Big-money transfers : Real Madrid's new image

Real Madrid signed Gareth Bale for a new world record 85 million pounds (Getty Images)

80 million pounds, a world record fee. The amount Real Madrid so easily payed for Cristiano Ronaldo.

86 million pounds, yet another world record, for another player playing in the English Premier League by Real Madrid yet again.

Gareth Bale, a 24 year old Welsh national, who started his career at Southampton as a left-back is now the world’s most expensive player. Not only has the world criticised Florentino Perez for his thoughtless spending on bringing the winger from White Hart Lane to the Santiago Burnabèu, but also for selling the lynchpin of the team, Mesut Ozil, to English giants Arsenal.

Cristiano Ronaldo himself, Real Madrid’s best player no doubt, was quite disappointed about the departure of Ozil and Kaka, who went back to the San Siro to play for AC Milan. Was the decision to sell Ozil based on the performances of Isco, or because he hoped to bring in another player in place of him? No one knows, but i doubt its the latter, because it would be next to impossible to replace Ozil.

Football is slowly getting churned by the ability of rich owners to spend on so called ‘expensive’ players and pay them handsomely enough, regardless of a certain moral limit – a limit which defines that football shall always be a game of the heart rather than pocket. Real Madrid has become quite famous for buying so called legends and making headlines not by winning trophies, but by rather paying players astronomical sums just to justify the transfer fee they payed for him.

Real Madrid isn’t the only team which believes in buying players more than nurturing them. Manchester City, Chelsea, AS Monaco , Paris St-Germain and many other clubs have faced a lot of criticism as well.

Real Madrid haven’t won a single UEFA Champions League trophy since 2002, which was their 9th European champions trophy. Every player dreams of being a part of the squad which one their tenth champions league trophy, which will definitely be their most excluded and remembered one, only because they will become the first ever team to win ten UCL trophies, hence becoming the only team to have trophies in double figures, unless of course, AC Milan beats them to it. Though the odds are that Real will win their tenth before Milan, since they only need one , while the latter needs a minimum of three. Having spent over a billion euros on players in order to win glory, Real Madrid have wounded the game making money a factor which more than just contributes to where the heart of the player actually lies.

In 2011, Harry Redknapp, Gareth Bale’s gaffer at that point of time stated that Bale is as good as Cristiano Ronaldo, and would cost 80 million pounds at the very least. In the opinion of a pundit, it could be said that Bale is actually not worth 86 million, but that statement made by Mr Redknapp defined a minimum cost of luring Bale to Madrid.

Andre Villas-Boas in order to cover the loss in ability with the departure of their number 11, bought 7 players, amongst whom are Belgian Nacer Chadli, Brazilian Paulinho , Dane Christian Eriksen and Roma’s Argentinian star Erik Lamela.

Though they have had a shaky start to the season, players will soon get used to the new style of play, like they did when Luka Modri? went to Real Madrid last summer.

Hence the question that now remains, is that will big power houses like Real Madrid always alter the natural flow of the game through their money, or will organisations FIFA and UEFA come up with restrictions to slow down their ruthless spending at the very least.