For a club who’ve enjoyed significant success in the last decade,
Real Madrid’s business off the pitch has been decidedly less impressive.
Now, Real are struggling to prune and refresh the unit that won so much together.
So, what was their last good transfer? And why was it so long ago?
Real Madrid are entwined with the original galactico concept and the flawed,
but fun and decadent football of the Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham era.
Arguably, the last successful galactico window was 2009/10, when Cristiano Ronaldo,
Kaka, Karim Benzema, and Xabi Alonso joined. The following season brought Angel di Maria,
Mesut Ozil, and Sami Khedira for sensible fees.
And Gareth Bale’s arrival in 2013/14, while hugely expensive, delivered.
So far, so good.
Since then, however, Real have spent a lot of money with relatively little return.
James Rodriguez was signed for a vast £63m off the back of the 2014 World Cup and would eventually
leave on a free transfer. Theo Hernandez arrived in 2016 and departed for a loss, and
Alvaro Odriozola, who cost nearly £30m from Real Sociedad, in 2018, is destined to do the same.
Real have still been extraordinarily successful in
this period, of course. Four Champions League trophies, three La Liga titles,
all in the era of a Messi-led Barcelona and the increasing power of Manchester City,
Paris Saint-Germain and the traditional European powerhouses is not to be underrated. But the core
of those sides was acquired before 2014 – Real have been holding on since then.
And the last of the outstanding group who won so much was signed in 2014/15:
Toni Kroos. He is arguably the last unqualified success that Real Madrid
had in the transfer market. And he only cost £25 million.
Kroos, and with him Modric and Casemiro, gave Real the perfect combination of progression
and solidity, creativity and, in the Brazilian’s case, bite. They created a platform for the
attacking talents with their passing, set the tone for the team’s dominance with
their pressing or control of space, and produced individual moments of brilliance to win games.
From the 2010/11 window to the present, Real Madrid have, according to Transfermarkt, spent
1.16 billion pounds in transfers fees alone. It’s an eye-watering amount of money. In that period,
they’ve recouped £839.5m; it’s a very healthy amount, but still leaves them in the red.
The last significant splurge was in 2019/20, when some £350 million was spent;
the preceding window saw £162 million in outgoings too. Eden Hazard has
been an expensive disaster. While Thibault Courtois and Ferland Mendy have been good,
it’s hard to argue that either have provided obvious upgrades.
Part of Real Madrid’s problem has been that Florentino Perez
has largely sought to invest in young players who have potential.
This is for two main reasons: to keep the wage bill at a manageable
ratio to turnover, which Real Madrid have certainly succeeded in doing,
and refresh an ageing squad with players who can either impact the first team relatively quickly
or be sold for profit. But that’s a strategy full of risk: promising young players often come at a
premium and their progress – particularly at a club of Real’s size – is always subject to
potential difficulties in adaption and maturity and development happens at uncertain speed.
Compare the combined £90 million for Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, or the £30m for Reinier,
who managed just 245 minutes on loan at Borussia Dortmund, to the £6.5m for Marcelo,
or the £6m for Casemiro. Football has moved on, of course, and fees have been inflated,
especially for attacking players, but the principle of acquiring young Brazilian talent
at source yielded two sublime talents for a combined £12m in one instance,
and £120m of investment that has so far delivered 7 goals and four assists in
three seasons for Vinicius, and three goals and six assists in two for Rodrgyo in the other.
It illustrates the uncertainties in the market and the perils of such an approach.
Elsewhere, Luka Jovic has not reached the expected levels and never seems likely to.
Eder Militao could benefit from Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos’ departures,
but there’s no certainty that he’s big enough to fill their shoes,
or that – having cost £45m from Porto – he will ever justify his huge fee.
Meanwhile, and seemingly at odds with the youth first policy,
talents from the Castilla youth set-up have been allowed to depart. Achraf Hakimi and
Marcos Llorente are more than good enough to play for Real Madrid and would have cost only wages;
both have been allowed to leave for less, it feels, than Real Madrid would now have
to pay to replace them. These sales have been fiscally important, particularly in light of
what has happened at Barcelona over the past eight months, but they’ve been to the team’s detriment.
In more ways that one. Twice this uneven approach created a situation that Zinedine Zidane felt was
unsustainable for him as coach which – in turn – created managerial churn which has been less
than helpful, particularly to developing players who would benefit from continuity.
The Toni Kroos signing may not only be the last success Real Madrid had in the market,
it may also be the last time they signed the right player at exactly the right time
and within the right circumstances. It’s not a coincidence, then.