The three La Liga ‘castaways’

There is something inherently crazy about the way the super powers in Spain procure and discard players. Due to the pulling powers of their brand names and the endless trophies in their cabinet, Real Madrid and Barcelona get 99 of every 100 players they want. There have been countless players on record saying you don’t say No when Barcelona or Real Madrid come calling. Everyone has dreamed of playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona.

The downside of these Super powers hunting every global super star’s signature is after a while, you have too many players in the same position and the less favoured one starts to become disillusioned, or they have to sell some superstars to make money for shinier superstar purchases. Either ways, it is becoming a trend for some superstars to be on the showcase shelf of Barcelona or Real Madrid. But is it becoming a must buy regime? Are they buying better players or is it just buying for the headline sake? Let’s compare three high profile exits from the La Liga to the Premier League over the summer to the players who replaced them.

Alexis Sanchez vs Luis Suarez

Two tireless workhorses, with an insatiable need to win. To be honest, Alexis can simply be defined as the not racist, not bite, no baggage version of Suarez. Suarez looks to finally be finding his feet in the La Liga, but Alexis has taken the Premier League by storm. On closer examination it seems like Barcelona might have gotten the shorter end of the stick in this triangle. Alexis is comfortable playing anywhere across the attacking quartet in the 4-2-3-1 while Suarez seems to thrive more when he is playing more centrally. In the past few games Messi has been shunted to the right to make room for Suarez down the middle, which I’m sure the Argentine isn’t totally comfortable with.  And as hardworking as Suarez is, he doesn’t track back as much as Alexis does. Alexis-Neymar-Messi is a more balanced trio than Suarez-Neymar-Messi, as Alexis is comfortable on the wings while Suarez isn’t.

Verdict: Barcelona went for this because Suarez was new and exciting. Not only did he cost more than double what they fetched for Alexis, Suarez comes with more baggage, more ego, more drama and more wages.

Cesc Fabregas Vs Ivan Rakitic

No offense to the very enterprising Rakitic, but this is an absolute no contest, and by far one of the more bizarre decisions Barcelona have made in a while. Barcelona signed Cesc in 2011 when his competition for a starting berth in Xavi and Iniesta were in the peak of their powers. It was nothing but a sentimental, please the fans signing. Three years later were Xavi’s age means he no longer commands a football game like he used to, they sell the obvious heir to his throne and buy Rakitic, who has nowhere near the technique or the finesse of the above named Cesc. While Rakitic is by no means a bad player, Cesc has again shown his class by absolutely tearing the premier league apart with pass after pass, assist after assist and is currently the top creative central midfielder in England.

Read also: Real Madrid: Zinedine Zidane’s side misses chance to set new La Liga record

Verdict: Nobody really understands why Barcelona decided to sanction the transfer of the prodigal son they pulled all the stops out to re acquire. But it has been rumoured that the replacement of Cesc with Rakitic is one of the reasons Sporting director Zubizaretta lost his job a couple of weeks ago. Whether there was some falling out in the dressing room, or maybe they needed money to fund the purchase of Suarez, selling Cesc was a spectacularly bad idea.

Angel di Maria vs James Rodriguez

Not content with selling assist king Mesut Özil the season before, Real Madrid has to follow it up by signing the shiniest object at the World Cup, in the person of James Rodriguez. The moment James sunk that absolute dream of a volley against Colombia at the World cup, it was inevitable that some galactico would have to make way for the Puskas award winner. James isn’t a striker so Benzema’s position was safe. Not even the almighty Madrid could decide to sell Cristiano Ronaldo, or Gareth Bale whom they had less than twelve months ago forked out a world record fee to sign. So it had to be the most underrated player in the squad. Angel di Maria. Never mind that he was man of the match in the famed La Decima win and had the highest number of assists in the just concluded season. Madrid don’t care much for such. Glamour trumps common sense in that part of Spain.

Verdict: As highly as I rate James, Di Maria’s sale is another that makes no sense from a football perspective. James the season before had made a big money move to Monaco, and didn’t pull any trees there. Di Maria matches James for technique but offers added mobility, cunning, work rate and flexibility, as he is potent anywhere behind a lone striker. Manchester United’s gain most definitely.

I wonder what superstar names the Spanish giants are already coveting for this summer.

 

Adedamola Obisesan