Barcelona have managed to get the better of Real Madrid in 5 of the last 7 domestic seasons and going on to win the La Liga titles. Spanish journal Sport came up with an intriguing statistic earlier today which suggested that the Catalan giants have actually spent 40% more on signings than their fiercest rivals in recent seasons.
Since the beginning of 2014-15 season. Barcelona have spent €331million in signing top class players as compared to Real Madrid’s €236million. During that time, Luis Suarez (€81m), Andre Gomes (€35m) and Arda Turan (€34m) were some of the biggest names to join Barcelona. Meanwhile, James Rodriguez (€80m), Matteo Kovacic (€35m) and Danilo (€32m) were some of the most expensive signings for Real Madrid.
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Real Madrid surprised everyone this season by signing just one player in the form of Alvaro Morata who moved back to Santiago Bernabeu after spending only two seasons with Juventus. This is part of the reason why Barca’s expenditure is greater
Also read: 10 players who were bigger than the clubs they played for
New manager Zinedine Zidane is happy with the squad which led the club to the Champions League crown last season and perhaps he is ready to outsmart Barcelona despite spending less than his Catalan rivals.
Why is this an eye-opener?
We hear people criticize Real Madrid for buying their way to league titles and Champions League success in the past. However, despite spending more in recent seasons, we hear nothing of those sorts about Barcelona. Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta have been ever present in the Barcelona squad but a majority of the team (Neymar, Suarez, Rakitic, Alba and others) has been built by spending big money in the transfer market.
While this is not an attempt to take any credit away from Barcelona but to draw some light Real Madrid’s recent success in Europe which for once is not based only on spending money.
Add to that, Real Madrid have also been guilty of not using their big money signings in the best way possible. For instance, James Rodriguez, Danilo, and Mateo Kovacic are nothing but fringe players under Zidane or for that matter under Benitez and Ancelotti in recent seasons.
Perhaps that is where Barcelona have edged their rivals by signing only those players who go on to add value to their squad and be the constant match winners. Luis Suarez, Neymar, and Ivan Rakitic were instrumental in Barcelona’s Champions League success and led their team to the league title last season.
Their effectiveness on the pitch may draw the attention away from the fact that Barcelona have spent 40% more on the transfers than Real Madrid in terms of signing new players, which by the normal trend is a rather surprising fact to digest.
