FOOTBALL TRANSFERS IN GERMANY

As noted elsewhere on this website, association football is not only the world’s favourite sport, but also the most lucrative one, as reflected in the eye-watering fees being paid for transfers of players nationally and internationally.

In the 2025 winter football transfer window, almost £1.9 billion (around Sw. Frs. 2.17 billion) was spent globally by clubs on players, which is an all-time high for this window.

Clubs in England accounted for more than 25% spent in the men’s game amounting to £498 million (around Sw. Frs.569 million), with German clubs in second place, spending £237 million (around Sw. Frs. 271 million).

Whilst every transfer is different, generally and also regarding transfers between German clubs, each transfer involves the following steps and agreements:

• Negotiations between the player, the potential new club and the current club.

• Old and new clubs sign a transfer agreement.
• Old club and player sign an agreement terminating the current employment.
• New club and player sign a new employment agreement.
• Licence Agreement between the player and the German Football League (DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga e.V. – DFL).

The completion of the transfer is subject to the required documents, which include the new employment agreement, and the sports fitness certificate issued after the medical examination of the player, being submitted to the DFL by not later than 6:00 p.m. on the last day of the transfer period (§ 4 No. 2 DFL Licensing Regulations for Players (DFL Lizenzordnung Spieler – LOS)).

Where the player is out of contract, that is, a free agent, or the usual fixed-term employment agreement expires within the next six months (§ 5 no. 1 sub-section 6 LOS), the player and the new club may conclude an employment agreement without the consent of the old club. In that case, a transfer agreement is not required.

If, however, the player is still under contract with his current club for more than six months, the new club, or the player’s agent, must first inform the current club and obtain its consent to approach the player and conduct contract negotiations with the player. So-called ‘tapping up’ – that is, approaching the player without informing and obtaining the consent of the player’s current club – is not allowed. Failure to notify and obtain such consent may result in fines, transfer bans and other sporting sanctions. Subsequently, the player and the potential new club enter into negotiations on and conclude the terms and conditions of the new employment agreement.

The required documents do not have to be – but usually are – in German, and often in dual-language form, for example, in German and English.

Where a transfer agreement between the old and the new clubs is required, this agreement requires the old club to cooperate with the new club in terminating the current employment agreement with the player – usually by concluding a termination agreement – and, in return, requires the new club to pay the agreed transfer fee.

The transfer agreement also lays down the payment terms in respect of the transfer fee. This usually consists of a base transfer fee and additional payments linked to the player’s future individual performance and/or the success of his new club. In cases where a so-called ‘signing-on’ fee is payable, usually, this fee is due and payable in several instalments. So-called ‘sell on clauses’ are regularly agreed between the seller and buyer clubs and these clauses in football transfer agreements ensure that the selling club receives a portion of any future transfer fee when the player is sold again. It is a way of ensuring that the original club continues to benefit from a player’s success after they have moved on.

If the current employment agreement of the player contains a so-called ‘exit clause’, the value of the player to be transferred has already been agreed and consent follows automatically on the new club agreeing to pay that amount. It may be added that such ‘exit clauses’ should be carefully drafted to avoid any misunderstandings or disagreements between the parties.

It is also advisable for the new employment agreement to be subject to a condition precedent, namely, that the agreement only becomes legally effective when the DFL licence is granted (§ 2 LOS).

It should be noted that, in general, transfers may only take place during the so-called designated summer and winter transfer windows. Outside these windows, only free agent players, that is, players who are not under contract to another club, can be signed. As far as transfers within Germany or into Germany are concerned, even such free agents can only be signed until the end of the winter transfer window in order to ensure that there is equal competition towards the end of each season.

However, there may be exceptions for emergency signings, usually for goalkeepers, with special dispensations from the governing bodies of the football leagues.

It should also be noted that in cases of transfers between non-German and German clubs, the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) will also come into play, including, where young players are concerned, the need for their new clubs to pay training compensation to their old clubs under the provisions of Article 20 and Annnexe 4 of the RSTP.

One final point: where the player to be transferred is not a national of an EU member state or an EEA state, a residence and work permit will be required, and again the employment agreement should also be subject to the corresponding condition precedent.

As will be appreciated from the above remarks, these legal formalities and contractual requirements are quite complex, and clubs and players, as well as their agents, who are also often involved in football transfers, will need expert professional advice and assistance to guide them successfully through them.

For further information, please contact Oliver Fischer, the Head of our German Desk, who is an acknowledged and experienced expert on football transfers in Germany, by emailing him at ‘fischer@valloni.ch’.