Dinamo Zagreb 9th in the world for highest transfer profit in 21st century

(Photo credit: Suradnik13/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Dinamo Zagreb has made a profit of a whopping 334 million euros from player transfers since the year 2000.

According to data from Transfermarkt, this puts the Croatian champions ninth club in the world in terms of profit from transfers in the 21st century. From the year 2000 to today, Dinamo has made a profit of 334 million euros from player transfers.

Some of the big Dinamo Zagreb transfers in recent times include Marko Pjaca to Juventus for €23 milion, Joško Gvardiol to RB Leipzig for reportedly around €20, Luka Modrić to Tottenham for €21 million, Eduardo da Silva to Arsenal for €13.5 million, Vedran Ćorluka to Manchester City 2008 for €13 million, Mateo Kovačić to Inter 2011 for €11 million and Josip Brekalo to Wolfsburg for €10 million. 

Most of the Dinamo players sold came from the club’s academy, which makes profit on their transfers lucrative. Dinamo Zagreb also received a percentage of big transfers this summer with a clause in Gvardiol and Marcelo Brozović’s contacts meaning the club got a percentage of their deals.

Two Portuguese clubs, Benfica and Porto, are the clubs that have achieved the highest profits from player transfers in the 21st century. Combined, they have earned 1.39 billion euros profit in 23 years.

Ajax (584 million euros), Lille (435), and Sporting Lisbon (409) round out the top 5 clubs in terms of profit from transfers in the 21st century.

Among the top 10 clubs in terms of profit, Salzburg, Udinese, River Plate, as the only non-European club, and Lyon are also featured. You can check out the timelapse of the biggest profit earners below. 

Benfica, Porto und Ajax in ihrer eigenen Liga 🤑 pic.twitter.com/1cYsaOrK0x

— Transfermarkt (@Transfermarkt) September 5, 2023

Chelsea is by far the biggest spender. In the 21st century, Chelsea has spent an astronomical 3.5 billion euros on players. They are followed by Manchesters, City (2.75) and Manchester United (2.48), and in the top 5 are Juventus and Real Madrid, who have splurged 2.41 billion euros on players in the 21st century.

Interestingly, Luton Town is the only club from the Premiership that has made a profit. The newly-promoted English Premier League team has a profit of four million euros.