The two Dutch professional football leagues made a combined profit of almost €33m last season.

The gains were entirely attributable to lucrative transfer fees earned by the Eredivisie clubs, which amounted to €75.1m, NOS reports.

When transfer fees are stripped out the figures show an operating loss of €25.3m for the Eredivisie and €11.6m for the Jupiler League. The latter’s much more modest transfer income of €4.8m could not save it from making an overall €6.1m loss.

Jacco Swart, director of the Eredivisie, said: ‘A successful transfer policy is still necessary to make a profit, but this has always been one of the core qualities of the Eredivisie clubs.

‘If we look at the whole picture we see that the total turnover in 2014/15 was steady, debts are under control and the business results have even improved. Year on year we see in the Eredivisie that the clubs are getting better at implementing a stable financial policy.’