Where's the cash from? How HSV are funding mega-transfers | OneFootball

This is something that hasn’t been seen all that often in recent years: On Sunday at lunchtime, a not insignificant part of the German football public was suddenly talking about HSV.

The reason: With Fábio Vieira and Zakaria El Ouahdi, two absolute top players are on the verge of moving to Hamburg. Together, the two new signings cost just under 19 million euros. Until recently, even the boldest optimists among HSV fans likely would not have thought it possible that their club would spend such a sum in a single day. The justified question many supporters are asking is: where is this money suddenly coming from?

In an article, the Hamburger Abendblatt broke down how this immense budget came about. One reason: under CFO Eric Huwer, the Rothosen have gradually cleared their financial burdens. The club is now debt-free and has posted profits in each of the past four financial years. This created financial leeway that the club is now using strategically.

There is also an important accounting effect: transfer fees are not booked in full immediately, but amortized over the length of the contract. Vieira’s signing, which cost just under ten million euros, therefore only affects the current balance sheet in part. Spread over four years, only a portion of the fee carries weight each season.

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HSV brought in more money from sales than expected

At least equally important were this summer’s transfer revenues. The sale of Fabio Baldé to Strasbourg in particular brought in significantly more money than originally expected, at around seven million euros. Robert Glatzel’s move to VfL Wolfsburg also generated additional income for HSV. Altogether, transfer revenues had already exceeded ten million euros even before the most recent blockbuster deals.

On top of that come savings on wages. With Jean-Luc Dompé, one of the club’s top earners is leaving for Turkey. His departure created additional financial leeway.

For the reasons mentioned, HSV had long been convinced that it could invest larger sums in the right players. That is exactly what has now happened. Both Vieira and El Ouahdi are highly gifted footballers whom sporting director Claus Costa signed well below their market value. The risk is therefore manageable — and hopes are high that the multimillion-euro investments will pay off on the pitch.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.