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Be it local talent coming through Spain’s much-acclaimed youth academies or players signed from clubs across the globe, La Liga has been home to some of the world’s top footballing talent over the years. And, it’s not just historic clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona that are able to sign established stars and hot prospects - every club in the Spanish top flight is extremely competitive in the transfer market, with an eye for a good deal but not afraid to splash the cash when needed.
The transfer activity in Spain during the 2019-20 season proves as much - while Madrid and Barca have rank high in the big spender stakes as usual, the likes of Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, and even Real Betis and Real Sociedad have invested heavily in new talent. Across both transfer windows, Spanish clubs reported a net spend of almost €1.5 billion.
Highly sought-after names like Joao Felix, Eden Hazard, Frenkie de Jong, and Luka Jovic were added to the La Liga roster, firmly establishing La Liga’s status as a preferred destination for the biggest names in football.
Amidst all this transfer activity, here are 5 contenders for the signing of the 2019-20 La Liga season.
#5 Nabil Fekir (Olympique Lyon to Real Betis, €19.75m)
In the summer of 2018, fresh from helping France secure another World Cup title, Nabil Fekir was about to put pen to paper on a £53 million deal that would see him join the Jurgen Klopp revolution at Anfield.
The talented midfielder had agreed personal terms, posed for photos in the famous red jersey, and even conducted an interview with the club's in-house television channel - an official unveiling was all that remained. However, less than 24 hours later, the move was sensationally called off amid claims that the effects of a knee injury that Fekir suffered in 2015 had caused him to fail his medical on Merseyside.
Fast forward to the summer of 2019 - instead of lifting the Champions League trophy with the Reds, Fekir was still at Lyon, having endured an injury-hit Ligue 1 season. Unlike last year, a move did materialise - despite still being linked with some of Europe’s top clubs, Fekir raised more than a few eyebrows when he chose to move from a Champions League club to Real Betis in Spain, who had just finished 10th in La Liga.
Many had resigned themselves to the fact that his big chance had passed him by, and that the World Cup winner would spend the rest of his career in fighting to remain in the Spanish top flight. Instead, the 26-year-old has risen to the challenge in Spain, becoming the central figure in a revitalised Betis side and showing exactly why Klopp was so keen to sign him.
Fekir hit the ground running at Betis, scoring twice in his first three La Liga matches, including one at Camp Nou. His direct playing style has proved to be hard to cope with for opposition defenders and goalkeepers - he ranks very high in the league in terms of completer dribbles, key passes, and shots on goal, all indicators of how influential he has been in Betis’ attacking play.
Overall in 22 games in La Liga, Fekir has contributed 7 goals and 6 assists, making his initial €19.75m fee look like a bargain. The Frenchman is playing with a freedom which he seemed to have lost during his final season in France, and might not have got within the star-studded Liverpool lineup. Still just 26, time is very much on the Frenchman’s side and the best might still be yet to come!
#4 Ferland Mendy (Olympique Lyon to Real Madrid, €48.00m)
Ferland Mendy arrived at the Bernabeu for close to €50 million ahead of the 2019-20 La Liga season, part of a significant recruitment drive that saw the likes of Rodrygo, Luka Jovic, and Eden Hazard make the same move. However, fans and experts alike felt that the French left-back would be surplus to requirements, with Marcelo still viewed as a valuable asset and Sergio Reguillon having made rapid strides in his role as the Brazilian’s deputy.
While it might have taken an injury to Marcelo for Mendy to get a look-in, the Frenchman is now an undisputed starter for Los Blancos, with his pace, tackling ability, and positional awareness having transformed Madrid into a very solid defensive unit. While Real Madrid fans have become used to moments of brilliance in attack from Marcelo over the years, Mendy brings something totally different to the table than what the flamboyant Brazilian has to offer.
Manager Zinedine Zidane has realised the need to prioritise defence over attack, which has seen Mendy get more game time along with Federico Valverde in midfield as the season has progressed. The young Frenchman has even shown signs of a budding partnership with Hazard down Real’s left flank, which might prove to be quite fruitful for Los Blancos if both players manage to keep themselves fit.
