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The Official 2016/17 Football/Soccer Thread

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The Premier League's buying power is hurting La Liga

This summer feels like the tipping point when the Premier League, in particular, has begun to significantly menace La Liga's transfer market strategies, its buying power and, in due course, its domination of European club football.

OK, before you jump all over me -- I know very well that the transfer market still has nearly a month until completion. Things can change -- dramatically.

But the way the market has gone so far for Spain's biggest clubs is a product of both underlying trends and the fact that England is now benefitting from the magnetism of two very different kinds of wealth.

You can certainly argue that Spanish champions Barcelona have shown strategy, astuteness and mid-term planning in their capture of Samuel Umtiti, Andre Gomes and Lucas Digne.

They bring a mix of youth, power, talent and are, crucially in the Barca model, a cluster of players yet to win a significant amount of silverware. In other words, they aren't satisfied and instead are hungry to succeed; don't underestimate the importance of that factor.

Real Madrid? Though I've criticised president Florentino Perez for not having a football director and for his lack of sporting strategy in many of his purchases and sales, I will not be hypocritical and chastise him for the lack of a galactico signing, as some of his club's partisan media are currently doing.

From Zinedine Zidane's appointment in January to the point at which Madrid sat on top of La Liga -- albeit only for a matter of minutes -- during the last match of the season and then won the Champions League on penalties, the Frenchman's work began to show that Los Blancos possess the core part of a high-performance side.

Both their "gala" XI and squad need augmenting. For example, one player required is a technically competent, athletic and powerful backup to -- or replacement for -- Casemiro in defensive midfield.

The Brazilian's emergence and excellence were fundamental to how much more robust and also how much more attacking Madrid proved to be once the Zidane effect took root. What if he were injured, though? Who were the candidates to supplant or complement Casemiro?

N'Golo Kante and Ilkay Gundogan fit the bill and, arguably, Paul Pogba might be developed to learn that role in due time.

Not at the Bernabeu, though. Chelsea, Manchester City and, likely in Pogba's case, Manchester United got firmly ahead on those pieces of business.

Madrid also require Raphael Varane to shake off both inconsistency and a tendency to get injured but given the age and injury profiles of both Pepe and Sergio Ramos -- who are 33 and 30 respectively -- and even if the Frenchman achieves that, Madrid must either fully trust Nacho or sign well at central defence.

Madrid have time and money to address these deficits, but it's an awful blow to their prestige and market confidence -- and that of the league in general -- if they are beaten to Pogba by a club not in the Champions League and coached by Jose Mourinho at a time when his reputation is not at its highest, plus at a time when Madrid are managed by such an alluring legend as Zidane.

Atletico Madrid?

They've not yet fared badly in this market but have failed to prise Diego Costa out of Chelsea even if the striker has been fluttering his eyelashes at his former club for the better part of the last year. "Come and get me" has become "Pleeeeeeease come and get me!"

Because of the proposed cost and wages, Atleti have had to settle for the older, less persuasive, cheaper option at forward: Kevin Gameiro from Sevilla.

Yes, he is a good, diligent and hardworking striker, but the look on Ramos' face last weekend, when Costa told him that Atleti had settled for the Frenchman, suggested that Madrid's captains think their city rivals have done the European champions a favour.

While on the subject of strikers, a deal for Gabriel Jesus isn't done at the time of writing. What is quite clear, though, is that both Barcelona and Real Madrid covet him and expect that each would be the other's principal rival for the 19-year-old. And yet, just as did Leroy Sane, there is no guarantee that Gabriel will not end up at Manchester City.

Speaking of whom, City's covetous eyes remain on at least two key players in La Liga: Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen -- Pep Guardiola wants to sign a goalkeeper, whose sweeper-keeper skills resemble those of Manuel Neuer or Victor Valdes -- and Real Madrid's Toni Kroos.

It might be that the pulling power of the Premier League isn't quite at the stage where Madrid and Barcelona can't fight for and keep their central assets. But four things have changed to make this a tipping point in the great annual talent hunt.

First: England's ability to throw big money in the direction of a target has increased exponentially thanks to the Premier League's new TV deal.

Second: There is an undeniable attraction to play for the likes of Guardiola and Mourinho as well as Antonio Conte, Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman for international footballers who, once their wage demands are met, look at the "other" conditions when considering where they'll be play.

Third: Agents are clearly hot-to-trot for their percentage of Premier League money; only the most scrupulous will ignore the fact that they stand to earn much more by pushing their client to England.

Fourth: Some of La Liga's clubs obviously believe that they can buy, sell at a profit and still continue to out-scout England, thus restocking their squad with a net financial gain. Which, I fear, will prove the law of diminishing returns sooner rather than later.

The big three in Spain are smart, mean and financially muscular enough to fight their corner. Plus, the market isn't closed -- not by a long shot.

Even so, a trend over the last 12-18 months has seen La Liga's elite clubs expend more time, brainpower and money into retaining key assets such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Antoine Griezmann, Neymar and Ramos.

That's a strategic change from their aggressive "we can get anyone we want" mode of the seasons past.

Moreover, though, we are also now beginning to see the scales tilting too far away from the clubs who make La Liga competitive, those who have recently been competitive in Europe: Sevilla, Villarreal, Valencia; basically anywhere La Liga clubs' scouting has secured pockets of buyable talent.

Sofiane Feghouli went from Valencia to West Ham; Nolito joined Manchester City from Celta Vigo, Antonio Barragan left Valencia for Middlesbrough, Eric Bailly transferred from Villarreal to Manchester United. Next to leave Valencia could be Shkodran Mustafi to Arsenal.

Individually? Perhaps the city walls don't seem to be tumbling.

But right now, set against a backdrop of the departing -- either confirmed already or soon-to-be -- Dani Alves, Ever Banega, Coke, Jese, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Youssef El Arabi, Adalberto Penaranda as well as Juan Carlos Valeron's retirement and manager Unai Emery's move to Paris Saint-Germain, with weeks left in this market La Liga is a less colorful, less competitive, less skilled, less fun place than it was when last season ended.
http://www.espnfc.us/spanish-primer...remier-league-buying-power-is-hurting-la-liga
Click to expand...
 
Yeah the prem buying powa aint a good look for the other competitions....its all going crazy though, Napoli copped Milik from Ajax for 35mil, Lukaku allmost 80, shits madness
 
water ur seeds;9232657 said:
@Mseries_

Hey whats the deal with Alex Pritchard??? Brighton just signed him for a record fee...
Click to expand...

Alex Pritchard, Fredrico Fazio and Nabil Bentaleb are not part of Coach P's plans so, Fazio is going to Roma and it looks like Alex Pritchard is on his way to Norwich City.
 
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