Biggest winner and loser of the La Liga transfer window

If you think Barcelona had a bad transfer window, and you’re feeling sorry for Atletico Madrid over the sudden departure of Thomas Partey, and you’re wondering why Real Madrid didn’t sign any reinforcements…well, perhaps you should instead reserve your sympathy for Valencia fans.

This has been, without any hint of exaggeration, an absolutely dreadful summer for the east coast club.

In the light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the club’s failure to qualify for European football, Valencia’s owner Peter Lim (technically the owner is Meriton Holdings, but Lim is the man behind everything) decided to make significant cuts to the budget. And that’s putting it lightly.

The first to leave in the drastic cost-cutting exercise, to no surprise at all, was experienced Argentine central defender Ezequiel Garay, who had been openly critical of Lim’s regime and was not offered a new contract.

Also through the exit door headed long-serving captain Dani Parejo, who made the convenient move just a few miles up the coast to join ambitious Villarreal along with fellow central midfielder Francis Coquelin.

Then came a couple of big-name departures to England, with Ferran Torres opting to develop his reputation as one of Europe’s best young wingers by moving to Manchester City, while talismanic centre forward Rodrigo Moreno joined the Marcelo Bielsa revolution at Leeds.

Finally, right-back Cristiano Piccini was also allowed to leave, heading back to his homeland of Italy to join Atalanta.

So that was six departures from Valencia, all of whom were regular starters – and in the case of Parejo, Torres and Rodrigo absolutely key players – to leave incoming manager Javi Gracia with a busy summer of recruitment. Or so he thought.

Much to the surprise of Gracia, who had apparently been promised new faces incoming to replace the departures, when the window closed on Monday night Valencia had signed…absolutely nobody.

To say this leaves the squad thin is an understatement. The centre of midfield, without Parejo and Coquelin, is particularly devastated, with only Geoffrey Kondogbia remaining.

To fill the gaps, Gracia is expected to turn to youth. Valencia have always been a club capable of producing top quality young players, and Lim clearly wants his coach to use those resources to the maximum. And Gracia will have to, because…well…he doesn’t have any other choice.

Midfielders Vicente Esquerdo (21) and Uros Racic (22) have been partnering Kondogbia; wingers Yunus Musah (17) and Alex Blanco (21) have featured prominently; Kang-in Lee (19) and Manu Vallejo (23) have seen playing time up front; Hugo Guillamon (20) and Thierry Correia (21) have started at the back.

Now, some of these young players – Kang-in and Musah in particular – are very promising, and Valencia did keep hold of some talented performers such as Kondogbia, new skipper Jose Gaya, Maxi Gomez and Goncalo Guedes.

But others within the new group of youngsters just do not look good enough, and there is a massive difference between gradually introducing young players into a settled line-up with a well-established system and throwing in the kids en masse immediately after the heart of the team has been ripped out and a new manager appointed.

The results have been predictable. Valencia have been fortunate to pick up a couple of undeserved victories over Levante and Real Sociedad, but a tepid home draw against Huesca and very poor defeats against Celta Vigo and Real Betis exposed the squad for what it is, and Valencia face a season of mid-table mediocrity at best.

The biggest winners of the transfer market, on the other hand, are Granada.

The Andalusian club have reinforced impressively in preparation for their first ever season in European football, continuing their remarkable rise under hugely talented manager Diego Martinez.

In addition to keeping all their key players, Granada have added real depth to their squad and shown their scouting department knows where to look for bargains by grabbing two of the best players from the Segunda Division last season.

Firstly, Luis Milla is a dynamic, ball-playing midfielder who has already shown his eye for goal by getting on the scoresheet on his debut in an opening day win over Athletic Club. For a fee of just €5 million from Tenerife, Granada have got themselves a player who looks instantly at home in the top flight and, approaching his prime at the age of 25, should stay there for years to come.

But the real coup – and it’s perhaps surprising he didn’t end up with a bigger club – is Colombian striker Luis Suarez, who has been signed for a club record fee that could rise to £15 million from Watford, having spent last season scoring 19 goals for Real Zaragoza.

If you want to know how Suarez plays, just think of his famous namesake. Exactly like the Uruguayan version, this Luis Suarez plays with tenacity, directness, aggression and an unquenchable thirst for goalscoring. At the age of 22 he is very much on the rise and he will be the perfect partner for the older and less mobile Roberto Soldado, who will share playing time with smart summer signing Jorge Molina.

Another big success for Granada was bringing back excellent midfielder Yangel Herrera for a second season on loan from Manchester City, and experienced Frenchman Maxime Gonalons was signed permanently from Roma after a strong first season at the club.

More cover and competition has been added with the loan arrivals of Brazilian winger Kenedy from Chelsea and Argentine under 23 international defender Nehuen Perez from Atletico Madrid, leaving Granada with admirable strength in depth for a squad compiled on a relatively low budget.

Granada are a fine example for any lower-profile club to follow: they have gradually but continually upgraded their squad by spending within their means on players who fit perfectly into their needs. Rather than looking for big names, they have brought invested wisely in a group of players who are heading in an upward trajectory and will allow them to compete strongly both domestically and on the European front.

And with the arrival of the new Luis Suarez, they have landed a future superstar.