Looking at how smoothly and swiftly Sevilla has been able to regroup anytime they let go of their top players, then it is safe to say, Sevilla FC is no doubt Europe’s king of transfers bargain in the ever-competitive market over the last two decades.
With the kind of players and how well they brought them into the team, they’ve proved to be one of the top clubs in Europe that has made its name and broadened its fortunes through its ability to know when to sign a player, whom to buy through genuine scouting, and when to sell when clubs come calling for the services of their players.
Without mincing words, the club was built on scouting and great recruitment. Although at the end of 2000, the Andalusian side was drowning in huge debt and languishing in the Spanish’s second tier, and also on the verge of selling their stadium in other to offset their debt and to also pay their players.
In all of their difficulties, they were able to bounce back, and since then they’ve gone from strength to strength in terms of their finances and trophies.
After a torrid time in debt and languishing in the second tier, the 21st century can be said to be a blessed century for Sevilla, because it’s was a time where they won the European Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, Copa Del Rey, and also won the Europa League five times since 2007. A competition the Andalusian side have made their own.
In Sevilla‘s 110 years of existence and counting, they’ve been one of the decent clubs from Spain that has won trophies. However, the appointment of former goalkeeper Monchi as the sporting director of the club totally changed the fortunes of the team.
After the appointment of Monchi, he was tasked with two objectives by the club, which is to develop the club’s youth system and also implement a vast scouting system both in and outside Spain.
Fortunately, since his appointment, he has been able to justify why the club decided to trust him with the job.
It has been success upon success with the mode of transfer bargaining he has adopted, coupled with the high-quality players progressing through the youth system.
Today, we look at some of Sevilla’s magnificent gems that come with decent bargains from the transfer market, before they later moved on to other clubs.
According to research, since the appointment of Monchi, which has lasted 18 years with Sevilla. What they do is to sell high in the market, after getting the players either for free or cheap in the transfer market.
Over 24 players had cost Sevilla a total of €49m in transfer fees and with the Sporting director orchestrating things for the Andalusian, they were later sold six times the price, which is a combined fee of €295m.
Andrea Palop – (Valencia – Sevilla, Free) & Dani Alves – (Bahia – Sevilla, Loan)
The Spanish goalkeeper was the hero of Sevilla’s UEFA Cup triumph in 2007, he scored the injury-time goal which gave them the chance to progress to the quarter-final before he went on to save three penalties in the final against Ernesto Valverde’s Espanyol.
Palop was signed from Valencia on a free transfer, having been a backup goalkeeper to Santiago Canizares in his six-year stint with the Mestalla side.
During his stint with Valencia he only had 15 game appearances, and also won the league with them in 2002 and 2004 respectively, before he eventually left for Sevilla in the summer of 2005, where he went on to become a legend of the club by winning lot of trophies.
- Dani Alves
The Brazilian right-back Dani Alves is widely considered as one of the best right-backs to have emerged from Brazil. Without a doubt, Alves is one of the best transfer bargains that was orchestrated by Monchi, and since he was signed by the Los Nervionenses for a combined loan and a transfer fee of around €1m, he did prove that he was never a flash in the pan.
Sevilla had their eyes on him in UAE when he was playing for the Brazilian U20 team at the World Cup. After a thorough assessment of the Brazilian, the Andalusian outfit was pleased with his performances and most importantly his talent.
The club went on to acquired his permanent right from FC Bahia which was his parent club before moving down to Sevilla, where he later became an integral part of the team that won a lot of trophies.
Federico Fazio – (Ferro Carril Oeste – Sevilla, €800,000) & Javi Navarro – (Elche – Sevilla, Loan)
Fazio was snapped up by Sevilla in 2007 from Argentine second division side Ferro Carril Oeste for €800,000, following his outstanding performances for the club. He made his professional debut for Ferro Carril Oeste at age 18, when he joined Sevilla he was sent to the second team to help eases his adaptation process and to also help him develop into a much better player.
The Argentine defender enjoyed a fantastic stint with the La Liga side when he broke into the senior team following an injury to Navarro and Escude. He helped Sevilla win promotion to the Spanish second division for the first time in 46 years.
