Austerity and prudence the new rules in Spanish football

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Spanish football used to be renowned the world over for profligate transfers and massive salaries, with the clubs recklessly spending beyond their means to give the fans glamour and star quality.

Until now, that is.

Thanks to an appalling economic and financial crisis, and to the fact that most clubs are dangerously in debt, austerity is the new rule in La Liga.

Most first division clubs have realized, albeit belatedly, the need to change their ways, and have tried to rake in more from sales than they have spent in signings.

"The times are really changing in our football," commented Radio Marca on Wednesday. "Clubs are much more careful with their money than they used to be."

Take Real Madrid, for example, who normally spend more than 100 million euros every summer on a handful of galactico stars. This summer, in contrast, the whites have spent only around 50 million - and on workmanlike players rather than galacticos.

Real president Florentino Perez has still not kicked his addiction to galacticos, and is desperate to bring in Brazilian striker Neymar. Coach Jose Mourinho, however, has stopped in his tracks, wary about bringing in a charismatic star into his dressing room of bread-and-butter players.

For the first time in the history of the club, there is a coach with real power at the Estadio Bernabeu - especially after the ousting of general director Jorge Valdano - and so Perez has little choice, after giving Mourinho the reins, to take a back seat.

Traditionally in Spain, the coach is a short-lived, interim, insecure, unimportant figure who has little say in hirings and firings.

However, this tradition is slowly starting to change, due principally to the massive power at Barcelona of Pep Guardiola.

Mourinho is keen to emulate Guardiola's push for power, and it is in that light that his campaign - persistent, even vicious at times - to oust Valdano should be seen.

Guardiola is master of all he surveys at Barca and club president Sandro Rosell is content to play second fiddle to him - at least as long as the trophies continue to pour in.

Guardiola demanded that Rosell spend heavily on Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez, and Rosell duly complied, despite his austerity drive at the club - to the tune of almost 70 million euros.

Rosell is keen to reduce Barca's debts, and has partly offset the purchases by selling youngsters like Bojan Krkic, Jeffren Suarez and Oriol Romeu.

Astonishingly, neck-and-neck with Barca as the summer's big spenders are Malaga, thanks to the limitless millions of Qatari sheik Abdullah Al-Thani.

Malaga, traditionally a club in debt and disorder, have splashed out almost 70 million euros on Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Diego Buonanotte, Nacho Monreal, Jeremy Toulalan, Joaquin and Santi Cazorla.

Meanwhile, the likes of Valencia, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla have all sold more players than they have bought, in a desperate bid to balance the books in a time of profound crisis.