Barcelona transfer expenses: Laporta relies on youth training and careful calculations to end difficult times

September 3rd News Daily wrote an article praising Barcelona's transfer spending strategy in recent years, saying that Chairman Laporta has finally helped the club end a most difficult period by relying on youth training and careful budgeting.

On March 7, 2021, Laporta was re-elected as chairman of Barcelona. He took over a club with poor economic conditions, low player market value and a low morale after losing 2-8 to Bayern in Lisbon. More than four years later, Barcelona once again became a respected team in European football, and after winning the domestic triple crown last season, it became a strong contender for this year's Champions League championship.

After a period of downturn, Barcelona finally ended this difficult day. By controlling expenditures, even if it cannot operate according to the 1:1 rule, relying on the youth training system and relatively small transfer fee investment, Barcelona has achieved this transformation.

This summer, Barcelona spent only 27.5 million euros to introduce Joan Garcia, Rashford and Badge. Since Laporta took office, it has spent a total of 337.4 million euros to sign, and the team currently only retains four players to play for in 2021: Ter Stegen, De Jong, Pedri and Araujo.

In Laporta's first season as chairman, the club mainly introduced free agents (such as Eric Garcia, Aguero, Alves, Depp) or loan players (Luke Dejong), and spent 55 million euros to sign Ferran Torres in the winter window. At the same time, Aubameyang and Traore also came to invest for free, and paid 2 million euros to buy Abude. The turning point occurred in the summer of 2022. The management believed that the team's strength needed to be improved before it could rise again, so it spent 159 million euros to introduce Lewandowski (45 million), Conde (50 million), Rafinia (58 million) and Torre (6 million). In addition, Christensen, Casey, Bellerin and Marcos Alonso also joined as free agents. That season, Barcelona won the La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup.

The next season, Barcelona spent only 3.4 million euros in the summer transfer market to sign Romeu to replace Busquets. Inigo Martinez and Gundogan joined freely, while Felix and Cancelo came on loan. In January, the club signed Rock for another €30 million.

In the summer of a year ago, Barcelona signed only two players: Ormo and Victor, with a total cost of 60.5 million euros. Szczesny joined freely after Ter Stegen was injured. A total investment of 337.4 million euros plus a group of amazing new stars from the Lamacia youth training camp, such as Yamal, Kubasi, Garvey, Fermin, Barde and Casado.

Compared with other clubs competing for the Champions League championship in the same period, Barcelona's recruitment expenses appear to be more frugal. For example, Real Madrid spent a total of 483.5 million euros during the same period, and Atletico Madrid surpassed Real Madrid, spending a total of 520.2 million euros.

If you turn your attention to the Premier League, the gap will be even more obvious. Since the 2021 summer transfer window, the transfer expenses of the five giants are as follows: Chelsea (1.813 billion euros), Manchester United (1.0777 billion euros), Manchester City (1.004 billion euros), Arsenal (988.2 million euros) and Liverpool (926.8 million euros).

In addition to the English clubs, Paris and Bayern have also been quite active in the transfer market in recent years. Paris spent a total of 1.0285 billion euros, while the German giant, on the other hand, has spent a total of 613.8 million euros since 2021.

In contrast, Inter is closer to Barcelona, ​​which has spent a total of 345.7 million euros in the past few years.

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