Transfer prices have rocketed to the extent that top clubs are now able to sell their fringe players for big money – with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United profiting.
With transfers in excess of £100million starting to become more common, even the top Premier League clubs need to sell to generate funds. But, unlike the have-nots of the world, they rarely need to sell the family silver.
Here are some players who made their clubs significant profit without even being a regular in the first team.
Danny Ward
Ward joined Liverpool from boyhood club Wrexham in 2012, commanding a fee of £100,000 despite having played no first team matches for the Conference side.
The Welsh goalkeeper impressed in loan spells at Aberdeen and Huddersfield – sandwiching a Reds Premier League debut against Bournemouth – but during his time at Anfield he earned more caps for Wales (4) than he made senior Liverpool appearances (3).
That wasn’t stopping Leicester, though, who paid £12.5million for the 25-year-old, handing Liverpool a tidy profit on someone who was never higher than third choice.
Carlos Vela
In 2005, Arsenal trumped a number of clubs to sign Vela from Mexican club Guadalajara for a fee that would eventually rise to just over £500,000.
He managed 62 appearances for the club – but just 29 in the Premier League – as he was sent on loan numerous times after work permit issues, before he made his loan move to Real Sociedad permanent in 2012.
The initial transfer only saw Arsenal receive around £2million, but in 2014 they waived their buy-back clause and Sociedad paid £12million to make the forward theirs.
Kevin De Bruyne
It may look ridiculous now, but the £18million Chelsea received from Wolfsburg for De Bruyne in 2014 was an excellent piece of business at the time.
He had joined for £7million just two years earlier but was immediately loaned back to Genk before spending a season at Werder Bremen, where he impressed, scoring 10 times in 33 Bundesliga appearances as well as recording nine assists.
De Bruyne returned to Chelsea but mustered just three Premier League appearances before Wolfsburg made their approach in January, handing the Blues a swift profit of £11million.
Two-and-a-half years down the line, the German side made their own profit on him: £37million.
Wojciech Szczesny
In 2006, a 16-year-old Szczesny joined Arsenal from Legia Warsaw for a fee of around £50,000, eventually progressing to be No.1 at the Emirates.
However, despite Arsene Wenger’s repeated promise that he would be Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper for years to come, Szczesny fell down the pecking order as the club signed David Ospina and Petr Cech, and he spent two years on loan at Roma.
Making just 17 Premier League appearances since 2014, the Polish goalkeeper joined Juventus in 2017 for £10million. Last term, he shared the goalkeeping duties with Gianluigi Buffon, who he is expected to succeed as first choice in Turin.
Kevin Wimmer
Tottenham signed Austrian centre back Wimmer from FC Koln in 2015, after the 22-year-old impressed in their first season back in the Bundesliga.
They paid around £4.3million for the defender, who impressed toward the latter stages of his debut season after injuries allowed a breakthrough.
However he struggled to keep that going into the next term, scoring an own goal in the North London derby, and Tottenham would have struggled to say no to the £18million offered by Stoke after just 15 Premier League appearances in two years.
Then-Stoke boss Mark Hughes described the signing as a “real coup”, and commented on the fee, saying: “There is a lot of money being spent this summer, so for us to get a player of Kevin’s calibre through the door for the price we have paid, in my opinion, is something we will really appreciate for years to come.”
He made 17 appearances in Stoke’s relegation campaign, with Hughes’ replacement Paul Lambert placing the defender on a special fitness regime before he joined Hannover on loan in May.