Despite the departures of numerous stars, with Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Lionel Messi at the helm, the Spanish championship has recovered with some figures capable of attracting attention this season in La Liga.
Here are five stellar transfers to follow in a 2021/22 season that begins Friday:
. Erik lamela
Sevilla show their fangs: Julen Lopetegui’s team, the main troublemaker in the battle for the league title and with a very worthy journey in the Champions League last season, has been reinforced this summer with the arrival of Argentine international right winger Erik Lick it.
After arriving free from Tottenham, Lamela (29 years old) signed until 2024 to try to relaunch his career in Spain, after eight seasons in England. It will make up for the departure of the promising Bryan Gil, who has made the reverse path to Tottenham (for 25 million euros -29 million dollars – plus bonus). In Seville he meets again with the colony of Argentine internationals made up of Lucas Ocampos, Papu Gómez and Marcos Acuña.
. Sergio Aguero
Another Argentine star who has made the trip from England to Spain has been Sergio Agüero. The forward decided to return to Spain, where he exploded wearing the colors of Atlético de Madrid (2006-2011), joining Barça after arriving free after a decade at Manchester City.
At 33, he too is looking to relaunch his career with a new challenge at Barça, after several seasons marked by injuries. And above all he dreamed of playing alongside his great friend and compatriot Lionel Messi, who finally flew to Paris.
However, we will have to wait before seeing Agüero on the pitch: the attacker suffered a right calf injury during training last weekend, and will not be available until mid-November.
. Memphis Depay
Barça have intelligently signed this summer. With serious financial problems, the Barça club managed to seize the services of Memphis Depay, another high-class striker who came free to Can Barça.
The Dutch striker, a target of former coach Oranje and current Barça coach Ronald Koeman since last summer, joined Barça after four seasons in Lyon, where he made French club history.
And before the start of the season, Depay has given a good example of what he is capable of doing: in Barça’s four pre-season friendly matches, Memphis has already scored three goals.
. Rodrigo De Paul
The current league champion remains hungry: After a solid season, Atlético Madrid sealed Spain’s most expensive summer signing, landing Udinese international midfielder Rodrigo de Paul (27) for 35 million euros.
The Spanish public already knows him well: he played in Valencia between 2014 and 2016 before leaving for northeast Italy. At Udinese, De Paul has acquired a totally different dimension: his value has multiplied by ten, going from 3 million euros to 35 million euros (from 3.5 to 31 million dollars), and the focus was on he in July, when he gave the decisive assist for Ángel di María’s goal in the Copa América final, where Argentina was proclaimed champion against Brazil (1-0).
Followed by his compatriot Diego Simeone for several years, De Paul (34 goals and 37 assists in five seasons in Italy) has been signed to help the attack line, just after the now rojiblanco midfielder achieved very good numbers this season last (9 goals and 11 assists).
. David praise
David Alaba, the only reinforcement of a Real Madrid in full transition (not counting the players who return after loan), has already begun to seduce the fans.
After arriving free after ten years at Bayern Munich, Alaba (29 years old) is in Madrid to reinforce an altered defensive line after the departures of Raphaël Varane and Sergio Ramos. Lined up as a central defender in the friendly match against AC Milan on Sunday, Alaba managed to counter the Italian offenses in a match that ended scoreless (0-0).
His experience and his versatility (he can play as a central defender, as a winger or even as a midfielder) should help a lot to lift this rebuilding Real Madrid back up, forced to always look to the top both in Spain and in Europe. (AFP)