Four reasons why Barcelona did better business than Real Madrid this summer

Neymar

Both of Spain’s biggest clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona, have been spending money in the transfer window so far this season. Both have their own reasons for investing in players.

Barcelona will want to build on in what was been a split season in terms of results, while Real will no doubt want to improve on a season that saw them in the news for all the wrong reasons.

So which of the two clubs have done better business so far? Well… here are 4 reasons why I think Barcelona have done smarter business in the transfer market.

1) Spent less money – This might seem like an extremely random reason, but it’s true nevertheless. Barcelona’s biggest purchase this summer was the signing of Santos and Brazil superstar Neymar for €57M. They also signed Manchester City‘s Denis Suarez for £1M.

Real Madrid have gone on a massive buying spree, splashing cash on the likes of Daniel Carvajal (€6.5M), Isco (€30M) and Asier Illaramendi (€38.9M). At the moment, they are in talks to bring Tottenham superstar Gareth Bale to the club, with a fee well in excess of €100M being reported as the sum they are willing to pay.

Real are a club who can afford to buy any player that catches their fancy, but large spending puts even more pressure on the club, something that has weighed down even the best of teams.

2) Necessity over luxury – The signing of Neymar can be seen as a good signing for Barcelona, given their tendency to over-reliance on Messi’s creative play and goals. In Neymar, they have someone who can single-handedly change games just like Messi does and one can only imagine the kind of destruction the two of them can cause when they are deployed together.

The same can’t be said about Real’s purchases, however. Of the 3 players they have signed, the only one who can be seen as a necessity is Carvajal, because Arbeloa isn’t exactly a top-notch right-back. Illaramendi, Isco and Bale (potentially) will be quality additions to Real’s squad, but do Real actually NEED any of these three players? The answer is a clear no.

3) Barcelona have already recouped most of the money they spent – Neymar is a big name in the world of football. Commercially, he’s one of the most valuable players in the world. One can expect him to pay back a certain amount of his transfer fee through shirt sales. Throw in the fact that Barcelona sold Thiago Alcantara (slightly unwisely, I might add) for €25M and David Villa for €5.1M means they have made back nearly two-thirds of what they spent on Neymar.

Real have also sold players, but they cannot fathom recovering the amount of money they have spent to get players this season.

4) Real are yet to replace key players - Real Madrid have seen a few players leave the club this season, most notably Jose Callejon, Raul Albiol and Gonzalo Higuain. Callejon was a squad player for most of his career so his loss won’t be felt too badly. Albiol’s spot can be taken up by Castilla defender Nacho. However, Madrid will no doubt miss Higuain’s goals. Morata is one to watch but whether or not he will be able to break through this season is slightly questionable. Even if he has a stellar season, going into a season with merely two strikers is risky at best and disastrous at worst.

Instead of pursuing Bale, Real might want to switch their attention to someone like Luis Suarez instead. He’d be cheaper than Bale and he’s needed a lot more than the Welshman.