The austerity has reached the League. The times of galactic signings and exponential increases in budgets and salaries are over. At least for now. Spanish football is no stranger to economic situation caused by covid-19 and the clubs have chosen to tighten their belts in a summer market more autumnal than ever, in terms of dates but also in terms of splendor.
He total cost in terms of transfers between the 20 clubs in the Liga Santander amounts to 410.5 million euros, a figure that is more than three times lower than that of the summer window of 2019 and the lowest since 2012. In terms of sales revenue The trend is similar, since the record stands at 494 million, half compared to the summer of 2019 and also the lowest volume since 2016. Despite this, the market balance is positive at 83.5 million, something that has already happened in 2018 and that speaks clearly of the need to balance the numbers in the market, something a priority along with salary reviews to compensate for the loss of income in concepts such as marketing, merchandising and lockers.
In this sense, Real Madrid has not added any expenses in reinforcements for the first time in forty years. The return of three loaners such as Odegaard, Lunin and Odriozola closed a chapter of news without investment in transfers, something that had not happened since the summer of 1980, prior to that final of the European Cup of the team of ‘Los García’ against the then ornery Liverpool in the Parc des Princes in Paris. In contrast, the Chamartín club has managed to enter almost one hundred million euros from player transfers, a notable relief in the numbers of a complex course. The balance for Barça is also favorable, which signed for 124 million and sold for a total of 126.5. Among the greats, Atlético did invested more than what it received in cash -92 and 72.80-, although those records include Carrasco’s buyback operation, transferred from Chinese football in the second part of last year. In this sense, the Sevilla de Monchi y Lopetegui, a traditionally selling club, is the great shaker of the market, with 64.5 million euros of expenditure on reinforcements and just 9.5 in concept of transfer income.
What is really worrisome is not only this situation, which could be associated with a temporary circumstance, but that despite the fact that the pandemic is global, other major European leagues have not noticed its economic effects to the same extent. At least in the market. It has been common in recent years that the Premier League English is far above in financial muscle, derived from a juicy television contract and the previous expansion of the image of the competition to other markets. The 20 clubs of the highest category of English football have placed their spending on transfers to 1,423 million euros, almost four times more compared to the League. It is true that it is the lowest record in the last five years, far from the astronomical figure of 2,177 million in the summer of 2017, but it is still valid to catch good players from other major championships with astonishing ease.
Let them tell Valencia, well Ferran Torres He went to Manchester City but what is more disturbing: Rodrigo Moreno, a mainstay of an a priori important team in the League, he signed for Leeds United, a historic Englishman who is still recently promoted and who had been away from the elite for 16 years. That status as a newcomer to the Premier has not prevented him from investing more than one hundred million euros in signings, in the style of what Aston Villa did a year ago but in the midst of the economic recession derived from the health situation. It also says a lot about the difference in economic capacity between the two championships that Arsenal have been able to pay the clause of Thomas, a valued player at Atlético. What’s more, Chelsea alone has spent almost $ 250 million this summer, well over half the investment of the entire League. In fact, among the clubs of the English ‘big-six’, Liverpool, current champions, is the one that has opted for a more modest investment, but which stands at 80 million.
Italian taxation
That England is ahead in spending is something logical considering the hegemony of the Premier in the financial issue, but what is surprising is that they have also advanced the League Italian Serie A, in crisis for more than a decade, and especially the French Ligue 1, especially if one takes into account that it has been one of the more moderate markets of Paris Saint-Germain. In the ‘calcium’, Juventus and Inter Milan, the great candidates for the title, have led an investment in signings that amounts to 763.64 million, almost double with respect to the League. Italy, another country heavily affected by the coronavirus, changed in 2019 the tax rate applicable on the income of those who transfer their residence to the country at 30%, much lower than the average of 50% in Spain, which offers the clubs a very favorable tax situation, since they are the ones who pay this tax withholding, since they negotiate with footballers in terms of net salary and not gross.
Regarding France, the 20 clubs in the League 1 have spent a total of 444 million euros in transfers, thus exceeding the total investment in the League, which in view of the traditional superiority of the Spanish championship is beginning to be alarming news. The funny thing is that this time PSG is not leading the investment chapter in reinforcements, as the Stade de Rennes allocated 71 million euros in purchases, ten more than the Parisian giant.
Finally, the Bundesliga it stopit in 322 million in signings and it is together with the League the only major championship that presents a balance in green numbers, even if it is less than a million. This contention is largely explained by the limited need for the great dominator of German football, a Bayern Munich that has just signed the second treble in its history and invested 62 million in incorporating players.
Despite the compelling figures, only time will tell if it is a conjunctural step back or on the contrary, it begins to be a structural problem of Spanish football, which in the face of a certain financial weakness will have to continue basing its competitiveness in continental tournaments on a great coaching school, good youth work and tradition.
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