Barca Vs Real Madrid : Which squad is more expensive?

Photo : Livesoccertv.com

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF have possibly the strongest squads in the world. Of course, you might suggest that both got knocked out of the Champions league semi-finals against Chelsea and Bayern Munich, but then that is football. And the favourites don't always win. Technically, looking at each player in each position as well as the team strength, this two can crush any football team in the world on their day. The Spanish National team that won the Euro 2008, the World Cup 2010 and again the Euro 2012 is composed mostly of players from these two giants. So here we look at how their individual squads were built! After the break...

1. COST TO BUILD SQUAD (Money spent on the transfer market)

Here's a table showing the money spent in acquiring each squad.

FC Barcelona					Real Madrid CF
Squad Number	Playing position	Name	Transfer fee		Squad Number	Playing position	Name	Transfer fee
1	GK	V. Valdés (2nd VC)	Youth system		1	GK	Iker Casillas (captain)	Youth system
2	RB	Dani Alves	€32M		2	CB	Raphaël Varane	€10M
3	CB	Piqué	€5M		3	CB	Pepe	€30M
4	CM	Fàbregas	€34M		4	CB	Sergio Ramos (vice-captain)	€28M
5	CB	Puyol (captain)	Youth system		5	LB	Fábio Coentrão	€30M
6	CM	Xavi (Vice-Captain)	Youth system		6	DM	Sami Khedira	€12M
7	FW	David Villa	€40M		7	LW	Cristiano Ronaldo	€94M
8	CM	A. Iniesta (3rd VC)	Youth system		8	AM	Kaká	€65M
9	FW	Alexis	€26M		9	CF	Karim Benzema	€35M
10	FW	Messi (4th VC)	Youth system		10	AM	Mesut Özil	€15M
11	CM	Thiago	Youth system		12	LB	Marcelo (vice-captain)	€6.5M
12	CM	Jonathan	Youth system		13	GK	Antonio Adán	Youth system
13	GK	Pinto	€0.5M		14	CM	Xabi Alonso	€30M
14	CB	Mascherano	€22M		15	DM	Michael Essien	N/A
15	CB	Bartra	Youth system		16	CB	Ricardo Carvalho	€8.5M
16	DM	Sergio	Youth system		17	RB	Álvaro Arbeloa	€4.5M
17	FW	Pedro	Youth system		18	CB	Raúl Albiol	€15M
18	LB	Jordi Alba	€14M		19	AM	Luka Modrić	€30M
19	RB	Montoya	Youth system		20	CF	Gonzalo Higuaín (vice-captain)	€13M
21	LB	Adriano	€9.5M		21	RW	José Callejón	€5M
22	LB	Abidal	€9M		22	RW	Ángel di María	€25M
23	FW	Cuenca	Youth system		29	CF	Álvaro Morata	Youth system
24	CB	Fontàs	Youth system		35	GK	Jesús Fernández	Youth system
25	DM	A. Song	€19M
26	CB	Muniesa	Youth system

Source: Wikipedia.org

Analysis : If we are to add up the "cost of purchase", what do we learn?

• Barca spent a total of  € 211 million in the transfer market to acquire its squad. The rest came through the famed youth school La Masia.
• 14 players were brought up directly from the youth academy (without spending a cent in the market)
• Of the players purchased, Fabregas, Pique and Jordi Alba were initially Barcelona's own youth products, sold and re-acquired.
• Real Madrid, on the other hand, spent around  € 456 million in the market to build its squad, the most expensive football squad ever built.
• Only 4 players came directly from the youth academy, and among them, only Casillas is a regular first team player.

2. SALARY COSTS

 According to Sportingintelligence.com, Barca are the team that spends the most amount of money on player salaries in global football. According to research done by the website, Barca shells out an impressive $217 million annually for player salaries. Real Madrid is some way behind with $194 million.

The average salary comes to $8.7 million for Barca players as against $7.8 million for Madrid players.