Before its own two-window ban became effective, Barca took advantage to reshape its squad in 2014. The Catalan club spent 166 million euros ($184M) that summer after the arrival of Luis Enrique as coach, bringing in key players like Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Claudio Bravo, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Jeremy Mathieu. And it was a spending spree that worked wonderfully as the club went on to win the treble in 2014-15.
Something similar was expected at Madrid this time around. Up until now, however, it has been entirely the opposite, with only striker Alvaro Morata brought in as Real exercised its buy-back option on the homegrown forward who was re-signed from Juventus.
During the turbulent times under Rafa Benitez, it looked like Madrid required significant changes to the squad. But with Zinedine Zidane in the second half of the season, Real ran Barca close in the title race that was won by a single point and ended the season by lifting the Champions League trophy in Milan.
So major changes are seemingly not needed after all and the French coach is happy with his squad. Unlike last summer, there will be no move for David de Gea this time because Zidane is satisfied with Keylor Navas and Kiko Casilla. He has also said repeatedly that James Rodriguez is not for sale and the Colombian's decision to stay was what ultimately ended Madrid's pursuit of Andre Gomes (with the Portuguese favoring a move to Barcelona in any case).
And it is much the same with Raphael Varane and Nacho. The club — and in particular Zidane — has convinced the pair to stay and strengthen a defense also boosted by the return of Fabio Coentrao, who is set to deputize for Marcelo at left back because there are few other reasonable options in the market. The Portuguese is already here and is a reliable performer, even if he has never lived up to his original €30 million ($33M) price tag.
Madrid has looked at several top names this summer, with Marco Verratti, David Alaba and Robert Lewandowski among them, but all three have signed new deals with their clubs (or are about to) and a transfer for any of those would be almost impossible at this point.
Then there is Paul Pogba. The France midfielder will be on the move this summer, with Juventus set on selling the 23-year-old — especially after closing the signing of Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli this week. Madrid is keen on the Frenchman, but there are already a lot of midfielders at the club and with Manchester United prepared to pay in excess of €100 million ($111M) for its former player, the Premier League club remains the favorite for his signature.
Pogba could yet be the Galactico at Madrid this summer, but at the moment the outlay for a player who is not necessarily needed and a wage packet that would upset the structure at the Bernabeu means the midfielder will probably end up at Old Trafford instead.
Asked about the possibility of signing his fellow Frenchman, Zidane said Tuesday. "At the moment we're working, I can't say anything. Paul Pogba today is a Juventus player, we can't speak about what will happen."
In the meantime, Madrid would like to bring in a midfielder as cover for Casemiro, but there appear to be few players on the market who could fill this role. N'Golo Kante has left Leicester to join Chelsea, while Grzegorz Krychowiak followed Unai Emery from Sevilla to Paris Saint-Germain, where Blaise Matuidi is set to stay despite rumors of a possible departure. And another France international, Newcastle's Moussa Sissoko, is not a purely defensive midfielder.
While Los Blancos have brought back Morata and Coentrao, plus Marco Asensio, who returns from a loan spell at Espanyol, the club's two main rivals have been busy in the transfer market in July. So have Barcelona and Atletico stolen a march on Madrid this summer?
Barca has spent around €100 million already, bringing in France defenders Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne, attacking midfielder Denis Suarez (on a buy-back agreement) and Andre Gomes from Valencia, with a striker set to be added as well. Luis Enrique had a short squad at Camp Nou last season, but that will not be the case in 2016-17.
Atletico, meanwhile, is facing a transfer ban after this window — just like Real. To compensate, Diego Simeone's side has handed new contracts to Saul Niguez, Tiago, Fernando Torres and Antoine Griezmann, with Gabi also set to sign soon. The Rojiblancos have also invested around €50 million ($55M) on Nico Gaitan, Sime Vrsaljko, Diogo Jota and Axel Werner, with a forward (possibly Sevilla's Kevin Gameiro) to be brought in over the next few days.
For its part, Madrid appears confident after its successful second half of last season, but both Barca and Atletico are strengthening and with a two-window transfer ban hanging over the club, would Los Blancos not be better off bringing in a few more quality players this summer? As always, only time will tell, but don't be surprised if there's more movement yet from Florentino Perez and Zidane in the days and weeks ahead.