Talent evaluators: Which teams acquire the top players for every role?
With each transfer window that closes, the hierarchy within the football transfer market becomes increasingly clear: Smaller clubs supply the top tier, while the elite clubs select from this pool.
For elite clubs, this approach serves as a solution for various challenges. Struggling to acquire a commanding center back? Seeking reliable quality in midfield? Having difficulty finding a goal-scoring forward? There are options available. Certain clubs worldwide—such as Brighton & Hove Albion, Eintracht Frankfurt, Sturm Graz, Wolfsburg, and others—have established themselves as experts in recruiting specific positions.
These clubs excel at spotting and acquiring talent in targeted areas and subsequently selling them for a profit. They are the prime locations for Europe’s leading teams to scout for new players.
So, if your club needs to address a positional gap, where should they direct their attention, and how do these clubs achieve success? Here is your reference guide.
Before we proceed, a brief note: Goalkeeper is the sole position not included in this analysis. Several ESPN sources consulted for this article advised against it. Simply put, no club has a distinct advantage in signing goalkeepers. It is a more individualistic and often unpredictable segment of the market.
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CENTER BACKS
AFC Bournemouth
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Marcos Senesi, Illia Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen
Despite significant player turnover in recent seasons, Bournemouth has managed to consistently refresh their squad and achieve impressive results in the Premier League. This success hinges on effective recruitment.
The Cherries are a prominent team within one of modern football’s most efficient multi-club networks, benefiting from the collective expertise of sister clubs—such as Lorient (French Ligue 1) and Moreirense (Portuguese Primeira Liga)—and they have a clear strategy for making signings.
They have particularly thrived in recruiting center backs. With a defined playing style established by manager Andoni Iraola, they focus on players whose attributes align with his tactical system: they must be adept at defending high up the pitch as the team presses and be strong in one-on-one situations.
The club also pays close attention to the overall demands of the Premier League, with one scout indicating that they generally prefer players with a minimum height of 185cm (6-foot-1).
This strategy has yielded consistent rewards. Last summer, their primary center back pairing was acquired by reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain (Zabarnyi) and continental giants Real Madrid (Huijsen) for a combined total exceeding £100 million. Senesi’s contract is set to expire this summer, and he is likely to receive substantial offers for a free transfer.
Wolfsburg
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Maxence Lacroix, Micky van de Ven, Konstantinos Koulierakis
Similar to Bournemouth, Wolfsburg has been on an impressive streak of producing center backs, supplying the Premier League with two of its finest in recent years, and they have another promising talent in their ranks.
Their approach involves identifying physically exceptional players—either exceptionally fast, exceptionally strong, or both—from less competitive leagues, then showcasing them in the Bundesliga. The German top flight features fast-paced matches, allowing these attributes to shine.
For instance, Lacroix and Van de Ven were acquired from second-tier clubs in France and the Netherlands, respectively. They cost Wolfsburg less than €10 million combined and excelled in the Bundesliga—each recorded top speeds exceeding 34.5 km/h, according to Gradient Sports—and subsequently moved to the Premier League for substantial profits.
Their current standout center back, Koulierakis, has a slightly lower top speed—reaching 33.12 km/h against Union Berlin in December—but his remarkable acceleration and impressive strength have earned him the nickname “The Hammer.” As a result, he has been linked with a transfer to Liverpool.
Wolfsburg will not be overly concerned if Koulierakis departs; they are always on the lookout for another potential star. The club spent January attempting (and failing) to sign Toulouse’s Charlie Cresswell, who emerged from Leeds United’s academy. He could be the next in line.
FULLBACKS
Bayer Leverkusen
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Jeremie Frimpong, Piero Hincapié, Alejandro Grimaldo, Arthur
Identifying promising full backs is a challenging endeavor for many clubs, but Bayer Leverkusen seems to have mastered the process. The club’s sporting director, Simon Rolfes, leads their scouting operation, which is designed to cut through the noise and focus on the right areas.
