- Barcelona have spent significantly more than Real Madrid on current squads
- Coutinho, Dembele signings certainly make a big impact
- Los Blancos were reserved last summer and in January
- READ MORE: Lionel Messi left angry with one Barcelona teammate, has warning for another
Barcelona have spent big in the most recent transfer windows, and that is reflected in the CIES Football Observatory study into La Liga squads.
The Catalan giants splashed out £135.5m on Ousmane Dembele last summer, as per BBC Sport, while that was followed by the £142m move for Philippe Coutinho last month, as noted by The Mirror.
In turn, it comes as no surprise that they now boast the most expensive assembled squad in La Liga, but perhaps the shock does come with the gap between them and rivals Real Madrid.
CIES Football Observatory have conducted their research into how much has been spent on current squads, and it was found that Barcelona have spent €725m, while in comparison, Madrid have spent €497m.
It’s hardly a reason to criticise the capital club too much though, as given they won the Champions League and La Liga title last season, there didn’t appear to be a major need to strengthen significantly and spend money on the squad.
However, perhaps that decision has come back to haunt them since when looking at the La Liga table, with Barca sitting seven points clear of nearest rivals Atletico Madrid, while Los Blancos are 17 points off the pace.
Aside from the immediate impact of their signings though, the Catalan giants have been sensible too by planning their long-term future with recent arrivals like Dembele, Coutinho and Yerry Mina, who all have a large chunk of their respective careers ahead of them.
In turn, with Madrid struggling this season and Barca seemingly settled with a mix of experience and youth in their current group, perhaps the figures above will look very different after this summer.
Meanwhile, Atleti came third in the rankings with a squad total of €298m, with Sevilla and Valencia rounding off the top five at €160m and €147m respectively as the former aside, a direct correlation can be drawn between those who have spent the most on their current squads and the places at the top of the table.
Squad recruitment cost (million euro, figures corrected not including players on loan) for @LaLiga clubs: from @FCBarcelona to @LevanteUD; big-5 league data in last @CIES_Football Weekly Post at https://t.co/KA1Tpnadoq pic.twitter.com/23jXYHIRu7
— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) February 12, 2018