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The 2021 summer transfer window heads into the autumn period of its existence. The top five European leagues, namely the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1, are getting ready to finalize their roster of players for the upcoming season. Having spent over €1.65b in transfers, business seems to be booming, even in this pandemic-affected economy for the European elites.
In an interesting turn of events, La Liga teams have contributed the lowest amount to this tally so far. The Spanish top-flight has seen deals totaling up to €240.32m, come to fruition, labeling them as the thriftiest merchants of this transfer window. In contrast, Premier League clubs have already completed deals worth €803.58m to date.
La Liga and transfers
However, the low spending of La Liga clubs becomes fairly self-explanatory if the dire financial crisis of multiple Spanish heavyweights is taken into consideration. Therefore, the ratio of paid signings versus free transfers has taken quite a hit in Spain this year.
Keeping this chain of thoughts in mind, let's take a look at how the five most successful clubs in La Liga rank, according to the number of signings made by them, over the past decade. All incoming transfers since the 11/12 season are taken into account, except for any kind of loan deals. Interestingly, Sevilla, with a colossal 90 signings, just missed out due to an austere past.
#5 Athletic Bilbao - 35 titles | 28 incoming transfers
Athletic Bilbao, along with Barcelona and Real Madrid, are the only club to have never been relegated from La Liga since its inception in 1929. Even though they have flirted with the idea of demotion in recent years, Bilbao have always managed to stay afloat.
Furthermore, they possess the bragging rights for the second most Copa del Rey titles, trailing Barcelona's 31 wins by a margin of eight. However, the Spanish giants have always practiced penny-pinching when it comes to transfers, despite their relative success and pedigree.
Formed in 1898, Bilbao adopted an unusual and unspoken policy of only recruiting players that were either born in Spain’s Basque Country or have been graduates at another Basque club. Although some signings have toyed with the peripheries of this 'rule', like the addition of Aymeric Laporte to their ranks, the La Liga mainstays have always taken pride in their roots. At the time of writing, every player contracted to Los Leones has ties to the Basque region.
With just 28 signings in the last decade, the San Mamés has witnessed the least number of arrivals for a club with such rich history. To put things in perspective, their record transfer of €12m, set in the 1997-98 season, was only broken with the signing of Iñigo Martínez, for a fee of €32m in 2017. Yet they manage to stay competitive, year in, year out.
#4 Real Madrid - 95 titles | 41 incoming transfers
In steep contrast to Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid have always believed in the policy of 'Galácticos' under their long-term president Florentino Perez. The 34-time La Liga champions have always garnered a knack for buying the best talent in the world. They have splashed out sumptuous amounts of money from time to time to land their desired signature.
Nevertheless, financial mismanagement has seen Los Blancos put a leash on their spending in recent years, a first for a very long time. The last player to land at the Santiago Bernabeu, in exchange for cash, was Reinier Jesus in January 2020. Following a €350m spending spree in 2019, Madrid found themselves in huge debts with the COVID-19 outbreak inflating their losses.
With two €100m+ signings, in the form of Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard, in the last eight years, Madrid have been responsible for some of the biggest transfers in La Liga's history. Their current predicament has restricted them from pursuing the likes of Erling Haaland and their long-term target, Kylian Mbappe. However, with Perez at the helm, no signing is too farfetched for the Spanish side.
#3 FC Barcelona - 97 titles | 48 incoming transfers
With three players in the top six of the most expensive players in the history of football, Barcelona have epitomized the imprudent transfer dealings that take place in La Liga.
Since the 2014-15 Champions League-winning season, Barca have spent more than a billion euros on transfers, without experiencing any European glory. This reckless spending saw the La Liga stalwarts accumulate a net debt of over €488m with a chunk of it payable in the short term.
After acquiring Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Miralem Pjanic, and many more for bloated fees, the Blaugrana are now struggling to keep their books balanced. As many as 48 signings have been made by the Spanish giants in the last decade. This includes the recent free transfers of Eric Garcia, Sergio Aguero, Emerson Royal and Memphis Depay.
Many stars have also agreed to some sizeable wage cuts, but Barcelona have still not been able to re-sign their talisman, Lionel Messi.
Signed up for a massive €145m, Coutinho is now valued at a meager €20m. Along with the €120m-Griezmann, the Brazilian playmaker is one of the favorites to exit Camp Nou this season. Having finished out of the top two in La Liga for the first time in 13 years in the 2020-21 season, the Catalans are on a path to recovery under new president Joan Laporta.
#2 Valencia - 23 titles | 65 incoming transfers
Valencia are possibly the only club with more managerial problems than Barcelona in the Spanish top flight. They have witnessed their stock suffer a massive hit under the leadership of Peter Lim, the main shareholder of 'The Bats'.
As many as seven first-team players were let go before the commencement of the 2020-21 La Liga season, for a combined fee of around €82m. This included the likes of Ferran Torres, Rodrigo Moreno and club-legend Dani Parejo. Except for a few loan deals, no transfers were initiated to balance things out.
As a result, the Mestalla has seen a lot of personnel changes lately. Even though Valencia have an above-average signings-to-time-period ratio, the untimely departure of crucial players has been the driving factor behind this high count. The six-time La Liga champions could only manage a 13th place finish last season, their worst since the 1987-88 season.
Without a change in hierarchy, Valencia could soon find themselves meddling with the mid-table mediocrity of La Liga. This may eventually threaten their 33-year-stay in the top flight as well.
#1 Atletico Madrid - 34 titles | 74 incoming transfers
Only the fourth most successful club in Spain at the time of writing, one title behind Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid have welcomed the lion's share of arrivals in La Liga. Under Diego Simeone, Los Rojiblancos have established a defensive dynasty known for their rugged and no-nonsense approach to the game. Atletico recently celebrated the 11th Spanish championship in the club's history, their second La Liga win in seven years.
Since Antoine Griezmann's arrival from Real Sociedad for a deserved transfer fee of €54m in 2014, Real Madrid's noisy neighbors have only shelled out more than €60m for a player thrice, to varying degrees of success. While Diego Costa's second spell in Madrid proved to be disastrous, Thomas Lemar has been underwhelming, to say the least. Joao Felix, at the price of €127.20m, has been the focal point of many debates. But at just 21 years of age, it would be too soon to make a judgment call on his career.
Other than some occasional blips, transfer dealings under Simeone have mostly fared well. To get all of the reported 74 signings correct is something that even the feisty Argentine cannot achieve. Nevertheless, considering their recent track record, both financially and statically, Atletico fans won't have much to complain about thanks to their stellar achievements in the last decade.