Leverkusen places significant emphasis on younger players, who can later be sold for a profit. This is why the majority of their signings are aged 22 or younger. They utilize data to identify standout talents, such as the exceptionally quick Frimpong, before employing traditional scouting methods to assess a player’s character and personality.
The club’s scouting department includes a division that specifically targets South America. This has proven highly effective, resulting in a series of quality players across various positions and significantly contributing to their success in the full-back area.
Hincapié was acquired for just over €6 million from Argentine club Talleres and is now competing for a Premier League title with Arsenal. Arthur was signed for a similar fee from América Mineiro in Brazil and now patrols Leverkusen’s right flank opposite Grimaldo—who was signed on a free transfer from Benfica in 2023 and is now regarded as one of the world’s top left-backs.
CENTER MIDFIELDERS
Brighton & Hove Albion
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Moisés Caicedo, Carlos Baleba, Yasin Ayari
Brighton was among the first Premier League clubs to embrace modern scouting, utilizing data more effectively than most and willing to explore the globe for talent worth developing.
The Seagulls also employ position-specific scouts, whose role is to recruit for designated areas of the pitch. This is uncommon in football, with only a few Premier League clubs adopting this approach. Manchester City is another example.
Clearly, whoever oversees the recruitment of center midfielders for Brighton is performing exceptionally well. Caicedo was acquired for just £4 million from Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle in 2021; two-and-a-half years later, he transferred to Chelsea in a then-British record £115 million deal.
They reinvested that money in several prospects, most notably Baleba. He joined from Lille for €27 million in 2023 and is frequently linked with a lucrative move to Manchester United.
But what criteria does Brighton prioritize? The club often emphasizes physical attributes when scouting for midfielders and meticulously analyzes data to identify athletic outliers. When Baleba was at Lille, he ranked in the 100th percentile for various sprint metrics. The same was true for Malick Yalcouyé, a player the Seagulls signed for £6 million in 2024 while he was on loan at Sturm Graz.
WINGERS
STADE RENNAIS
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Ismaïla Sarr, Raphinha, Jérémy Doku, Martin Terrier
Stade Rennais is a hub for wingers in multiple respects. Before delving into their recruitment achievements, it is noteworthy that both Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué emerged from their academy, approximately seven years apart, and later joined forces at Paris Saint-Germain to secure last season’s Champions League title.
Rennes was unable to retain either player for long, but they have continued to entertain fans with a steady influx of talented wingers. Raphinha and Doku are standout names, with the former finishing fifth in the 2025 Ballon d’Or rankings and the latter moving to Manchester City in a €65 million transfer.
Throughout this period of wingers, Rennes has focused on relatively established players rather than taking risks. Raphinha and Terrier were in their early 20s with several professional seasons behind them, while Doku and Sarr were well-regarded prospects with one full season in a top-tier league.
Rennes excels at enhancing the abilities of good wingers before facilitating their transitions to greater opportunities.
Borussia Dortmund
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Ousmane Dembélé, Jadon Sancho, Christian Pulisic, Karim Adeyemi, Jamie Gittens
Borussia Dortmund has carved out a unique niche over a decade: They have recruited some of the world’s finest young wingers, showcased them in a high-scoring Bundesliga environment, and subsequently profited significantly from their departures.
This trend began with the remarkable sale of Dembélé to Barcelona and evolved as they began to raid English academies for top talent. They presented Sancho, Jude Bellingham, and Gittens with the same enticing proposition: Would you like to advance your career, play at the highest level immediately, and see your potential flourish?
STRIKERS
Before examining the specific clubs that excel in recruiting strikers, it is important to note a common theme in their strategies: most utilize strike partnerships on the field.
One head of recruitment at a European club informed ESPN that it is considerably easier for a striker to excel when playing alongside a partner, as it reduces the amount of “hard work” required (holding the ball, engaging defenders, making runs) and provides that player with a reliable link.
