Is there a La Liga exodus happening?

By Joe Jessup
Updated: 13 June, 2013

This transfer window already promises to be an immensely busy one, and at that an interesting one. With the most coveted player in world football, Ramadel Falcao, snubbing almost every powerhouse across Europe for a lucrative deal with AS Monaco and Jesus Navas finally calling time on his beloved Sevilla career for Manchester City, could there be a Spanish exodus taking place?

In quite a similar situation to the Premier League a few years ago, where the best players either left for the continent or were heavily linked with a move, La Liga could be facing a downgrade in quality. With Falcao and Navas having already left and Isco, Fabregas, Ronaldo, Soldado, Llorente, Higuain, Iaspas, Thiago and Negredo all heavily linked with moves away from Spain, the league that has dominated football for the last three years could be facing crisis.

And while the arrival of Neymar to Barcelona has people salivating and rightfully so, with the best players in the league all seeking potential moves elsewhere in Europe, will the Spanish suffer as a result?

If the Champions League was an indicator that La Liga’s power is on the wane, then losing Ronaldo, Falcao, Fabregas, Soldado and Isco would be catastrophic. Throw in some other good, solid players who haven’t been mentioned and it doesn’t look entirely promising. If indeed Ronaldo, Soldado and Negredo do all leave, possibly all to the Premier League, then Spain will have lost four of its five top scorers last season – a combined 111 league goals.

This would be a huge blow to the quality and bargaining power of La Liga clubs, and also risks putting the league behind its rivals in terms of transfer targets. Throw in as well the harsh tax laws in Spain and it isn’t a surprise that players are looking elsewhere for their football.

If you look back over the pond in England, and the players being linked with various clubs are of the best quality. Madrid-slayer Lewandowski, Thiago, Fabregas, Cavani, Hulk, Strooman, Eriksen, Ronaldo, Fernandinho, Willian as well as some of the previously mentioned all provide a backbone of real quality that could once again see the EPL take over as the most attractive league in Europe, battling with the recently-ruthless Bundesliga. Whilst Barcelona and Real Madrid will never struggle in the transfer market to attract quality players, the rest of the league could suffer dramatically. Teams like Valencia, Malaga and Athletico Madrid may well be left some distance behind as they are forced to sell their best players, with no great quality coming the other way.

It remains to be seen whether these players do in fact leave, and I’d be incredibly surprised if they were all to leave, but there seems to be a pattern appearing similar to England a few years ago. Of course looking the other way, with Bale and Suarez heavily linked with moves to La Liga, this point could all be dispelled.

However, look at the amount of players leaving and compare it with the amount coming in, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see England and Germany dominating Europe in the years to come.

Follow @icentrocampista