It was a rather quiet window in Spain, as the two giants FC Barcelona and Real Madrid refrained from making any jaw-dropping buys but that didn’t stop the other clubs from making merry in the window as the clubs like Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia bolstered their squads with some impressive captures.
Reuters
After an incredible 2014-15 season, Luis Enrique will hope to defend his titles and subsequently signed the versatile Arda Turan (£35 million) and the exciting Aleix Vidal (£20 million) from Atletico Madrid and Sevilla respectively, despite a transfer ban. After club legend Xavi played his final game for Barcelona last season, Barcelona were quick to pen down deals for the two midfielders but the duo won’t feature for the Catalans till the club’s transfer ban ends in January.
Real Madrid’s signings this term are nowhere near as eye-catching as last window’s deals of James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos but these new boys definitely can’t be ignored. After Iker Casillas was rather unceremoniously ousted from his boyhood-club and sent to Porto, Rafa Benitez snapped up his replacement in the form of Kiko Casilla from Espanyol. With a world-class right-back missing in their ranks, Real Madrid finalized a deal made in January for Brazilian right-back Danilo from Porto for a whopping £31.5 million. Although the Real Madrid administrators and fans alike are peeved after an almost certain deal for David De Gea fell through at the last moment, they may find solace in the form of Croatian teenager Matteo Kovacic, a promising central-midfielder who was signed from Inter for a hefty £25 million.
City rivals Atletico Madrid had a relatively busy window as compared to the other Spanish teams, bolstering all outfield positions with some big buys. As Mario Mandzukic left for Juventus after only a year at the Vicente Calderon, Diego Simeone signed the gifted Luciano Vietto from Villareal for a fee in the region of £15 million. Filipe Luis, who had an unsuccessful spell at Chelsea, returned to Atletico while centre-back Stefan Savic was signed from Fiorentina, in a swap deal including Mario Suarez. FC Porto continued their star-player-selling policy, as three-time Primeira Liga top-scorer Jackson Martinez moved to the Rojiblancos for £25 million. The promising Belgian winger Yannick Ferreira Carrasco penned a 5-year-deal worth an estimated 15 million euros.
Athletic Bilbao weren’t as busy as compared to their rivals during the window, signing only 4 players including long-serving Atletico Madrid midfielder Raul Garcia.
Newly promoted Real Betis, in a bid to stay in the top-flight, made a few impressive signings, most notably that of Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart and German defender Heiko Westermann, who were both released by Hamburg at the end of last season. Winger Juan Manuel Vargas was roped in for free, while striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel was brought in on-loan from Norwich City. Undoubtedly, the signing which will buoy up the Betis faithful the most is that of Joaquin, a Spanish international, who returned to his boyhood-club, after spells at Valencia, Malaga and Fiorentina.
Sevilla, after two consecutive Europa League triumphs, will now play in the Champions League and have signed a host of players to strengthen their squad, Ciro Immobile (on-loan) and Fernando Llorente. After an impressive season with Stoke City, Steven N’Zonzi was captured by Unai Emery for a fee of 10 million euros. Sevilla beat of interest from Tottenham and Liverpool to sign speedy Ukrainian winger Yehven Konoplyanka for free from Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, the side which Sevilla beat in last season’s Europa League final. The Andalusian club also signed Danish central midfielder Michael Krohn-Dehli from Celta de Vigo, Chelsea outcast Gael Kakuta and French defender Adil Rami from AC Milan.
Valencia were unquestionably, the busiest team in Spain signing an array of players, including three Benfica players – Joao Cancelo, Andre Gomes and Rodrigo Moreno. Alvaro Negredo, who spent last season on-loan from Manchester City, made his deal permanent, penning a deal worth an estimated 30 million euros. Mercurial teenage winger Zakaria Bakkali was signed for free from PSV Eindohoven and Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan moved from Club Brugge. After Nicolas Otamendi completed an extravagant move to Manchester City, Valencia signed his replacement in the form of Aymen Abdennour from Monaco.
With a record five teams playing in the Champions League this season, it is definitely going to be exciting to see how these teams fare in the La Liga. Although it will be tough to displace Barcelona and Real Madrid from the top two, it certainly isn’t impossible. Real Madrid definitely didn’t sign the players they hoped for and Barcelona’s new signings won’t make their debuts until January, which leaves the first-half of the season up for grabs and having made some precious new acquisitions, Atletico, Valencia and Sevilla will make sure that the La Liga isn’t a two-horse race anymore.
Tags: Summer Transfer
