Is La Liga falling behind the rest of Europe? A look at the quietest winter transfer window in a decade | OneFootball

If you feel like the most recent winter transfer window was a quiet one for La Liga clubs, you aren’t alone. The January transfer window saw the lowest investment in a winter window from La Liga clubs in over a decade.

Spanish clubs spent just €26 million on players this January. That number is not per club, it is across the whole league. The figure places La Liga 16th in the world for money spent.

Why has this happened? The figures point to a worrying trend in the financial well-being of Spanish clubs. We have all heard the highly publicised situations affecting the likes of Barcelona and Sevilla, but clubs are clearly feeling the pinch across the board.

The biggest transfer into La Liga this winter was the signing of Cucho Hernández by Real Betis, which at €13 million makes up half of the league’s entire expenditure.

This poor showing from Spanish clubs comes against a backdrop of record spending elsewhere. FIFA have touted this window as record-breaking, with $2 Billion spent for the first time in a winter window.

Manchester City make up 10% of this number, spending over $200 million, while other leagues like Germany, Italy and France have all seen spending over $200 million.

Whilst Spanish clubs can still attract big-name players, it is clear that if this type of trend continues, Spanish football could start to fall back from its status as one of the best leagues in the world.

The below tweet from The Athletic does a good job of illustrating just how low La Liga has fallen in terms of expenditure this winter:

GSFN | Ciaran Currie