Jack Fulham
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Two-and-a-half million euros. Two and a half million blinking euros. That's all it would have taken for any one of the 19 clubs in this year's Primera division to take Michu off Rayo Vallecano's indebted hands and land themselves a passionately committed footballer who is a near guarantee for at least ten goals a season along with buckets of sweat in every single game he plays in.
The midfielder's two goal debut for Swansea at the weekend may have been a surprise for Premier League pundits, but it was no great shock for lovers of la Liga. The Oviedo-born player knocked in 15 for the relegation-threatened Rayo last season, so it was obvious that the physical and feisty Michu would thrive with greater quality surrounding him.
But two-and-a-half million euros was the fee that no-one in Spain was willing to pay. Or perhaps able to pay is the correct description. Whilst the barn-storming Asturian may not have the quality desired by Real Madrid and Barcelona, Michu could have done a job for plenty of other clubs, if they could have afforded him, that is. This is where the big problem lies. Valencia would have had the funds due to the sale of Jordi Alba to Barcelona, but opted for the free transfer of Nelson Váldez to boost their forward line.
Málaga are apparently so penniless now that the club is reliant on a 16-year-old academy player for goals, as was the case with Fabrice Olinga in Saturday's win over Celta Vigo. The club is now scrabbling around to find the funds to bring in the been-around-the-block Javier Saviola. 12 months ago, the club spent €65 million in the transfer market. This summer, nearly €30m of talent has been sold, instead.
Atlético Madrid's €210m or so debt with the taxman sees the Rojiblancos spending just €1m on a single player this summer. And this is a club desperately in need of support for Falcao, with Adrián managing just seven in la Liga last season. Sevilla have been without Champions League cash for two campaigns. That's pretty much the end of list of the clubs that could even have considered bringing in the Swansea player and that would have been considered a step-up for the midfielder. "The economic situation in Spanish football is really bad. It's a difficult moment for them," noted Michael Laudrup, who was understandably delighted at his acquisition.
But maybe this is all a little presumptuous.
Perhaps Michu would have told another Spanish club to spin on it had an offer been made. After all, having spent a year at a club in administration chasing his wages - which would have been relatively paltry in the first place - perhaps Michu was looking forward to the experience of being paid on time and in full.
Perhaps Michu was looking forward to playing on a Saturday afternoon and not at nearly one in the morning as the footballers for Mallorca, Espanyol, Levante, Atlético Madrid, Zaragoza and Valladolid had to do this weekend.
Perhaps Michu was looking forward to a simple, uncomplicated life in a league that is not as idiotically and illogically organised at that in Spain.
The transfer of Michu to Swansea and not, for example, Sevilla is an indication of the desperate trouble la Liga is in these days. Whilst Real Madrid and Barcelona may be able to sign squad-filling bench warmers such as (potentially) Luka Modric and Alex Song, the economic situation elsewhere is more desperate than ever.
According to transfermarkt.co.uk la Primera's clubs have spent €74m on players to date - Barça are responsible for around half of that - with €102m in sales. That puts la Liga behind the Turkish league and the Championship in terms of net spend. Whilst a large chunk of the blame for this can be put on Spain's dire economic situation affecting marketing and sponsorship funds as well as income from supporters, the game in Spain has also suffered appalling internal mismanagement as well as the familiar issue of the TV income distribution which saw Real Madrid receiving €150m last season and the relegated Racing getting €15m.
However, despite protests from clubs, this carve-up will remain in place and everyone else will continue to struggle and slip even further behind the top two. Supporters will stay away from the grounds, especially when matches are scheduled in the middle of the holiday season in mid-thirties temperatures or at 11 o'clock at night on a Monday.
The stars of Spain - the current World and European Champions, let's not forget - will continue to be piled up in the Real Madrid or Barcelona squads, which only have so much space, or leave for England. Just five of Spain's 2012 squad currently play for clubs outside of the Premier League or Madrid and Barça, two of these - Javi Martínez and Fernando Llorente - could be leaving la Liga before the end of the transfer window. Santi Cazorla was the latest to depart, a truly dreadful loss of talent for la Liga for what was a knock-down price.
Michu's move to the Premier League may have been a mere footnote in the papers in Spain, but the transfer to Swansea signals a serious sickness being suffered by la Liga. Unfortunately, it's a sickness that is so complex, deep set in the DNA and has gone on untreated for so long that it's difficult to know where to find the cure.
