Real Madrid continues to watch from the sideline as FC Barcelona makes more big moves in the transfer window
By Ben Sundock
The January transfer window will remain open for about a week and some teams in La Liga are making moves while others are not. A perfect example of these contradicting sides is one of the biggest rivalries in sports: Real Madrid against FC Barcelona. While Barca has made big moves over the last six months, Real has sat ideally by.
Since the start of July 2018, FC Barcelona has signed five players and loaned in another solid player. Spending some €128 million on talent such as winger Malcom, the most expensive Dutch player ever Frenkie De Jong, midfield beast Arturo Vidal, and depth forward Kevin-Prince Boateng.
We can’t forget Arthur or center back Clément Lenglet either who have both featured in the first-team squad sporadically since signing for the Catalans.
This talent that the Barca board has targeted as of late is a much younger group than before. The average age of players signed over the last two windows is 24.8 years-old.
The reason for this change in tactics in the transfer window is likely due to the recent struggles of the youth academy, La Masia. The same academy that produced Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, Xavi, and many, many more has slowed down its talent assembly line.
This new transfer market strategy has started to more and more pressure on Real Madrid, more specifically president Florentino Perez to make a move that will improve the team.
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Over the same amount of time – two transfer windows – Real Madrid has made some notable signings, but not nearly the same kinds of singings Barca has made.
Bringing in Thibaut Courtois was a good move from the board, but was it a signing that needed to happen? Keylor Navas led Los Blancos to three consecutive Champions League titles and a La Liga title in the 2016/2017 campaign.
Bringing Vinícius Júnior was probably the best decision the club has made in the transfer market and the proof is in the work the Brazilian has put in in the last month or so.
What I am trying to get at with this argument is that Real Madrid’s mew players – other than Vinícius – are not having enough of an impact on the team. Barca’s players are. Arturo Vidal has been fantastic coming off the bench and has shown that signing players as designated off the bench guys is a good new strategy.
Real Madrid has needed some additional help at center back and a reliable striker who can fill in for Karim Benzema when he needs time off and that still hasn’t happened.
Jesús Vallejo cannot stay healthy no matter what he does and Mariano Díaz – who many fans were excited to see back in the Spanish capital – has managed just 10 appearances and one goal as he has battled injuries.
Next. Real Madrid: Overreacting to Vinícius Júnior’s play thus far this season. dark
Barca picking up De Jong is a gigantic move considering the young midfielder chose Messi’s team over Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
Real Madrid could’ve made an attempt to break up the deal but sat idly by. I’m sorry to say this, but signing Brahim Díaz is not going to solve any of the problems which have been talked about since Zinedine Zidane stepped down.
President Perez, make some moves and respond to what FC Barcelona is doing. If he doesn’t, they could dominate Spain for years to come.