From the Coaching Zone // #9

The Real Competition Isn't in the Transfer Market

Player development is the most important leadership challenge in modern football.

In football, we spend a lot of time talking about transfers.

Managers.

Tactical systems.

Market values.

But perhaps we're overlooking the competition that matters most.

The real advantage isn't built by signing the best players.

It's built by developing them better than anyone else.

Yet player development is still too often credited to individual coaches.

"He's a great developer of players."

I believe that's only part of the story.

Of course, a coach can have a huge influence on a player's development.

But no coach develops a player on their own.

Development depends on the environment.

The right squad structure.

Clear performance standards.

Individual coaching.

Playing time.

And, above all, an organisation that deliberately creates the conditions for learning.

That's why player development isn't a coaching skill alone.

It's an organisational capability.

Realising this fundamentally changed the way I look at football.

During my time as Head Coach at Cercle Brugge, I experienced what that looks like in practice.

After an excellent start to the season, our results began to decline.

I expected my meeting with the Sporting Director to focus on our tactical structure, training sessions or playing style.

Instead, his first question was:

"Why has the number of your individual player meetings gone down?"

On another occasion, he asked why our team meetings had become longer as the season progressed.

At first, I was surprised.

Why would a Sporting Director care about details like these?

Only later did I understand what he was really trying to achieve.

It wasn't about control.

It was about learning.

The real questions were:

How do players learn best?

Which coaching formats genuinely accelerate their development?

Which habits improve performance?

And which ones don't?

Suddenly, even seemingly small details took on a completely different meaning.

Not because they were being monitored.

But because the club wanted to understand which ways of working actually made players better.

At Cercle Brugge, player development wasn't the responsibility of individual coaches.

It was part of the club's identity.

Even coaching and development practices were continuously reviewed at Cercle Brugge—not to monitor coaches, but to better understand how players learn most effectively.

One of the clearest signs that this approach works was reflected in both Cercle Brugge's sporting success and its transfer business.

Financially, Cercle was never among Belgium's biggest clubs.

That's exactly why player development wasn't an option—it was a strategic necessity.

Kevin Denkey arrived as a free transfer and was later sold for a multi-million euro fee.

He wasn't an isolated success story.

Ayase Ueda also developed into a Japanese international at Cercle before earning a move to Feyenoord.

Both illustrate how clubs with limited financial resources can create significant value.

Not by spending more than their competitors.

But by identifying potential earlier—and developing it more consistently.

Of course, no club develops a player in isolation.

But that's the real question:

How much does the environment contribute to turning potential into elite performance?

Only later did I realise that Cercle Brugge wasn't unique.

Clubs such as FC Midtjylland and Brighton & Hove Albion have followed the same philosophy for years.

They know they can't consistently outspend Europe's biggest clubs for established talent.

So they compete in a different way.

They build better environments for learning.

And that's where their sustainable competitive advantage comes from.

The best proof of player development isn't the transfer fee—it's the performance that comes first. Kevin Denkey scored 27 league goals to become Belgium's top scorer before completing a multi-million euro transfer.

I experienced something similar at LASK.

Players such as Keito Nakamura—now also a Japanese international—developed into multi-million euro transfers.

At the time, I took that for granted.

Today, I see it differently.

Looking back, I don't believe their development was primarily the result of a deliberately designed player development strategy.

It was, to a large extent, a consequence of our relatively small squad.

Opportunities to play came naturally.

That experience taught me an important lesson.

Squad building also requires clear quality standards.

When a squad becomes too large, playing time inevitably decreases.

And with fewer minutes come fewer opportunities for young players to take responsibility, gain experience and develop.

That's why good squad planning doesn't just improve the quality of the team.

It creates the conditions for player development.

This also highlights a common mistake in football.

When the outcome is positive, we often assume the process behind it must have been right.

But successful player development can also happen by chance.

The most consistently successful clubs don't rely on chance.

They deliberately build environments where development is far more likely to happen.

Keito Nakamura's story shows that talent alone isn't enough. Player development needs playing time—and playing time starts with smart squad planning.

That's exactly why data-driven recruitment has become so important.

The best clubs aren't simply looking for the biggest talents.

They're identifying players whose potential is still undervalued by the market.

But finding an underperforming player is only the first step.

Data helps identify potential.

Player development unlocks it.

The real value of player development isn't reflected first in a player's market value.

It's reflected in the quality of their decisions on the pitch.

Players recognise situations earlier.

They solve problems more effectively.

They make better decisions under pressure.

That's why multi-million euro transfers shouldn't be the objective.

More often than not, they're simply the outcome of an effective development process.

Perhaps it's time we judged clubs differently.

Not by the players they sign.

But by how well they create an environment where players learn and improve.

Because the real competition isn't taking place in the transfer market.

It's taking place in a club's ability to develop players systematically—and better than everyone else.