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"EuroFootball.com" presents to its visitors a published article by fcbarcelona.lt about the peculiarities of the summer transfer window in the Spanish "Primera" championship part two. About how the raging economic crisis in Europe affected the ambitions of the country's football giants in the players' summer market, written in the first part of this article. In the second part of the publication "Appetite of Spanish football clubs - the aftermath of the financial crisis," the portal fcbarcelona.lt continues its acquaintance with the quirks of this summer's Spanish and European transfer market and presents various statistical data and additional facts emphasized by the research conducted by the football market analysis and marketing company "Prime Time Sport." Not a single strongest Spanish division club made it to the top ten of clubs that spent the most money this summer on buying new players. Leading firmly is "Paris Saint-Germain," having acquired not one powerful footballer. 2012 summer club expenditures: 1. Paris Saint-Germain - 147 million € 2. Chelsea FC - 100 million € 3. Zenit Saint Petersburg - 95 million € 4. Bayern Munich - 70 million € 5. Tottenham Hotspur FC - 65 million € 6. Manchester United FC - 65 million € 7. Manchester City FC - 64 million € 8. Juventus FC - 52 million € 9. Arsenal FC - 43 million € 10. Internazionale FC - 43 million € The Spanish "Primera" division (or "La Liga") can proudly boast as the fifth in terms of the total amount spent by all clubs on new players this summer. Spanish clubs, while strengthening their squads, spent 65% less money compared to the same period in 2011. The total amount spent by German clubs increased by more than half, significantly adjusted by Bayern Munich's payment of 40 million euros for Athletic Bilbao defender Javi Martínez. This allowed the German "Bundesliga" to nearly equal the elite Italian league in terms of expenses. Percent changes are indicated in parentheses when comparing the amounts spent on transfers during the summer of 2011 and 2012. 2012 summer total club expenditures in national leagues: 1. English Premier League - 617 million € (+12%) 2. Italian Serie A - 335 million € (-28%) 3. German Bundesliga - 328 million € (+58%) 4. French Ligue 1 - 226 million € (+16%) 5. Spanish La Liga - 128 million € (-65%) Barcelona, having acquired only two new players this summer, became the club spending the most in the Spanish football arena. The Catalan side added former Valencia defender Jordi Alba, for which they paid 14 million euros, and Cameroonian Alex Song, acquired from Arsenal for 19 million euros. Clubs that spent the most in La Primera this summer: 1. FC Barcelona - 33 million € 2. Real Madrid CF - 30 million € 3. Valencia CF - 23.2 million € 4. Sevilla FC - 12.5 million € 5. Granada CF - 5.8 million € No Spanish top league club aimed to reinvest money, as Madrid's team Atletico did in the summer of 2011. At that time, Los Colchoneros sold goalkeeper David De Gea (20 million euros) and forward Kun Aguero (45 million euros) for impressive sums, then used the money to acquire Radamel Falcao for 47 million euros and Arda Turan for 13 million euros. Spanish clubs struggling with the financial crisis were not ready to significantly increase investments and renew squad compositions, as Malaga did over the past two years. At that time, this Andalusian club paid varying amounts for as many as 20 of its players, totaling 85 million euros. This summer marked the most impressive anti-record in the Spanish transfer market. Not a single one of the eleven Spanish clubs exceeded 2 million euros for new players. Five clubs from the aforementioned eleven did not spend a single euro to acquire new players. These clubs include Rayo Vallecano from Madrid, Deportivo La Coruna, Osasuna, Espanyol from Barcelona, and the aforementioned Malaga, which was once a powerhouse in the market. This does not include relatively small amounts of money for which some clubs borrowed players. For example, Osasuna borrowed defender Anthony Annan from Schalke 04 for 300 thousand euros, but did not spend money on new acquisitions. The most expensive acquisition by a Spanish football club in 2012 was Modric's transfer to Real Madrid. Only the Croatian, along with Alba and Song, acquired by Barcelona, were the only players for whom more than 10 million euros were paid. The most expensive players acquired by La Liga clubs in the summer of 2012: 1. Luka Modric (Real Madrid CF) - 30 million € 2. Alex Song (FC Barcelona) - 19 million € 3. Jordi Alba (FC Barcelona) - 14 million € 4. Sergio Canales (Valencia CF) - 8 million € 5. Aly Cissokho (Valencia CF) - 6 million € The fact that Spanish clubs ran out of money to buy new players this summer is also evident in the analysis of players' "migration" - as many as 63 players changed teams as free agents, for whom their new teams did not pay a single euro. Thirty-seven players were loaned out, and contracts were signed for only 34 players, with a duration of two or more seasons. No newcomer to a Spanish club this summer made it into the top five of the most expensive transfer market acquisitions, with Modric, for whom 30 million euros were paid, ranking only ninth. The most expensive players acquired by European clubs in the summer of 2012: 1. Hulk (Zenit Saint Petersburg) - 55 million € 2. Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain) - 42 million € 3-6. Javi Martinez (Bayern Munich) - 40 million € Axel Witsel (Zenit Saint Petersburg) - 40 million € Lucas Moura (Paris Saint-Germain) - 40 million € Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC) - 40 million € The contrast in spending by Primera teams is even more pronounced when looking at the top five most expensive football transfers of all time. This list includes only players bought by Spanish clubs for astronomical sums. The most expensive players bought of all time: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF) - 94 million € 2. Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid CF) - 72 million € 3. Zlatan Ibrahimović (FC Barcelona) - 66 million € 4. Kaka (Real Madrid CF) - 65 million € 5. Luis Figo (Real Madrid CF) - 60 million € This summer, Barcelona made the fewest player changes among Primera clubs. Only two players left the Catalan team - Malian Seydou Keita, continuing his career at Chinese club Dalian Aerbin, and Dutchman Ibrahim Afellay, loaned to Schalke 04 for a year. Barcelona was also only fortified by two newcomers. These are the aforementioned Alba and Song. The club did not receive income from player sales for the first time. Some Spanish teams strengthened their squads with academy players instead of searching for players in the market. After promoting four players to the main teams, these included Barcelona, Espanyol, Osasuna, and Rayo Vallecano. The most radical transfer revolution was carried out by modest Granada club, managed by Italian Giampaolo Pozzi. This businessman also owns Udinese, competing in the Serie A, and Watford, playing in the second division in England. Player exchanges are constantly happening among these teams, so it's no wonder that this also occurred in the summer of 2012. Granada saw 22 players leave the team (17 of them loaned to other teams) and added 12 newcomers. This transfer policy resulted in no academy players playing for the Granada team. For the second consecutive season, Barcelona reigns at the top of the loyalty ranking of Spanish football clubs. A player from the current Barcelona team plays an average of 3.7 seasons in the team. The shortest playing time is found at Madrid's Getafe club - only 1.6 seasons. Loyalty ranking of Primera clubs: 1. FC Barcelona - 3.7 2. Real Sociedad - 3.5 3. Bilbao Athletic - 3.3 4. Real Madrid CF - 3 5. Deportivo La Coruna - 2.4
