Mateo Kovacic’s move to Chelsea was
made permanent, Raul De Tomas went
to Benfica and Luca Zidane will spend
the season with Racing Santander.
The futures of James Rodriguez, Isco,
Keylor Navas and, in particular, Gareth
Bale remain uncertain.
Zidane could hardly have been clearer
about Bale: he wants the Welshman
out. But the message from Bale’s camp,
determined that he will not take a pay
cut to go anywhere and determined that
he will not be forced out, is that he’s not
going anywhere.
Barcelona signed Frenkie De Jong for
€75m from Ajax, but not his team-mate
Matthijs De Ligt, who is better paid at
Juventus and was reluctant to go where
he was not guaranteed to be a starter.
Neto and Jasper Cillissen changed
places, with Valencia and Barcelona
swapping goalkeepers, and the deal
to sign Atletico’s Griezmann was
re-activated as his buyout clause
came down to €120m on July 1.
Last year Barca had been all set to
sign Griezmann for €100m – his buyout
clause came down invitingly on July 1
then, too – only for him to decide to
stay, which he announced on a glossy
documentary called The Decision, which
had been produced by a company part-
owned by Gerard Pique.
He renewed his contract and
remained at the Metropolitano but,
12 months later, after a disappointing
season at Atletico, he decided that he
did want to go after all. Amid reports that
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were not
too impressed, Griezmann said: “They
might be annoyed, but I can sort that
out with assists.”
Atletico were annoyed too, accusing
Barcelona and Griezmann of showing a
lack of respect and insisting that his price
was €200m, not the value of his buyout
clause before July 1, and that’s when the
deal had been done. Yet Atletico had
effectively set this deal up when they
again allowed for a July 1 drop in the
clause, setting a price and a target date.
And they had been the ones that insisted
on Griezmann publicly announcing his
departure – but not who to – in May.
Atletico had been relying on the
€120m, too, because they had spent
it the week before.
At €126m, 19-year-old Joao Felix was
presented with Griezmann’s numberseven shirt before the Frenchman had
even left and becomes Atletico’s most
expensive signing of all time. They have
also completed deals for Chelsea’s
Alvaro Morata, Marcos Llorente from
Real Madrid, Mario Hermoso from
Espanyol, Porto’s Felipe and Kieran
Trippier of Tottenham Hotspur. That
is almost €250m worth of signings,propelled by the departures of Rodri,
Diego Godin, Filipe Luis, Juanfran,
Griezmann and Lucas Hernandez.
They have also pursued Real Madrid’s
Rodriguez and by the start of the season
Atletico’s first XI will look very different,
and not just in terms of names as this
appears to usher in a total change of
identity for the team. Diego Simeone is
the longest-serving coach in Spain and
his new signings suggest a radical new
look for the man who until now always
dresses in black.
Elsewhere, by mid-July there were
already 10 new players at Sevilla, seven
at Alaves, Mallorca, and Osasuna, five
at Real Sociedad, Celta and Getafe.
Valencia may have been calmer than
most, but even they have a brand new
€40m striker in Maxi Gomez.
And with the transfer window not
closing in Spain until September 2, there
is plenty of time for even more player
movement in La Liga.
And all this before anyone’s even
mentioned Neymar...
Sid Lowe(^) GRANADA
The Andalusians are back in the
Spanish top flight after two seasons
away. New signings for this season
include veteran striker Roberto Soldado,
but coach Diego Martinez has never
taken charge of a team in La Liga so
it could be bumpy ride.
(^) MALLORCA
Wild celebrations greeted their play-
off success over Deportivo La Coruna.
Following recent financial troubles, just
surviving in La Liga and staying up will
be a triumph.
(^) OSASUNA
The team from Pamplona are back
in the top division after two seasons in
the wilderness. Former Real Sociedad
and Numancia boss Jagoba Arrasate
guided the team to top spot in the
Segunda Division last season, where
they finished eight points clear of
runners-up Grenada.
SPAIN LA LIGA (^) Season preview 2019-20
“They might be annoyed, but I can
sort that out with assists”
Griezmann replies to reports that Messi and Suarez
were not too impressed with him joining Barcelona
Bumpy...Granada
Galactico...
Eden Hazard
PROMOTED TEAMS
New boss...Rubi joined Real
Betis after leaving Espanyol
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