In Part 1 of The Nationalâs Primera Liga preview, Andy Mitten profiles three big arrivals after a summer in which Spain reaffirmed its status as a leading draw for the worldâs top players.
James Rodriguez
Real Madrid signed the World Cupâs Golden Ball winner for âŹ80 million (Dh390m) from Monaco. The Colombian is a Madrid fan who travelled to watch them last season and met Cristiano Ronaldo, with whom he shares an agent â the powerful (and key Madrid figure) Jorge Mendes.
âJ-Rodâ immediately paid a chunk of the transfer fee back as Madrid announced that they had sold âŹ25m worth of âJames 10â shirts in the 48 hours after he signed. How Madridâs new No 10 can play that position in a side that employed a clearly defined 4-3-3 last season is a separate issue.
It is likely there will be a shift to a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the Colombian playing in the central role behind the improving Karim Benzema and alongside Gareth Bale and Ronaldo.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti has a surfeit of other attack-minded talent at his disposal: Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Isco, Angel Di Maria and Jese, the hugely popular home-grown striker, who is recovering from a serious injury.
Rodriguezâs godfather, Juan Carlos Restrepo, thinks he has the Âanswer.
âMadrid were missing someone with a bit of composure,â said the man who revealed that whenever he threw a ball to a three-year-old Rodriguez, he either trapped it with his thigh or cushioned it with his chest. âHeâs going to make a big impact with his passing.â
Rodriguez will play in Madridâs best XI. Ancelotti manoeuvred players around last season to get them into the team and was prepared to pick and choose his battles at a club where the president influences team selection.
The Italian tried to find a place for Isco, but he realised that it was not always going to work and the former Malaga playmaker saw reduced minutes. Had the same happened to Bale it would have been tricky for the coach, but the Welsh winger played well enough to stay in the team.
Luis Suarez
Barcelona began courting Suarez before the World Cup. They knew that he loved the city, the long-time home of his in-laws. When he visited in May to promote a partnership with a poker company â he was subsequently dropped after his World Cup biting episode â he gave answers about his future that would not have reassured Liverpool fans.
âWhen we approached Suarez, we told him that he was the right age,â said club president Josep Bartomeu, considered a safer pair of hands after the questionable judgments of his predecessor and ally, Sandro Rosell.
âHe [Suarez] had the experience. We had known for many years that Luis Suarez likes our club, likes our city. So everything was perfect and created the perfect atmosphere for Luis Suarez to accept. And we know that he had better offers than our offer, but he came to Barcelona.â
Barca often claim that the players they sign had bigger offers elsewhere, as if they wanted to come to Camp Nou because they are motivated by more than money.
Did they question that decision after his bite?
âWe didnât rethink this decision and we told him that,â Bartomeu said. âHe apologised. Thatâs very important for us. That means he knows that he did not do things properly.â
Asked whether the club is confident that Suarez can be trusted to behave, Bartomeu said: âThis is a question that a lot of people now ask us, but we are confident and he has to see that the club is giving him a chance.â A âŹ90m chance.
Barca need Suarez to work and, crucially, Suarez needs the move to work as he is seen as damaged goods.
Suarezâs part in a forward triumvirate with Messi and Neymar could be as effective as Madridâs âBBCâ of Benzema, Bale and Cristiano. Given the variety of players, it could be even better, or it could fizzle and fade like previous partnerships between Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic or David Villa.
Antoine Griezmann
Diego Simeoneâs Atletico Madrid lost Diego Costa, Thibaut Courtois, David Villa, Adrian and Felipe Luis in the close season, but their new signings have been praised.
Jan Oblak (goalkeeper from Benfica), Brazilian left-back and Real Madrid target Guilherme Siqueira (signed from Granada but also spent time on loan at Benfica last season), defenders Cristian Ansaldi and Silvio all arrived at the Calderon.
In midfield, they will have Saul Niguez back from a loan at Rayo Vallecano, while in attack Mario Mandzukic and Griezmann were highly coveted by other big sides.
Fans of his previous team, Real Sociedad, had long suspected that the left winger, 23, would leave for a bigger club. They kept hold of him last season because they had the carrot of Uefa Champions League football, but while the Frenchman helped eliminate Lyon, the club he supported as a child, the Basques did not win a single group game.
They had reached their ceiling and Griezmann realised he would have to move if he was going to win trophies. After five seasons in the first team in San Sebastian, where he became a terrace hero for key goals â including a volley in last seasonâs Basque derby against Athletic Bilbao â he moved to Atletico for âŹ30m.
An injury to Franck Ribery meant he made his France debut in February 2014 and became a regular under Didier Deschamps, playing in the World Cup finals.
Griezmann is young, fast and skilful, but Simeone needs to make him more consistent. If he can do that, Atletico will have a player who justifies their record transfer fee.
Atletico do not want to be one-season wonders. Another serious challenge is expected from the champions this season, but they will be under more pressure to match their sublime achievements of 2013/14.
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