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Real Madrid have, over the years, established a reputation of being a club that spends extravagantly in pursuit of the biggest football stars that are available across the globe. Known as a ‘Galactico policy’, the Spanish giants always possessed the most stellar names on earth and pulled no punches while expending in the process.
But since the last few years, this whole idea has been turned on its head. Saved for January 2017 when the transfer embargo was in its effect, Los Blancos have not made any major signing since the summer of 2014 when they spent almost £150 million to acquire Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez. Their only piece of business since was recalling players back from their loan terms, such as Alvaro Morata from Juventus, Lucas Vazquez from Espanyol or Mateo Kovacic from Inter Milan.
This January too, despite the plaguing problems, the Merengues turned a blind eye towards the transfer window and remained dormant. But why?
Let's delve into five possible reasons why.
#5 Florentino Perez still keeps his faith in this group
Winning back-to-back Champions League titles is no mean feat. In fact, Real Madrid are the first ones to record this incredible feat in the competition’s 26-year history. So maybe, the club president believes the squad at the disposal, is a complete one. As a matter of fact, back in 2016 when Blancos claimed the ‘Undecima’, the Spanish construction magnate had himself stated – “We have a great squad that is impossible to improve.”
Now that's an affirmation of the sentence right there. But, what’s truly puzzling is his continued belief in the team despite all the problems this season. With an extremely fragile backline and a stuttering vanguard, even the likes of Levante and Leganes are having a go at the mighty Madrid, who are just devoid of ideas, energy, inspiration… everything! And all these issues have left their title hopes in serious jeopardy as they trail leaders Barcelona by 16 points in La Liga and have been dumped out of the Copa Del Rey in the most embarrassing way possible.
Yet, Perez, strangely, didn't opt to loosen his purse strings even a bit and instead, chose to stick to the same group of players.
#4 Promoting homegrown players (and youngsters) on the agenda
As hard it may be for us to believe, but Real Madrid have really been promoting players from their youth academy into the first team. As of now, eight players on their roster have graduated from their youth academy La Fabrica, which is as many what Barcelona do in their current squad, from La Masia.
Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez and Nacho are some well-known names, whereas Marcos Llorente, Dani Ceballos, Achraf Hakimi, Jesus Vallejo and Borja Mayoral are the new indigenous talents bursting onto the scene this season.
Moreover, 10 players from the 23-man squad are aged 23 or less, making it one of the youngest Real Madrid teams in the recent memory.
All these factors clearly indicate a significant amendment in the policy at Real Madrid; and instead advocating one which wasn't witnessed at the Bernabeu in a long, long time.
#3 Real Madrid have failed in their pursuit of players
Kane, for instance, quashed all the rumors by nailing colours to the mast that he wants to spend his “entire career” at Tottenham and that's his primary “goal.”
Courtois on the other hand, clearly divulged what's on his and Hazard's mind when he said, “I think we both are happy at Chelsea, we both have a good part to play and can have our peak years together at Chelsea.” In fact, the Belgian duo was said to inspire each other to put the pen to paper.
Manchester United shot-stopper David De Gea perhaps, came the closest of them all as he was apparently on his way to the Spanish capital – with Keylor Navas going the opposite way – but the Whites failed to submit the transfer papers on time and the deal was ultimately stalled.
#2 Zidane misconstruing the issues at hand
Even if Perez refused to pay heed to the gnawing worries, manager Zinedine Zidane could've taken up the matters to the board and discussed a few signings; a prospect which the former may have entertained given the Frenchman's stature at the club. But the 45-year old too ruled out new signings and instead, threw a challenge at the players to “return to their best form.”
While the words are motivating enough, it really won't help in the long run as the players are visibly exhausted after two seasons at the top and it would take more than just that ‘challenge’ to revive themselves. The resounding victories over Deportivo and Valencia did tease a revival, but their performance against Levante on Saturday ensured it was just a false dawn.
Moreover, Zidane is also trying to mask his indecisiveness with this ‘challenge’ as, with all due respect, he has come up painfully short tactically in this season and some of the season's undoing is on him.
This whole “return to best form” subpoena just threw the baby out of the bathwater as the idea of new signings were overlooked.
#5 A calm before the storm?
With La Liga and Copa Del Rey hopes dashed, an in-form PSG await them in the Champions League round of 16. So, suffice to say, it’s going to be a trophyless season for the men in white. The writing is already on the wall, and it's only a matter of time before things fall into perspective.
And whenever that happens, a massive squad overhaul would beckon as Real Madrid are in dire need of new personnel. It would be all the more evident by the advent of May so Perez after all, may currently be busy calculating the amount of stash to set aside for the summer.
As the World Cup is immediately following in the aftermath of 2017/18 season, the mega-event would also throw up a number of summer prospects that they can choose from. Navas, Kroos and Rodriguez were signed for their impressive showings at the Brazil showpiece in 2014, and something similar may happen this time around too.
The transfer records can feel the tremors, for this is the calm before a wild storm.
