With the transfer window now closed, Tim Stannard assesses the wheeling and dealing of Spanish football's finest...
Atlético Madrid
A whopper of an overhaul of last seasonâÂÂs squad saw first teamers Kun Agüero, Diego Forlán, David de Gea and Tomas Ujfalusi moving out and nine new players coming in. Then there were a couple who were in-and-out in the space of a day, such as Liverpool's Dani Pacheco, who was immediately farmed out to Rayo Vallecano. Of the four players the hard-up Rojiblancos paid cold, hard cash for, Falcao looks the pick of the bunch although perhaps a little pricey at â¬40 million. But thatâÂÂs the way that Porto seem to roll these days. The deadline day loan swoop for the off-kilter Diego from Wolfsburg could be a move worth watching too.
Best signing - Falcao
Athletic Bilbao
Marcelo Biesla has been left with a fairly small first team squad of just 19, though that's mainly down to the fact there isnâÂÂt exactly a huge global talent pool of Basque-tinged players out there for the Argentinean to chose from. AthleticâÂÂs prize purchase - and only purchase, to be fair - was made very early doors with Ander Herrera joining from Zaragoza. Expect youth-academy raiding ahoy, in the campaign to come.
Best signing - Ander Herrera
Barcelona
The sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic - something AS managed to overlook in their calculations in ThursdayâÂÂs edition - along with the flogging of Masia misfits Bojan and Jeffren sees BarcelonaâÂÂs net spending for the summer in the region of â¬8 million. For that, PepâÂÂs Dream Boys have picked up Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sánchez - two players that already look tasty buys despite la Liga being just a week old. A central defender would have been handy, mind, if not for la Primera but the Champions League where there might actually be some stern opposition...
Best signing - Cesc Fabregas
Betis
With enormous debts owed to everyone - but especially former and current players - Betis have found it to hard to both attract and pay for footballers this summer. The Seville clubâÂÂs best hope of beating the dreaded drop was the loan signing of Roque Santa Cruz from Manchester City. Aside from that, it was slim pickings in the transfer market for broke Betis.
Best signing - Roque Santa Cruz
Espanyol
A truly disastrous window for Espanyol sees the Pericos hoping to bring free agent Walter Pandiani back to the club at the grand old age of 35. ThereâÂÂll be plenty of space in the dressing room when the Uruguayan is looking for a peg, with Luis GarcÃÂa moving to Zaragoza on deadline day, following former striking partner Osvaldo out the door. With José Callejón joining Real Madrid, itâÂÂs been a transfer policy based more on financial concerns than football for poor Espanyol.
Best signing - slim pickings but Juan AlbÃÂn
Getafe
Club president Angel Torres will be fairly happy with his summerâÂÂs dealings, having brought in 13 players and shipped out nine for an overall profit of â¬12 million. The final deal was done on the last day, with Pedro León returning to his former side on loan from Real Madrid with José Mourinho hoping the midfielder never darkens his doorstep again. Dani Güiza is another old boy going back to the Coliseum where he had a sensational spell between 2005 and 2007 along with some fine nights out in the Spanish capital.
Best signing - Pedro León
Granada
Some major changes were needed at Granada with the southern side hoping to survive the sharks in la Primera after back-to-back promotions. Five footballers have been brought in from Benfica, mostly on loan. The deadline day also saw former Zaragoza striker Ikechukwu Uche moving straight to Granada, having been bought by Villarreal in a strange but not untypical bit of business this summer.
Best signing - Ikechukwu Uche
Levante
Just â¬200,000 was spent by Levante this summer, with the club choosing to keep much of the â¬7.5 million from the sale of Felipe Caicedo - and quite wise too, with the Valencia-based side pocketing about 85p from the TV money pot this season, as Real Madrid and Barcelona fill their respective boots.
Best signing - Koné
Málaga
Despite an opening day defeat to Sevilla and possessing a giant novelty chequebook, Málaga decided against adding to the nine players and â¬56 million spent already this season with the club happy enough with their brand new toys.
Best signing - Santi Cazorla
