The transfer market is almost at a standstill across Europe, but nowhere is the economic crisis being felt more than in Spain where big money transfers were a common occurrence.
Not this summer where the biggest transfer has been the €14m that Barcelona paid for Jordi Alba, one the revelations of Euro 2012.
Clubs now watch every euro cent before endorsing a transfer and with only two weeks before the start of the new season, the teams in the first division have barely spent more than €1m on transfers. In fact, there are two teams in the second division that have spent more on transfers than 13 teams in the top flight.
Barça B spent €1.25m on signing Joan Ángel Román, who until last season played for Manchester City. The other team is Real Madrid’s academy team. Real Madrid Castilla signed Borja García from Córdoba for €1.5m.
With these two transfers, Real Madrid and Barcelona’s two academy teams have spent more money on transfers than Real Madrid, Málaga, Atlético de Madrid, Levante, Osasuna, Mallorca, Betis, Espanyol, Rayo Vallecano, Zaragoza, Deportivo de la Coruña, Celta and Valladolid.