Normally the clubs of La Liga are amongst the most active participants in the European January transfer window, together spending as much if not more than their English, German and Italian counterparts.
Not this year, however.
Spain is still immersed in a profound economic recession, with unemployment close to 21 per cent, and the country’s football clubs have responded to this crisis by tightening their belts.
According to the AS sports daily on Tuesday, the 20 clubs spent a mere 27.7 million euros (37.8 million dollars) on new players, almost 10 times less than the English Premier League.
The 2011 figure was marginally higher than that from 2010, but far less than the record 66.1 million euros the Spanish clubs spent in January 1998.
Real Madrid, normally the most profligate of European clubs both in summer and winter, have spent less money this January than for many years.
The whites’ only expenditure has been the 2 million euros (2.73 million dollars) spent on bringing striker Emmanuel Adebabayor on loan from Manchester City for six months. Real president Florentino Perez — who is now struggling to pay back the loans he took out in to pay for his 2009 spending spree — would actually have preferred not to have done the Adebayor deal at all, but coach Jose Mourinho was loudly insisting on a replacement for injury victim Gonzalo Higuain.
Runaway leaders Barcelona, for their part, have spent only three million euros in January, on Dutch midfielder Ibrahim Afellay from PSV Eindhoven.
Most other Spanish clubs have sold more players than they have bought in January. Valencia, for example, managed to offload unwanted midfielders Manuel Fernandes and Sofiane Feghouli, and just brought in striker Jonas Goncalves.
Another example of new-found austerity can be found in Atletico Madrid. They offloaded four players in January — Simao, Ignacio Camacho, Sergio Asenjo and Juanito — and only brought in two, Juanfran and Elias.
The only Spanish club to have really brought in new blood has been lowly Malaga, now owned by ambitious Qatari billionaire Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Thani, have brought in six new players, including big-name South Americans Julio Baptista and Martin Demichelis.
Malaga are, in effect, the exception which proves the new rule of austerity in recession-hit Spain.