Tim Stannard
Michu Move Signals Spain's Severe Sickness | Spanish Thing
The midfielder's two goal debut for Swansea at the weekend may have been a surprise for Premier League pundits, but it was no great shock for lovers of la Liga. The Oviedo-born player knocked in 15 for the relegation-threatened Rayo last season, so it was obvious that the physical and feisty Michu would thrive with greater quality surrounding him.
But two-and-a-half million euros was the fee that no-one in Spain was willing to pay. Or perhaps able to pay is the correct description. Whilst the barn-storming Asturian may not have the quality desired by Real Madrid and Barcelona, Michu could have done a job for plenty of other clubs, if they could have afforded him, that is. This is where the big problem lies. Valencia would have had the funds due to the sale of Jordi Alba to Barcelona, but opted for the free transfer of Nelson Váldez to boost their forward line.
Málaga are apparently so penniless now that the club is reliant on a 16-year-old academy player for goals, as was the case with Fabrice Olinga in Saturday's win over Celta Vigo. The club is now scrabbling around to find the funds to bring in the been-around-the-block Javier Saviola. 12 months ago, the club spent €65 million in the transfer market. This summer, nearly €30m of talent has been sold, instead.
Atlético Madrid's €210m or so debt with the taxman sees the Rojiblancos spending just €1m on a single player this summer. And this is a club desperately in need of support for Falcao, with Adrián managing just seven in la Liga last season. Sevilla have been without Champions League cash for two campaigns. That's pretty much the end of list of the clubs that could even have considered bringing in the Swansea player and that would have been considered a step-up for the midfielder. "The economic situation in Spanish football is really bad. It's a difficult moment for them," noted Michael Laudrup, who was understandably delighted at his acquisition.
But maybe this is all a little presumptuous.
Perhaps Michu would have told another Spanish club to spin on it had an offer been made. After all, having spent a year at a club in administration chasing his wages - which would have been relatively paltry in the first place - perhaps Michu was looking forward to the experience of being paid on time and in full.
Perhaps Michu was looking forward to playing on a Saturday afternoon and not at nearly one in the morning as the footballers for Mallorca, Espanyol, Levante, Atlético Madrid, Zaragoza and Valladolid had to do this weekend.
Perhaps Michu was looking forward to a simple, uncomplicated life in a league that is not as idiotically and illogically organised at that in Spain.
The transfer of Michu to Swansea and not, for example, Sevilla is an indication of the desperate trouble la Liga is in these days. Whilst Real Madrid and Barcelona may be able to sign squad-filling bench warmers such as (potentially) Luka Modric and Alex Song, the economic situation elsewhere is more desperate than ever.
According to transfermarkt.co.uk la Primera's clubs have spent €74m on players to date - Barça are responsible for around half of that - with €102m in sales. That puts la Liga behind the Turkish league and the Championship in terms of net spend. Whilst a large chunk of the blame for this can be put on Spain's dire economic situation affecting marketing and sponsorship funds as well as income from supporters, the game in Spain has also suffered appalling internal mismanagement as well as the familiar issue of the TV income distribution which saw Real Madrid receiving €150m last season and the relegated Racing getting €15m.
However, despite protests from clubs, this carve-up will remain in place and everyone else will continue to struggle and slip even further behind the top two. Supporters will stay away from the grounds, especially when matches are scheduled in the middle of the holiday season in mid-thirties temperatures or at 11 o'clock at night on a Monday.
The stars of Spain - the current World and European Champions, let's not forget - will continue to be piled up in the Real Madrid or Barcelona squads, which only have so much space, or leave for England. Just five of Spain's 2012 squad currently play for clubs outside of the Premier League or Madrid and Barça, two of these - Javi Martínez and Fernando Llorente - could be leaving la Liga before the end of the transfer window. Santi Cazorla was the latest to depart, a truly dreadful loss of talent for la Liga for what was a knock-down price.
Michu's move to the Premier League may have been a mere footnote in the papers in Spain, but the transfer to Swansea signals a serious sickness being suffered by la Liga. Unfortunately, it's a sickness that is so complex, deep set in the DNA and has gone on untreated for so long that it's difficult to know where to find the cure.
Tim Stannard
Michu Move Signals Spain's Severe Sickness | Spanish Thing