Fazio started the 2007-08 season with Sevilla as one of the important players in the team, as they went on to reach the final of the UEFA Cup.
- Javi Navarro
It’s wasn’t a mistake that Monchi named him among the best XI of players he signed that went on to achieve success with the club. As the captain of the side, Navarro showed tremendous leadership skills and went on to lift five trophies during his stint with Sevilla. Without mincing word, Navarro is well revered as one of the legends of the club due to what he achieved with the club.
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Navarro played with Valencia and Elche before moving to Sevilla in 2001, no one would have thought he’s going to be one of the best Sevilla’s player when he joined from Elche. Surprisingly Navarro defied all odd and went on to captained the team and also played an integral role in their triumph in the back to back UEFA Cups in 2006 and 2007.
Martin Caceres – (Barcelona – Sevilla, Loan) & Adriano – (Coritiba – Sevilla, $2.31m)
The Los Palanganas exercised the option of signing the Uruguayan defender from Barcelona on a four-year deal having done well with the club. Caceres was sent on loan by Barcelona to Juventus when he failed to hit the ground running for the Catalan after he joined from Villarreal for €16.5m in 2008.
At the end of his loan spell with Juventus, he returned to Barcelona, thereafter he was signed by Sevilla in the 2009-10 season.
Caceres made over 25 match appearances for Sevilla and also played in the Europa League. Without a doubt, Caceres is one of the best transfer bargains orchestrated by the sporting director. And, when he was leaving the club, the club made a decent profit on his transfer.
- Adriano
Adriano is also another decent transfer, brought to Sevilla from Coritiba. The Brazilian was an excellent player throughout his time with Sevilla and also went on to score in the 2007 UEFA Cup final, a mouthwatering performance that got him a move to Barcelona.
Adriano Correia is one of the few players who can comfortably play as a defender or a midfielder. The Parana born defender is definitely one of the best Brazilian players that ever graced the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium with his talent. Monchi’s great transfer policy made it possible for him to join Sevilla in his prime.
Julien Escude – (Ajax – Sevilla, Free) & Ivan Rakitic – (Schalke 04 – Sevilla, €1.5m)
When Escude left Ajax for free to join Sevilla, he would never have thought he was heading to a club where he was going to achieve a lot of success as a footballer.
The Frenchman won six trophies during his stint with Sevilla, Escude and Navarro combined fantastically well in the defense during their time to helped the Spanish side triumph in the UEFA Cup in 2006 and 2007.
After a successful stint with Sevilla, on the day he was leaving, Escude was filled with an emotional farewell message at the press conference to the club he holds dearly to heart. With the success Escude achieved, Monchi can boldly say the Frenchman was one of the best players he brought to the club.
- Ivan Rakitic
Ivan Rakitic will always be remembered as one of the finest captains the Andalusian side ever had. The Croatian maestro had one of the finest individual campaigns for Sevilla when he joined from Schalke 04.
His 2013-14 season performances in the Europa League final didn’t go unnoticed as he was named man of the match for his role in Sevilla’s triumph over the Portuguese side Benfica in the final.
Sevilla made cool cash on him following a successful stint when he moved to Barcelona for €20m. A huge gain for a player that was brought in from Schalke for just €1.5m.
Christian Poulsen – (Schalke 04 – Sevilla, Free) & Renato – (Santos – Sevilla, €5m)
Just like other Mochi’s successful transfers, exactly the same story with the Danish midfielder. Poulsen arrived as a free transfer from the German side Schalke 04, and he went on to helped the club to four trophies during his stay.
Poulsen was so good that he was named the best new signing in his first month by Spanish football newspaper ‘Marca’.
Before Poulsen left for Juventus for €10m, following a very successful stint with Sevilla. He became the first player to be named Danish player of the year for two consecutive years when he won the award in 2006, the same season in which Sevilla won the UEFA Cup title and also won the Super Cup.
- Renato
Renato was well scouted by the scouting team of Sevilla when they cited him playing for the Santos in the Copa Libertadores in 2002. After agreeing on terms to join the La Liga side, the Brazilian denied the report of him joining Sevilla while playing for Brazil at the Copa America, stating that the report of him moving to Spain would unsettle him.
