quite a cheap option since his current contract is expiring next year.
These are just a few of many Belgian Pro League players that Championship clubs might be interested in this summer. All things considered, this pathway looks extremely likely to continue to flourish in the coming years, and there is potential for all involved parties to benefit if they play their cards right.
Data from Transfermarkt and Capology.
Header image copyright IMAGO/ Jessica Hornby Sportimage
