It may be the summer break but it’s anything but quiet as far as La Liga is concerned.
Just a little over a fortnight after Real Madrid clinched a brilliant Spanish league title and Champions League double, attention is starting to turn to the next campaign and the top team in Spain and in Europe has already strengthened its offering.
France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni has arrived from Monaco on a six-year deal.
The 22 year-old racked up 50 appearances across all competitions last season, contributing five goals and three assists and has made 11 appearances for France since making his international debut in September.
Real, who had been negotiating with the player since March, got in ahead of the competition. Considered to be one of the game’s most exciting young talents, Tchouameni is now a regular in France’s national team and was part of the starting line-up in last year’s Nations League final against Spain.
Adding to a stellar but ageing Real Madrid midfield led by Luka Modric, 36, Toni Kroos, 32, and Casemiro, 30, it shows how Carlo Ancelotti is already planning for the future and Tchouameni will join up with his fellow France midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, 19, who joined Madrid last September from Rennes.
Only Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard and Cristiano Ronaldo have arrived in the Spanish capital with higher transfer fees, but if Tchouameni has half of the success that trio have managed, he will be worth every penny of the 80 million euros fee.
Across the city, one club which has created plenty of La Liga highlights over the past decade and at times upset the Real-Barcelona duopoly, is Atletico Madrid.
Yet it seems the days of big signings for Los Rojiblancos may be over for the moment with the club sporting director this week outlining as such.
Perhaps that means swap agreements are the way forward, as illustrated by talks with Juventus over a possible Moise Kean and Alvaro Morata deal in the months ahead.
If Atletico fail to strengthen, they may even find themselves outside the top three in the SBOTOP La Liga betting odds for next term.
While Real have announced the arrival of a midfielder and have already recruited Antonio Rudiger from Chelsea, it is possible Barcelona could be parting company with one of their own middle men.
The cash-strapped Catalans have reportedly begun talks with Manchester United about the availability of Dutch international Frenkie de Jong, who would be reunited with his former manager at Ajax, Erik ten Hag, should agreement be reached.
After finishing well adrift in the standings last term, Barca could certainly do with strengthening rather than shifting.
They have made a start with Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie from AC Milan both due to arrive on free transfers when their respective contracts expire at the end of June.
The Catalan club is also now being linked with the highly rated Napoli central defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
Koulibaly is out of contract in 2023 and, if Napoli cannot convince him to sign a new deal, the Naples club may be forced to sell in order to recoup any money.
Another player linked with Barcelona is midfielder Carlos Soler, although if interested, they may have to act quickly with Atletico and Juventus reported to be entering the race to land the Valencia captain.
Overall, there remains a delicate situation with Barca seemingly needing to reduce their wage bill to make room for the two signings they have already made.
However, a few more recruits could certainly spell out a message that the club is not in the dire straits it was last summer and perhaps show players like Ousmane Dembele, who finished the season with a flourish and has been linked with a move to England, that it may be worth him extending his deal at the Nou Camp.
Of course, goals are a vital currency worth gold dust in every major league in the world and La Liga is no exception.
Karim Benzema showed as much at home and abroad as their rivals looked on with envy.
And to prove the point, there were promising signs at Barcelona too where the arrival of Xavi as head coach prompted a much improved second half of the campaign as new signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted 11 goals in 17 appearances – helped by Dembele’s return to form.
Although the massive debt leaves little room for manoeuvre when it comes to signing and register new players, one big name could change the mood music.
If that man happens to be a 33 year-old widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, then we may even have a title race to savour.
All will be revealed now the transfer season is up and running!
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