La Liga: Spending more than ever, but stability is key to its progress.

As the dust settles on yet another transfer window closing and the debates emerge as to whether your side did well; signed players for the positions you most needed strengthening or dropped the ball and left areas of the squad weak, one shining line is La Liga’s financial strength. And not just from the usual customers either.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are traditionally the biggest movers in the transfer market and since the summer of 2009 have always been the top two spenders in La Liga, dwarfing those not only at the bottom of the league but also their closest competition. The fragmented TV deal allowed them to reap much greater rewards, thus being able to afford much higher transfer fees and wages.

In the last three years Atletico Madrid has quickly established itself as the number three side in the league and that too has been reflected in their spending, although admittedly this is usually offset by a large number of outgoings as well. In the summer after winning the league they spent approximately €110m as they looked to rebuild their squad which had lost two key players to Chelsea.

The current top three’s spending equated to 72% of the money spent by all La Liga clubs in the summer of 2013 and 81% last summer. You also need to factor in that those two summers recorded the highest spending in La Liga history: €411m in 2013 and €486m in 2014 respectively. When you consider that Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid combined are responsible for over two thirds of those huge amounts, it shows the gulf in spending power of them compared to every other side in the league.

That trend was bucked this summer, however, when another side took top spot in the spending charts. Valencia, fresh from a takeover and with coveted Champions League cash, rose above their rivals to spend €142m – nearly three times what Barcelona spent (€51m) and over €50m more than what Real Madrid did (€89). Barcelona, of course, weren’t helped by the fact they were subject to a registration ban and Real Madrid’s spending would’ve been higher if they had secured David de Gea on deadline day. Atletico were next on the list having invested €139m in their squad.

However it was a summer when those below began to spend as well. Sevilla, under the watchful eye of Monchi, arguably the best director of football in the world, spent €34m as they replaced the stars they’d lost. Villarreal, who finished the 2014/15 season poorly after a bright start also reinvested to get back amongst those fighting for fourth place – they spent an impressive €47m. Real Sociedad, who had been largely inactive over the last couple of seasons, re-signed Asier Illarramendi from Real Madrid and Jonathas from Elche respectively, pushing their total to €25m.

The increase of transfers from those below the elite helped La Liga record it’s highest spend in history: €572m. The signs are positive, especially with the long overdue collective TV package set to come in place next season which should allow those further down the table to increase their own budgets. The current structure means those with smaller crowds or a less glamorous name are forced to scrap on free signings and loan deals.

And it’s at the bottom of the league where there is certainly work to be done. Rayo Vallecano, Eibar, Sporting Gijon and Getafe didn’t spend more than €1m over the course of the summer and it’s those sides which will benefit most from the aforementioned TV deal. I don’t expect an increase of income to necessarily translate to larger fees being paid out by the likes of Eibar, but it will at least give them the strong financial footing their displays on the pitch deserve. You only need to look at what happened to Elche last season to see how cruel the game can be for those at the bottom of the pecking order.

Despite La Liga steadily spending more year on year, it still pales in comparison to the Premier League. While €572m is an impressive sum, it’s only half of what their English counterparts spent – a whopping €1.1 billion in total. And even once La Liga finally sells the collective rights of their games both nationally and domestically, that gap is unlikely to close in the next 4-5 years as the Premier League’s new €6.7 billion TV deal kicks in from the beginning of next season.

Another interesting change was the lack of transfers between the top two leagues. The only major signings to swap La Liga for the Premier League were Valencia’s Nicolas Otamendi and Barcelona’s Pedro. In Otamendi’s case he wanted to move to a side competing for trophies as he entered his peak years, while Pedro didn’t fancy stagnating on the bench at Barcelona as his Euro 2016 place with Spain is under threat.

There were rumours of Manchester United looking to sign Gareth Bale and Neymar but they were met with a flat refusal, both by their respective clubs as well as the players themselves. Arsenal have a long-documented interest in Karim Benzema but he had no interest in moving to Arsene Wenger’s side, famously referring to the people saying his move to Arsenal was done as “clowns”.

It works the other way, too, as Sergio Aguero was said to Florentino Perez’s ideal ‘Galactico’ signing this summer but were told no early on in the summer. The two clubs enjoy a good relationship and the Real Madrid chief didn’t feel it was worth pursuing in case it became ugly. And looking at how the De Gea affair panned it, he was probably right to err on the side of caution.

The difference between those at the very top of both leagues appears to be minimal, although it’s the finances below that threshold which creates a huge contrast. Whereas the mid-table sides in the Premier League have the financial muscle to compete with bigger, more established sides from other European leagues, La Liga’s focus has switched to talent recruitment.

Sevilla lead the way but at most clubs there is now a clear strategy moving forward, a vision suited to their financial restraints, but focused to get the maximum from them. The job done at Rayo Vallecano by Paco Jemez for example is often overlooked in England but to basically change an entire first XI year upon year and still maintain their status in La Liga is nothing short of remarkable. Deportivo La Coruña are another side that moved quickly to secure their targets ahead of the new season, but without going over budget. Calculated, well-researched transfers.

And that is the strength of La Liga and the base for which it’ll grow as the money begins to trickle down to those previously ignored. Don’t expect to see Granada lodging a €10m bid for a player any time soon but the further the money travels, the more competitive the league shall become. The only shame is that it’s taken this long for the Spanish authorities to look after the league itself and not just a chosen few.