While Marcelo’s unique skill set will still see him get game time when he is fit, the 24-year-old Mendy affords Madrid the defensive superiority that is surely the path to success in the future.
#3 Marc Cucurella (Barcelona to Getafe, loan)
A product of Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy, Cucurella came through the ranks as a left-back of some promise but made just one first-team appearance for the Blaugrana. The vast majority of his top-flight football experience comes from loan spells - he spent the 2018-19 season on loan at Eibar, where his promising displays prompted Barca to trigger their buy-back option.
Cucurella is still on the books of the Catalan giants but is spending the 2019-20 season on loan again, this time at high-flying Getafe, who have an option to make the move permanent for €6m in summer with Barca retaining a 40% clause to buy him back permanently.
The floppy-haired defender has been an integral part of the Madrid-based club’s incredibly successful season, playing virtually every minute of their La Liga campaign as they challenge for a spot in next season’s Champions League.
In 26 league appearances this season, Cucurella has contributed one goal and five assists while being deployed at left-back or further up the pitch in left midfield. He has also been instrumental in his side’s memorable Europa League journey, wherein they knocked out last season’s semi-finalists, Ajax in the round of 32 and were rewarded with a tie against European heavyweights Inter Milan in the round of 16.
#2 Martin Odegaard (Real Madrid to Real Sociedad, loan)
Ever since moving to Madrid from Strømsgodset as a 15-year-old back in January 2015 amid much fanfare, to say that Norwegian wunderkind Martin Odegaard has had an eventful career would be an understatement.
At the age of 16, he became the youngest ever player to feature for the senior side, and everyone assumed that it was only a matter of time before he became a first-team regular. However, his performances failed to impress manager Zinedine Zidane, and Odegaard was promptly sent to SC Heerenveen for the first of two loan spells in the Eredivisie just a couple of months after making his first start for Los Blancos.
He would remain in Holland for the next two and a half seasons, playing a total of 82 games for Heerenveen and then Vitesse Arnhem, scoring 14 goals and assisting 17 more. This impressive return prompted Madrid to bring him back to Spain, this time loaning him out to Real Sociedad, where he has been one of the stand-out players of the season. With all that has gone on in his career, it’s easy to forget that Odegaard is still just 21 years of age!
Alongside players of a similar age such as Mikel Oyarzabal (22), Adnan Januzaj (24), Mikel Merino (23), and Alexander Isak (19), Odegaard is part of a youthful yet formidable frontline for Sociedad. Playing in a more central position as opposed to his previous right-wing spot, Odegaard has contributed 4 goals and 5 assists in 23 appearances this season. And it’s not just his skill with the ball that has caught the eye of his parent club - the stats suggest that Odegaard also covers the most distance, produces the most changes in pace, and makes the most consecutive sprints of any player in the Sociedad squad.
As Los Blancos look for someone to replace Luka Modric in the heart of their midfield, it seems increasingly likely that one of their own players can carry the torch forward. They even had the foresight to include the option of ending Odegaard’s two-year loan deal at Sociedad early to bring him back in the summer - at the rate at which he’s going, however, they’d be disappointed that they can’t make it happen sooner.
#1 Lucas Ocampos (Marseille to Sevilla, €15.00m)
Although Lucas Ocampos arrived at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjúan in the summer of 2019 from Olympique Marseille with a fair bit of expectation, few could have predicted just how much of a success he would be for Julen Lopetegui’s side.
Playing as a right winger, Ocampos is Sevilla’s top-scorer this season with 12 goals across all competitions. Such has been his impact in Spain that Lionel Scaloni, the coach of the Argentinian national side, handed Ocampos his first international call-up just a few weeks into the start of the season.
With 10 goals and 2 assists in 22 appearances in the league thus far, Ocampos has become only the fourth Argentine on Sevilla’s storeyed history to reach double figures for goals scored in a single league season.
For an idea of how rare this feat is, the last Argentine to achieve it did it in the 1979-80 season! Ocampos’ performances are conjuring up fond memories of his free-scoring compatriots from the late 70s, and he looks to be really at home in Seville.