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Following the conclusion of the Copa, Renato moved down to Sevilla on a five years deal, and the rest they say was history as he went on to achieved huge success with the team.
His goal against Barcelona in the UEFA Super Cup and against Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana will always be one of the midfielder’s highlights in Sevilla’s jersey, with six trophies to his name during his stint.
Ever Banega – (Valencia – Sevilla, €2m) & Luis Fabiano – (Porto – Sevilla, €1.2m)
Banega was no doubt a fantastic player with a lot of talent in him, he joined the Los Palanganas briefly after the manager that managed him at Valencia (Unai Emery) left for Sevilla.
Banega made his official debut against Valencia in a match that ended in a draw, and since then it’s has been a decision well taken by the Argentine, not because of anything but because of what he’s been able to achieve with Sevilla.
The former Valencia midfielder was named the man of the match in the 2015 UEFA Europa League final against Dnipro, although he left the four walls of Seville to Inter Milan after winning two Europa league for Sevilla.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t replicate the kind of form he showed with Sevilla, he returned back to the city of Seville. He was among Sevilla’s midfielders that orchestrated a 3-2 win over Inter Milan in the 2019/20 Europa League final.
- Luis Fabiano
Luis Fabiano will forever be remembered as one of the finest and lethal strikers that ever donned the jersey of the Los Nervionenses, no wonder why he is still ranked among the highest scorer in the history of the club, winning six trophies.
In fact, Fabiano’s exploit with Sevilla can be regarded as one of the best eras of Monchi’s reign as the sporting director of the club.
Following a torrid time at Porto, Sevilla signed his 25% right from the Portuguese giant and later signed the remaining 10% from the Rio Football Services for €1.2m, when he got to Sevilla he forgot all his worrying time with Porto and went on to achieved success.
Frederic Kanoute – (Tottenham – Sevilla, €6.5m) & Gary Medel – (Boca Junior – Sevilla, €3m)
Following an unsuccessful spell with Tottenham and West Ham United, the Malian forward move down to Spain with Sevilla. With over 290 match appearances and over 136 goals for Sevilla, which made him ranked comfortably among the club’s highest goalscorer in history. A great signing Monchi will always look back to and give himself a thumbs up.
Kanoute can boastfully say he was also part of the UEFA Cup stories of Sevilla when they won it in 2006 against Middlesbrough, he came in to score in the 89th minute to make the scoreline 4-0.
He also made his presence felt in the game between his former team Tottenham, in the 2006-07 UEFA Cup match where he scored a penalty at the Pizjuan stadium to dumped the English side out of the competition.
Kanoute wasn’t just named the greatest signing of Monchi’s era for fun, it was because of his great exploits with the team.
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- Gary Medel
Gary Medel was signed the same day Ivan Rakitic was signed from Schalke 04. The Chilean midfielder joined Sevilla for €3m on a four and half years contract from Boca Junior and made his debut against Racing Santander.
One of his finest performances was the 1-1 draw against Barcelona, where he cleared the ball off the goal line twice, which would have been a comfortable win for the Catalan giants.
The Chilean midfielder may not have won a lot of trophies with Sevilla before he left, but he did have a good stint with the club. He was listed among the players that were signed by Monchi on a very decent amount and later left the club in a manner that looks favorable in terms of the profit side.
Conclusion
We may not be able to mention all of the players the sporting director brought to the club, but his contribution has been really fantastic. Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo (Monchi) has been able to model the Spanish club into what other football clubs in Europe could learn from, with sporting triumphs on the pitch very much accompanying business profit in the transfer market through a man that has great bargaining skills.
More importantly, with their current triumph in the Europa League against Antonio Conte led Inter Milan, which made it his 10th trophies in his 18 years plus of being a director and the first since he returned back from AS Roma.
It’s looking like Sevilla and Monchi are set to have a mouthwatering profit once again with the current team, because without a doubt top clubs would come calling for their top players.
And as it stands, with Monchi still at the helm, even if they lose their players to some of the big clubs in Europe, they have their special way of recruiting players. Exactly how they handle Alves, Rakitic’s departure, they know how best to handle any departure, and they would still continue to be a force to reckoned with in the years to come both in the league and Europe.
