Summer transfer spending smashes records as big stars trade clubs
The biggest transfer window yet, in which more star players switched teams than ever before, concluded as Monday ticked over into Tuesday in Central Europe, ending with a flurry even though most of the big business had already been done.
The scope of this transfer period, which began in early June or on July 1, depending on the country, was vast in both trading volume and value. Clubs in Europe's five biggest leagues alone -- in England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy -- exchanged more than $2 billion in transfer fees, a new record. As usual, the World Cup had given the market a boost as new players broke onto the world stage.
Three major trends of recent years were amplified. Firstly, a small handful of elite clubs continues to dominate the upper tier of the market. As ever, Spain's duopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona made the most expensive and splashiest signings. They landed James Rodriguez from Monaco and Luis Suarez from Liverpool, respectively, for about $105 million apiece. English juggernauts Manchester United, meanwhile, joined in after several years of relative frugality in the market. They landed Real's Angel Di Maria for some $100 million and laid out a total of some $245 million -- including a last-minute loan deal for Colombian superstart Radamel Falcao from Monaco.
Secondly, the Italian league continues to slip slowly from relevance, as evidenced by their tiny sphere of influence on the player market these days. One-time powerhouses like AC Milan and Internazionale are relegated to bargain hunting now, while only Juventus has any kind of money to spend.
Finally, and most significantly, the Spanish league continues to attract the very best talent. Ever since Cristiano Ronaldo left United for Real in a world record $125 million move in 2009, the superstars du jour have preferred Spain, even if that league can't match the Barclays Premier League's top-to-bottom competitiveness. Last summer, the hottest commodities followed suit, as Gareth Bale went to Madrid -- for roughly the same sum as Ronaldo had -- and Neymar joined arch-rivals Barcelona for an amount officially listed at $75 million but believed to actually be well over $100 million as well.
With Rodriguez and Suarez following suit, Barca and Real have now completed seven of the eight most expensive transfers of all time -- with Di Maria to United being the interloper. Real also talked Bayern Munich into parting with midfielder Toni Kroos for $40 million. The European champions allowed stalwart Xabi Alonso to go in the opposite direction for about $13 million, the same sum they spent on Levante goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
Barca, facing a ban from conducting transfers in the next two windows, tried to address a slew of issues. In addition to Suarez, they signed playmaker Ivan Rakitic, goalkeepers Claudio Bravo and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen as well as defenders Jeremy Mathieu, Thomas Vermaelen and Douglas. They bid farewell to want-aways Cesc Fabregas (to Chelsea) and Alexis Sanchez (to Arsenal).
Their plucky domestic rival Atletico Madrid, who won La Liga last year but lost to Real in the UEFA Champions League final, lost some major players but reloaded well. They saw star striker Diego Costa, left back Filipe Luis and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois -- who had been on loan -- leave for Chelsea. Their replacements, however, should more than compensate. Up front, Mario Mandzukic, Antoine Griezmann, Alessio Cerci and Raul Jimenez should make them stronger. Jan Oblak will now play in goal, while Guilherme Siqueira and Cristian Ansaldi will plug the gaps in the back. They spent $145 million but had collected $114 million on their sales, making for savvy business.
In England, United were among the big winners of this transfer window. In addition to Di Maria, they reportedly added Falcao on loan from Monaco -- with a reported option to buy him outright later on. Earlier, they had signed defenders Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo and midfielders Daley Blind and Ander Herrera for an astonishing total outlay of some $245 million.
The Red Devils were also able to send middling midfielder Shinji Kagawa back to Borussia Dortmund -- albeit for exactly half the $20 million sum they had paid Die Borussen for him two summers ago -- and loaned surplus Mexico striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez to Real Madrid and winger Nani to Sporting Lisbon. They had already shed a raft of veterans with expired contracts. Their late success in the window served as a welcome rebuttal to the widespread criticism of United's inability to close major deals in the last year.
Chelsea did their business early and quickly, buying the aforementioned Diego Costa and Filipe Luis and bringing back Courtois from Atletico for a total of $76 million while poaching playmaker Fabregas from Barcelona for $43 million. The Blues somehow got Paris Saint-Germain to pay $65 million for David Luiz. More importantly, they managed to trade in all of their dysfunctional strike trio of Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto'o for Costa, Loic Remy and the returned Didier Drogba.
Liverpool also conducted swift and serious business. They lost problem child Suarez, but parlayed the funds into the acquisition of midfielders Adam Lallana, Emre Can and Lazar Markovic; forwards Ricky Lambert and Divock Origi; and defenders Dejan Lovren, Javier Manquillo and Alberto Moreno. Most notable, however, was their capture of AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli -- an enfant terrible in his own right -- who could prove a steal at $26 million, if he can behave and produce consistently.
Arsenal got Sanchez in addition to defenders Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy and goalkeeper David Ospina and added United's Danny Welbeck to a multi-year deal. Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United were unusually quiet this summer, settling for a few choice but shrewd signings, like City's Eliaquim Mangala, the Spurs' Federico Fazio and the Magpies' Remy Cabella and Siem de Jong.
In Germany, Bayern and Dortmund quietly made some masterful moves, as you would expect from them. Bayern, as mentioned, picked up Alonso for a fraction of his worth while taking Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski on a free transfer and signing up defenders Mehdi Benatia and Juan Bernat as well.
Dortmund, meanwhile, brought back the aforementioned Kagawa as well as Nuri Sahin, both of whom are still young and had been instrumental for the club in the past. As was the case for Kagawa, they paid a good deal less for Sahin than they had received when he was sold to Real two summers ago. Lewandowski's departure was absorbed with the signing of forwards Ciro Immobile and Adrian Ramos for a total of $38 million, while Matthias Ginter came over from Freiburg to add cover to the oft-injured backline.
There was, overall, no shortage of eye-popping and intriguing moves. Now the season can begin in earnest.