Consequently, doing less of the demanding tasks can help keep strikers fresher for when significant opportunities arise.
Eintracht Frankfurt
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Sébastien Haller, Luka Jovic, Randal Kolo Muani, Omar Marmoush, Hugo Ekitike
This club has produced an impressive lineup of forwards. It began in 2017 with the partnership of Jovic and Haller, who collectively fetched over £100 million when they transferred to Real Madrid and West Ham United, respectively, and has continued to reach remarkable heights.
Three of the players listed were acquired by Eintracht when their market value was at a low point. This is one of the club’s key strengths: Recognizing talented strikers whose careers have taken a downturn, revitalizing them, and then profiting. Jovic struggled at Benfica, Marmoush lost momentum at Wolfsburg, and Ekitike faced challenges at PSG—but Frankfurt transformed them into players worth over £60 million.
Villarreal
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Nicolas Jackson, Alexander Sørloth, Thierno Barry, Tani Oluwaseyi
Villarreal is open to exploring avenues that others may overlook. Their scouting network is extensive, allowing them to recruit players from across the globe.
Jackson, now with Chelsea and Bayern Munich, was sourced from Senegalese football. Barry, currently with Everton, came from Swiss club Basel. Oluwaseyi transitioned from Minnesota United in MLS, while Sørloth traveled across Europe unsuccessfully before finally thriving at Villarreal.
It is difficult to predict where they might look next. Reports in January indicated they were monitoring Jalal Abdullai, who plays for Swedish side Elfsborg. Their ongoing pursuit of striker talent from leagues outside Europe’s elite is not surprising.
Sturm Graz
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Rasmus Højlund, Kelvin Yeboah, Emmanuel Emegha, Mika Biereth
Sturm Graz employs a direct style of play, quickly transitioning the ball from defense to attack, and recruits strikers who fit this methodology. They heavily rely on sprinting and top speed metrics to achieve this, and their recent success with forwards has resulted in substantial profits.
Højlund, formerly of Manchester United, and Emegha, soon to join Chelsea, have both surpassed 35 km/h this season for their respective clubs, while Yeboah exceeded 33 km/h for Minnesota in 2025. Biereth is an exception in this regard, but he demonstrated enough quality within this system to secure a €13 million transfer to Monaco last year.
Brentford
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Igor Thiago
All successes, no failures. Brentford’s recent track record in recruiting strikers has been unparalleled. Beginning with Watkins nearly a decade ago, several players that Brentford has deployed as a No. 9 have proven to be not only Premier League caliber but Champions League quality as well.
The club employs a data-driven approach to scouting and is willing to take calculated risks on players that emerge as outliers. An example is winger Kevin Schade, who had barely surpassed 1,000 minutes for Freiburg when the Bees acquired him for a club-record fee of £20 million. Why? He nearly broke the speed metrics on SkillCorner, a platform extensively used by professional clubs to assess physical data.
Brentford is also willing to search extensively for talent. Mbeumo was sourced from the French second tier, Toney from the English third tier, and Watkins from the fourth tier.
Many of these clubs have solidified their positions as top-tier recruiters and developers because they can reference past successes. It creates a snowball effect.
Sancho’s achievements at Dortmund would have made it significantly easier for the club to attract Bellingham and Gittens to Germany. Center backs are eager to join Bournemouth and Wolfsburg because they recognize the potential for a significant move in a few years. Any striker facing challenges should be keen for Eintracht Frankfurt to reach out, as the likelihood is high that they will become a superstar in the near future.
As one ESPN source in scouting and recruitment articulated: “The early stories lay the foundations for the later ones. Clubs can tell players ‘we have a history of outstanding players in your position; come and be the next one.’
Another insight gained from discussions with sources is that while this is not an exhaustive list of clubs excelling in the market, there are not many others that are effectively executing their processes.
Transfers are complex, fraught with potential pitfalls as well as opportunities. Many clubs struggle to navigate this successfully, while others bypass the process entirely, relying instead on those that specialize in it.
