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What Is A Buy-Back Clause? (+ 5 Real Examples)

18 Apr, 2025
What Is A Buy-Back Clause? (+ 5 Real Examples)

In modern football, top-level players have more control over their own destiny than ever before. While clubs and managers used to exercise all the power, football transfers have changed and players and their agents now have much greater ability to choose their next move and seek a new challenge when it suits them.

One way that clubs can still maintain a level of control over the players at their disposal is by inserting a buy-back option into their contracts. In this article, we'll be explaining exactly what this means and exploring how buy-back clauses have made an impact on European football in recent years. We'll finish up by providing you with five real-life examples of football players who have been affected by a buyback clause being inserted into their contract.

What Is A Buy Back Clause?

In professional football, a buy-back clause is a clause inserted into a player's contract when they are sold by one club to another. Essentially, this clause allows the selling club to repurchase the player from the buying club for a set fee stipulated within the contract.

This practice has grown in popularity in recent years, as many top clubs now have huge squads with a large number of talented young players in their ranks. Within this context, it's common for clubs to sell hugely promising starlets in order to trim down their squads while making 'pure profit' from the sale (with modern financial rules encouraging the sale of academy graduates for this reason). 

Clubs know that selling these talented youngsters can be a risky business. As a result, they're always looking for new ways to protect their own financial interests; buy back clauses have emerged as a useful method for doing this.

Who Does A Buy Back Clause Benefit?

In theory, buy back clauses can be beneficial both to the selling club and the buying club. By negotiating a fee for which the player in question can be bought back by the seller club, these clauses bring an element of financial security to both sides. As BBC Sport put it, "one team gets their man and the other guards themselves against being stung in the future, if that player fulfils their potential."

For the seller club, there's the advantage of getting a player off the wage bill and receiving a transfer fee while keeping open the option of securing their services again in the future.

This open-ended deal reflects the fact that in these scenarios, the buyer club is often less wealthy and well-established than its counterpart, and the seller's ability to exercise the buy back option and repurchase their player does create a slight power imbalance.

In a normal situation, the buying club might struggle to purchase this particular player, but the insertion of a buyback clause can make the seller more willing to part ways and recoup a fee. 

While this practice arguably benefits seller clubs more, there is still a huge amount to gain for both the buyer and the player themselves. As well as adding a talented player to their ranks, the buyer club also has the opportunity to set a buyback fee that is significantly higher than the original transfer fee (this is usually what happens when a buyback price is set).

For the player, the buy back option clause often allows them to exit a club where they're struggling for regular game time, and the new contract will likely lead to a wage increase as well. All in all, it's an attractive deal, as long as the buyback price is set at an appropriate level.

How Does This Differ From A Release Clause?

There are some similarities between a buyback clause and a release clause in football. Both these contracts are inserted into player contracts to smooth out the process of a player being sold from one club to another when the right moment arises. However, there is a key difference. 

A release clause is a clause in a player's contract that sets out a pre-determined transfer fee and ensures that if that fee is offered by a buyer club, the seller club is automatically required to accept an initial offer.

A release clause can be inserted into a contract at any time, not just when a player signs from one club to another. For example, if a key player for a mid-table Premier League side pens a two-year contract extension mid-way through a deal, the club could choose to add a release clause to their contract in order to guarantee they secure a good fee for them if a bigger club comes in and poaches them.

As soon as the minimum amount stated in the release clause is met, the player in question will be entitled to enter transfer negotiations. There's no obligation to buy, but a club cannot prevent a player from speaking to another club if a release clause has been triggered.

There have been a few high-profile examples of release clauses being triggered in recent years, from Alexis Mac Allister signing for Liverpool for a bargain £35m after his Brighton clause was initiated, to Chelsea unexpectedly paying Benfica's extortionate £105m release clause for Enzo Fernandez in 2023.

What Is A Buyout Clause In Football?

A buyout clause sounds very similar to a buyback clause, and it is also fuelled by clubs wanting to secure their own financial assets. However, it's also a much rarer phenomenon within the game.

A buyout clause in football provides players with the option of buying themselves out of their own contract and thereby leaving their current club in order to join a new team. When this option is triggered, the purchasing club will usually agree on a fee for a player.

The player will then transfer that sum to their current club, in order to buy themselves out of their contract. To facilitate this transfer, the buying club will typically transfer the fee to the player in question.

The point of this system is to attach a huge fee to a player and thereby dissuade buyer clubs from attempting to purchase them. Buyout fees will usually be well above market value, and most clubs will therefore be unwilling to transfer the purchase clause to the player.

While this benefits the club by pinning down their players to a contract, things are also clearer for the player, who agrees on the buyout clause when they sign the initial deal. Even if it's difficult to trigger, this situation does give the player a clear exit strategy if needed.

5 Real Examples Of Players With Buy-Back Clauses

Back to the matter at hand: which clubs have triggered their right to repurchase a player in recent seasons? Below are a few prominent examples of this taking place in the modern game.

Casemiro (Porto to Real Madrid)

Brazil international Casemiro enjoyed a hugely successful nine-year-long spell with Spanish giants Real Madrid, winning a stunning five Champions League trophies during this period.

The foundations for this success were set during a 2014/15 loan spell at Porto, after which the Portuguese side attempted to activate a €15m permanent purchase agreement. However, a buyback clause in Casemiro's contract allowed Madrid to snap him back up for only €7.5m. It turned out to be a bargain.

Alvaro Morata (Juventus to Real Madrid)

Alvaro Morata blossomed at Juventus after signing from Real Madrid in 2014, causing Los Blancos to activate a £23m buyback clause and resign the Spaniard just two seasons later. He had another productive season at Madrid, scoring 20 goals in 32 appearances and ultimately causing Chelsea to spend a club record £60m fee on bringing him to the Premier League.

Gerard Deulofeu (Everton to Barcelona)

Barcelona's original £4.3m sale of Gerard Deulofeu to Everton in 2015 included a buyback clause that allowed the Catalan outfit to re-sign the Spanish winger off the back of some impressive Premier League performances. When the move was completed, Deulofeu said: "I am very happy to have returned home and cannot wait to start this project. I have always wanted to be here."

Jaden Philogene (Hull City to Aston Villa)

In a disappointing 2024/25 Premier League season, Jaden Philogene often provided glimmers of hope for Ipswich Town following his £20m mid-season move from Aston Villa. Last summer, the West Midlands club offered one of the most interesting recent examples of buy back clauses being triggered in England.

Philogene had impressed at Hull City after signing in 2023, and Ipswich were keen to sign him after winning promotion to the top flight, but Aston Villa's buy-back option allowed them to re-sign the young winger for a fee of roughly £13m. The fee was substantially lower than Ipswich were willing to pay, but because of an additional 30% sell-on clause in Philogene's contract, Villa benefited massively from the transfer.

Tammy Abraham (Chelsea to Roma)

This is a slightly different example, in that Abraham's buyback clause has not been triggered yet, and it may never be triggered. However, it's worth diving into because it's a prominent example of a top club protecting their own finances by giving themselves an opportunity to re-sign a former player if they reach a certain level.

In the English striker's case, when Abraham joined Roma from Chelsea in 2021, the west London club added a £68m buy-back clause to the contract, allowing them to reacquire his services for this fee in the future. They may still wish to bring him back to Stamford Bridge one day; only time will tell.

If you'd like to find out more about the intricacies of modern football transfers, check out our guide to release clauses in professional soccer.

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