Chapter 690: The Smooth and Rough Transfer Window

Chapter 690: The Smooth and Rough Transfer Window

The grand World Cup has come to an end, and various European clubs in the football world have begun to prepare for the summer transfer window with enthusiasm. The media's focus has also shifted to the changes in the teams.

Real Madrid's top priority is to finalize the successor for the goalkeeper position. Florentino is unwilling to wait any longer, but whether it's negotiating with Chelsea for Courtois' transfer or with Manchester United for De Gea's transfer, both situations have reached a complete deadlock.

With no other choice, Navas becomes the only and most suitable option.

The Costa Rican continued his high-level performance in the summer, conceding only 2 goals in the group stage and securing the top spot ahead of Uruguay, Italy, and England.

Winning against Greece in the Round of 16 through a penalty shootout and narrowly losing to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals through another penalty shootout, Navas made significant contributions to achieving the best historical result for the national team in the World Cup.

If there were any regrets, it would probably be that the Costa Rican goalkeeper is already 28 years old, and his peak period may not last much longer. The Galacticos will soon need to find a new goalkeeper.

However, the transition is still very cost-effective. Navas is considered a late bloomer, and his background in domestic league youth training programs has not gained much recognition in European football. After years of experience with mid-table teams in La Liga and Segunda Division, he finally garnered attention.

Furthermore, Real Madrid only spent 10 million euros to bring him back from Levante to the Bernabeu, a very cost-effective deal.

Casillas was the first to welcome Navas' arrival, maintaining an optimistic and generous attitude in front of the public regardless of his inner thoughts.

In reality, he had many concerns. His declining form was a real issue, and the arrival of new signings would surely squeeze his playing time. However, compared to Courtois and De Gea, the competition pressure from Navas is relatively smaller.

The former substitute goalkeeper, Diego Lopez, did not wait for his chance to become the starter and chose to leave after his contract expired, joining AC Milan on a free transfer.

The transfer of Di Maria was also quickly finalized. He moved to Manchester United for a fee of ��59.7 million, approximately �68 million, making him the most expensive signing for the Red Devils and the second most expensive signing in the Premier League, second only to Ronaldo's move to Manchester City.

As a key player in the team's consecutive championships, the club naturally spared no effort to hold a farewell ceremony for him. Senior management and team captain Wang Feng were both present, with the Chinese superstar recounting his achievements and saying, "I wish you all the best, my brother!"

Upon learning of Real Madrid's interest in him, Kroos eagerly responded without hesitation. Since you say I'm not a world-class superstar, then I'll go to the best club in the world and become a mainstay to win honors and show you!

It is precisely this two-way effort that made Kroos' transfer exceptionally smooth.

Of course, Real Madrid also had its setbacks. If you ask which player was the hottest in this summer window, undoubtedly it is the Colombian star, James Rodriguez.

With 6 goals, he won the Golden Boot Award, outshining Muller, and helped Colombia make history by reaching the quarter-finals.

At the age of 23, James became the next core and undisputed candidate in the hearts of many top clubs, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ronaldo and Messi is not a fantasy.

Especially with his impressive performance at the club level last season, contributing excellent statistics of 10 goals and 12 assists for Monaco.

This achievement shows that James is not just a pure striker but tends to be an attacking midfielder role.

Real Madrid showed strong interest first, and since he had transferred to Monaco for �45 million just a year ago, offering �70 million to the Ligue 1 club was by no means a loss.

However, Monaco remained ambiguous throughout the negotiations, and Real Madrid's offer even increased to �80 million, but they still failed to get the green light, and the negotiations were at a stalemate.

Just as Florentino planned to further negotiate, the media suddenly burst out with news that James had joined Barcelona for a high price of �90 million! Monaco had negotiated with more than one club, using their name to raise prices, until they reached a satisfactory result. In just a year, they earned double the profit!

And Catalonia's team not only needed to pay a large amount of salary for Suarez but also could offer such a high price. How did they manage to do that?

The answer is still the same: bundling and selling players who seem less important, as well as starting high leverage.

Bartomeu is even more ruthless, almost mortgaging Barcelona's future for more than a decade. He doesn't care about how the club will be in the future but only wants to strengthen the team now and secure his position.

With a huge amount of funds, Barcelona not only snatched James from Real Madrid but also brought in Mathieu from Valencia for �20 million, Rakitic from Sevilla for �18 million, and Bravo from Real Sociedad for �12 million.

Throughout the summer window, they spent a total of �175 million, while their income was only �80 million.