HOW U.S. SOCCER WORKS
Real Examples of Solidarity Payments in Soccer
Player Compensation Series
This article is part of a guide explaining how player development payments work in soccer.
Solidarity payments are designed to reward the clubs that help develop young soccer players.
When a professional player transfers for a fee, a small portion of that transfer fee is distributed to the clubs that trained the player during his youth career.
In theory, this system ensures that youth clubs share in the financial rewards when players they helped develop reach the professional level.
Several real-world transfers help illustrate how the system works.
Some of these examples show the system functioning exactly as intended. Others highlight how the structure of soccer in the United States has produced different outcomes.
Example 1: Neymar and Santos
One of the clearest examples of solidarity payments occurred during Neymar’s transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
The transfer fee exceeded €222 million, making it the largest transfer in soccer history at the time.
Under FIFA regulations, five percent of that fee was set aside as solidarity payments.
That created a solidarity pool of roughly €9 million.
Most of that money went to Santos, the Brazilian club where Neymar developed between ages 12 and 23.
This is exactly how the system is designed to work.
A club that invested years developing a player received financial compensation when that player later moved for a major transfer fee.
The money can then be reinvested into coaching, facilities, and youth development programs.
Example #2: Christian Pulisic and PA Classics
Christian Pulisic began his youth career with PA Classics, a non-MLS club in Pennsylvania.
He later moved to Germany and joined the Borussia Dortmund academy.
In 2019, Pulisic transferred from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea FC for roughly £58 million.
Under FIFA rules, youth clubs that helped develop a player between the ages of 12 and 23 are eligible to receive solidarity payments.
In this case, PA Classics was entitled to pursue compensation related to Pulisic’s development.
Reports at the time suggested the club did not actively pursue the claim.
The situation highlighted something unique about the American youth system.
Even when compensation may be available under international rules, youth clubs in the United States have not always pursued those payments. The structure of youth soccer in the country has historically made those claims less common and less automatic than in many other nations.
Example 3: Weston McKennie and FC Dallas
Weston McKennie developed in the FC Dallas academy, one of the early MLS clubs to invest heavily in youth development.
In 2016 he signed with Schalke 04 in Germany.
Because this move occurred before MLS adopted FIFA training compensation and solidarity payment policies in 2019, FC Dallas did not receive compensation when McKennie joined Schalke.
Several years later the situation changed.
In 2020 McKennie transferred from Schalke to Juventus.
By that point MLS had adopted policies allowing its academies to pursue solidarity payments tied to international transfers.
As a result, FC Dallas received solidarity payments connected to McKennie’s development.
The contrast between these two transfers highlights how the American system evolved during that period.
What These Examples Show
These examples highlight several important aspects of the global development system.
- First, solidarity payments are designed to reward clubs that invest in developing young players.
- Second, the financial impact can be significant when major transfer fees are involved.
- Third, the structure of national soccer systems affects whether those payments actually reach youth clubs.
In countries where the development system is closely connected to professional clubs, these payments flow more consistently through the development pyramid.
A Two-tier System
In the United States, the structure of youth soccer has historically produced different results.
Today the United States still operates under an uneven system.
MLS academies can pursue training compensation and solidarity payments when their players move abroad.
But many non-MLS youth clubs still face barriers when attempting to claim similar payments.
This creates a system where the financial rewards of player development are often concentrated at the top rather than distributed across the wider youth ecosystem.
You can read a deeper explanation of this system in Why U.S. Youth Soccer Clubs Rarely Get Paid for Developing Players.
Why This Matters for Youth Soccer
Youth clubs play an important role in the development of future professional players.
They provide:
- Coaching
- Training Environments
- Competitive Matches
- Early Player Development
Around the world, solidarity payments and training compensation help ensure that clubs contributing to player development can share in the financial rewards when those players succeed.
In the United States, the system continues to evolve.
As more American players move into the global transfer market, questions about how youth development should be funded and supported remain an important part of the broader conversation about the future of soccer in the country.