Defenders are unexpected stars in Spanish transfer market

Clubs have inverted the tendency, and now the stars are defenders like Pepe, Roberto Ayala or Gabriel Milito.

Real Madrid has broken all records by paying 30 million euros (41.5 million dollars) for Portuguese centre-back Pepe, in the largest single operation so far in the Spanish summer. Never before had so much been paid for a defender in Spain.

And not only that. Real Madrid added the signings of another centre-back, the German Christoph Metzelder, and a goalkeeper, the Pole Jerzy Dudek.

Proof of the renewed interest in hiring defenders could be found again Tuesday on the pages of sports daily AS, which said Real Madrid is close to signing left back Royston Drenthe, while Sport claimed the Dutchman only wants to play for Barcelona. The two giants of Spanish football are "fighting" for a defender who remains unknown for the public at large.

Real Madrid paid for Pepe 6 million euros more than Barcelona paid for French striker Thierry Henry, so far the great star of the transfer market.

Some see this as confirmation that Real Madrid is going for a team rather than names, while others claim it is proof that the club from the capital pays prices above market value.

Current Zaragoza coach Victor Fernandez mediated to say that "Pepe is extremely good." He knows the player from his time at Porto. But it remains true that the average Spanish fan has no idea of who Pepe is, and the only thing he knows is that Real Madrid paid a lot of money for him.

Zaragoza stirred the market quite a bit by selling Argentine Gabriel Milito to Barcelona for 20.5 million euros. The team coached by Fernandez used that cash to brace its squad and in turn made waves by signing another Argentine centre-back, the veteran Ayala.

Ayala had joined Villarreal from Valencia in early July, but a couple of weeks later he paid the sum stipulated as compensation for breach of contract and left without playing in the yellow jersey.

Zaragoza signed another centre-back, former Real Madrid player Francisco Pavon, and is looking to hire another, Spain international Pablo Ibanez, currently at Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona is also going with the new flow with the signings of three defenders: Milito, Toure Yaya and Eric Abidal. The Catalan club thus implicitly admitted that one of the reasons for its failure to win titles last season was the poor performance of its defenders.

According to a study which the daily AS published Tuesday, of the 276 million euros which Spanish clubs have spent in signings so far this summer, 102 million euros were paid for defenders. In total, Spanish clubs have signed 31 defenders and 14 goalkeepers.

There is no doubt that the 301 million euros spent in signings last season, a record-breaking sum, will be beaten. The transfer window closes on August 31, and many squads remain incomplete. dpa