Chapter 573: Meticulous Calculation of the Titans
The European Championship final ended with Spain's stunning 4-0 victory over Italy. Iniesta was named the best player of the tournament, and the Matadors became the first team in the history of the European Football Championship to successfully defend their title.
This result not only demonstrated Spain's football reaching an unprecedented peak but also made the individual awards for players this year unusually suspenseful.
Whether the data-explosive Wang Feng would continue to dominate or the rising star Iniesta, propelled by the national team's performance, would be more favored remained to be seen, depending on the decision of the judges.
Based on the players' performances in the European Championship, major clubs began to take action to strengthen their squads.
Real Madrid's main focus this summer was on renewing contracts for their core players, with less desire for new signings. They attempted to inquire about David Silva, the Spanish midfielder who was a key figure in Manchester City's league triumph and the player with the most direct involvement in goals in the European Championship.
However, the deep-pocketed Mansour directly offered �99.99 million, showing no intention of selling at all. Thus, the matter came to nothing.
In the end, the entire transfer window saw the Galacticos only bring in Ghanaian midfielder Essien on loan from Chelsea, with a fee of �3 million, creating a historic low in expenditure.
Furthermore, head coach Ancelotti optimized the squad by streamlining it. Veteran Gago was sold to Valencia for �3.5 million, while forward Canales, who had been lingering in the reserves, was sold to the same club for �7.5 million.
Several other substitutes such as Albiol, Sahin, Granero, and Diarra all found new homes, and when all was said and done, the club made a net profit of �25 million through transfers.
"The Galacticos are clearly the most profitable club in the world, yet they manage to earn even more in personnel investment and the transfer market. Such meticulous calculation is enough to make all other clubs envy and resentful," commented the Spanish newspaper Vanguardia.
In response to the controversy over signings, club president Florentino explained to the public that Real Madrid was simply channeling more funds into consolidating their championship core and youth development.
"Our squad is perfectly fine, which is an acknowledged fact. Therefore, the renewal of several key players, including Wang Feng, is currently the top priority for the club," he stated.
Almost all fans expressed understanding for this, as they were on the side of continuous victory, and everyone's tolerance seemed to have increased.
On the other hand, the top management of Barcelona couldn't enjoy such ease. They first needed to find someone to replace Vilanova.
Rumors had it that the Catalonia team was considering appointing former champion hero Luis Enrique as the head coach, sparking widespread discussion.
Enrique was originally a core player for Real Madrid, helping the team win La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup championships before falling out with the management and switching to Barcelona, causing a great sensation and controversy at the time.
After retiring, the Spaniard coached Barcelona B before moving to Roma and now serving as the head coach of Celta Vigo. Would he be the one to save the team?
Before fans could come to a conclusion, Enrique publicly denied the rumors: "I am very happy at Celta Vigo, and I have no plans to leave at the moment. Barcelona is a great club, and I love it there, but unfortunately, the timing is not right."
So, who would it be? Various rumors continued to emerge, including bizarre choices such as Van Gaal and even Cruyff.
"At this moment, Barcelona is like a hot potato, and nobody wants it," mocked Marca.
With no other options, assistant coach Jordi Roura took over the team, as if it were a nesting doll scenario: after Guardiola was sacked, his assistant Vilanova took over, and now, with Vilanova unable to carry on, another assistant coach was thrust into the limelight.
Everyone understood that this coach was simply a scapegoat, likely to last only one season at most.
But club president Rosell had no other choice. Most of the rumors were not groundless, but many top coaches had successively turned down Barcelona's invitations.
Currently, there was turmoil within the club's top management. Although it had not reached the level of Laporta's forced resignation years ago, the pressure was immense.
On one side was the reality that needed to be strengthened, on the other was the mounting debt. Rosell operated like walking a tightrope.
They first urgently needed to dispose of Kaka's contract to raise funds. After loaning him back to AC Milan and seeing the Brazilian's form improve, after more than a year of relentless negotiation efforts, the Rossoneri agreed to repurchase him for �18 million, leaving the Catalan club with a �47 million loss.
Apart from him, Roura managed to sell three fringe players, Afellay, Paul, and Cuenca, to other clubs, raising �12 million.
Subsequently, Barcelona announced the high-profile signing of Valencia defender Alba for �14 million to shore up the team's weak spot at left-back, as neither Abidal nor Adriano's form was stable.
At the same time, Arsenal midfielder Song arrived at Camp Nou for �19 million, capable of playing both defensive midfield and center-back roles, fitting into Barcelona's system as a defensive talent.
With this, Barcelona's transfer operations were complete. The club's net expenditure in the transfer market was only �3 million, giving the impression that they had strengthened their squad.
Regarding the lack of a forward in the signings, Rosell stated that Spain's forwardless formation was still capable of defending the European Championship, especially with players like Messi, Neymar, and Sanchez in their attack.
"We need to give them a bit more patience and time to gel. Neymar is our hope for the future. His outstanding performance at the just-concluded London Olympics, scoring three goals to help Brazil win the silver medal, was evident to all," he said.
This statement raised many suspicions. Did Barcelona, after experiencing several years of failure, decide to dethrone Messi from his core position and elevate Neymar?
Compared to the meticulous calculations of the Spanish giants, the English Premier League appeared bold and extravagant, with a total transfer expenditure of ��590 million by all 20 clubs this summer, unsurprisingly becoming the league with the highest expenditure.
Chelsea's investment of nearly ��100 million was second only to Paris Saint-Germain's, indicating Abramovich's determination to revive the Blues' past glory. They spent ��30 million to acquire Hazard from Lille, ��25 million to bring Oscar from Internacional in Brazil, and made other scattered reinforcements.
Manchester City's signings after winning the title were not substantial, mainly focused on plugging holes, but they still brought in seven players for a total of ��45 million.
Manchester United, disappointed by their net goal difference loss last season, repeatedly brought in players like Van Persie and Kagawa, spending close to ��70 million.
In the Bundesliga, the total transfer expenditure of all 18 clubs reached a record high of �244 million, with Bayern Munich taking the lion's share. Serie A spent less than its income, achieving a profit in the transfer market, indirectly indicating the loss of their stars.
The main protagonist of this summer's transfer window was undoubtedly Paris Saint-Germain, splashing out �146 million to build a dream team, echoing Manchester City's extravagant spending of �153 million in 2010.
Stars like Thiago Silva, Lucas Moura, and Lavezzi all joined, and they even approached Real Madrid's Di Maria, offering up to �50 million, only to be rejected by the Galacticos.
Another team that stole some limelight from the oil-rich clubs was Zenit Saint Petersburg from Russia and North Korea. They spent �50 million to bring Hulk from Porto, becoming the transfer market king of the season, and �40 million to bring Witsel from Benfica.
"Zenit has been blinded by their purchases. The fees for these two players alone are equivalent to several top clubs' entire transfer budgets. I bet they will regret it in less than half a season," commented netizens.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om