Midtjylland’s English lessons help turn prospects into record-breaking sales
Midtjylland’s classroom is part of its transfer strategy
At FC Midtjylland, English lessons are treated as an essential part of player development, not an optional extra. The Danish club requires players to attend lessons at least three times a week, aiming to help a multinational squad communicate with coaches and teammates—and prepare its recruits for careers at bigger clubs.
“They are as important for them as it is to train,” technical director Kristian Kjær said. “Because if they cannot understand English within six months, they cannot communicate with the coach.”
The approach has helped the club generate more than €200m in player sales since 2018. Its latest window was the most profitable in its history: Guinea-Bissau striker Franculino Djú moved to Trabzonspor and Chilean forward Darío Osorio joined Crystal Palace on loan with an obligation to buy. Together, those deals could bring in €62m. Winger Aral Simsir and South Korean defender Lee Han-beom also left for Club Brugge in transfers worth a further €25m.
Osorio’s Palace move followed a carefully planned route
Osorio’s Palace deal, confirmed close to two hours after the Premier League deadline, includes an obligation to pay £22.3m next summer and up to £3.4m in bonuses. It is set to become the most expensive sale by a Danish top-flight club. The 22-year-old made his first Palace start in a 3-0 Carabao Cup win over Middlesbrough, after making his Premier League debut as a substitute against Fulham.
Midtjylland signed Osorio from Universidad de Chile in August 2023, beating competition from RB Leipzig, Milan and Atalanta. Kjær said the forward wanted a European environment that could help him develop toward his long-held ambition of playing in the Premier League.
His adjustment extended beyond the pitch. Kjær said the club worked with Osorio on his nutrition and daily habits after he arrived, while the player adapted quickly to Danish football. He scored eight league goals in his first season. Kjær described him as having outgrown the league and said Midtjylland believes he can compete for a starting place in the Premier League.
Palace’s pursuit of Lyon forward Malick Fofana briefly unsettled the move, with the club returning to Osorio after Fofana chose Sunderland. Kjær said Midtjylland had prepared the player and his agent for the possibility that negotiations would run late, noting that English clubs can be cautious about signing players from outside the leading European leagues.
A new generation is expected to carry the project forward
Midtjylland have moved quickly to reinvest. Venezuela international David Martínez, 20, arrived from LAFC for €7.3m, a Danish record. The club is also drawing on its FC Ebedei academy in Nigeria, established in 2004, with teenagers Olashile Musa Lawal and Ikenna Udechukwu among the emerging players added to the squad. The academy has previously helped produce players including Coventry’s Frank Onyeka.
Midtjylland finished as runners-up to AGF last season and are aiming to win the title for the first time since 2024. Kjær said the club’s transfer success was the result of planned work rather than chance: “This is what we hoped for, but also what we have worked for.”
The club describes itself as international rather than simply Danish, with 17 nationalities represented across five continents and coaches recruited from around the world to help new arrivals settle. Kjær called Osorio and Djú “poster boys” for the model: players developed on and off the pitch, then sold at significant profit.