Barcelona and Real are the season's big spenders

WHILE English eyes were firmly concentrated last summer on soccer "coming home to England" and a number of illustrious soccer artisans such as Vialli, Ravanelli and Poborsky opting to ply their trade in the Premiership, it could easily have gone unnoticed that the real big spending was taking place elsewhere - namely in Spain.

None of the major soccer powers took the implications of the post Bosman era more seriously than Spain where the aristocrats of the "Liga" splashed out £128 million in a whirlwind two months of frantic transfer activity. Spanish league soccer now boasts 136 non Spanish or foreign players a high figure compared to Germany (120), Belgium (120), Italy (85), France (77) and Holland (77).

Strictly speaking, only Portugal (213) and England (136) can claim to have as many or more registered "foreign professionals. Yet, even those figures do not tell the full truth since in Portugal the ranks of "foreigners" are swelled by Brazilians, Angolans and Mozambiqans who enjoy dual nationality while the English "foreign" figure includes Scottish, Irish and Welsh players.

You could argue that statistics about the quantity rather than the quality of foreign players are simply irrelevant. You would probably be right. What cannot be denied, however, is that the two most famous names in Spanish soccer, Barcelona and Real Madrid, this summer spent £25 million and £19 million respectively, hiring some of the best talent around.

For their outlay, Real Madrid bought Serb striker Pedrag Mijatovic (Valencia), Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf (Sampdoria), Portuguese defender Secretario (Porto), Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos (Inter Milan) and Croat striker Davor Sukor (Seville), among others.

Barcelona replied with the biggest buy of the Spanish summer, Brazilian Ronaldo who cost them £14 million in a move from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. On top of that, the Catalan side put cash down for comeback star, Bulgarian striker Hristo Stoichkov (Parma), for Portuguese goalkeeper Vitor Baia (Porto) and for Brazilian midfielder Giovanni (Santos).

Curiously, too, both the big names opted to hire a new, foreign and expensive coach. Englishman Bobby Robson moved from winning the Portuguese title with Porto to take over from Dutch legend Johan Cruyff at Barcelona, while Italian Fabio Capello ended a brilliant reign at AC Milan where he had won four league titles in five seasons to take over at Real Madrid.

Both new coaches nave inherited traditionally "hot" seats.

Barcelona sacked Cruyff last May in a bitter dismissal prompted by personal animosity as much as by UEFA Cup and league "failures" and which ended up in the Catalan courts.

Last January Real Madrid ignominiously dumped talented Argentine coach Jorge Valdano, the man who had led, them to championship success the previous season, bringing in Arsenio Iglesias for a tame five month period in which he failed to generate enough fireworks either to avoid a Champions Cup elimination (by eventual winners Juventus) or to ensure UEFA Cup qualification.

Fabio Capello at least knew the nature of the job and the inherent risks. Accordingly, he asked for danger money, winning himself a contract worth approximately £1.5 million per season.

All of which talk of seven digit annual salaries inevitably makes one wonder about the fate of the lesser lights of Spanish soccer.

Take Extremadura (you know them well). Until two seasons ago, they had never even made it to the second division. This newly promoted minnow from the town of Almendralejo (population 25,000), with a stadium that has a 6,000 capacity and with only £100,000 approx to spend last August now must compete against the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Money may not always buy success but a look at this weekend's Spanish first division table will tell you that Barcelona are out in front, with Real Madrid two points behind in second place and with Extremadura down at the bottom, being the only side in the 22 team league yet to pick up a point. Try telling the Extremadura faithful that money is not everything.

These are early days, of course, but already the big names have worked their way through to the front of the starting grid.

Barcelona, having finished third last season and having been beaten by last season's title winners Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Cup as well as having gone all the way to a UEFA Cup semi final (eliminated by Bayern Munich), have hardly surprised with their good start thus far.

In contrast, Real Madrid are probably coming from much further back. Whereas Englishman Robson has already had a wealth of top level experience (PSV Eindhoven, Porto) outside English soccer, Real's Capello has never ventured outside his native land, either as coach or player.

On the field, however, Real have picked up three wins and two draws in a satisfactory start which has seen Capello deploy the brilliant Raul in a new, deeper role created to allow room for the talents of Sukor and Mijatovic up front.