From Band 2 to Band 6: Why acting now on relegated players is a smart move

Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Turkey top divisions are GBE shopping grounds, their second tiers are not.

It is a question that we often get asked, where should we look to buy players that get straight GBE.

Last week's GBE Bulletin covered some potential routes, and it is worth looking back to that document for an overview of some of the methods and means of looking for players who can qualify for a straight GBE.

The benefits of signing a player on a straight GBE are fairly obvious. A club doesn’t have to sacrifice a valuable ESC slot in their squad to have the player registered to them. The paperwork is all completed and doesn’t have to be reassessed for the duration of the player’s contract, and, in theory, you can be confident that the player you have signed comes with a decent level of experience and/or quality.

For those wondering about the differences between GBE and ESC and what it takes to get a GBE, the articles The Basics of GBE and The Basics of ESC are available for you to read and are designed to give you a rundown of each set of regulations.

This article is a bit more on an in-depth look, and a set of recommendations for professionals into a very specific phenomenon, and one that smart clubs should be looking into, the Band 2 to Band 6 relegation.