The fans love it, the head coach hopes the recruitment team have got it right, and the club owners trumpet their new hero. But when a marquee signing goes wrong, there are red faces all round.
For any number of reasons, a big-money signing can struggle during his first season at a new club, but the transfer fee weighs heavily and patience can run out in the stands.
And the fast pace of the escalating transfer market in recent years has made poor and expensive signings more common than in the years gone by.
Last week, we took a look at the most disastrous Premier League signings of the season and now it’s the turn of La Liga. There were some eye-popping figures splashed out on big names last summer and not all of them have repaid much, if any of their price tag.
Eden Hazard of Real Madrid and Joao Felix of Atletico have both been beset by injury this season and that has impacted on their performance.
Both have shown glimpses of their undoubted ability, although Hazard had more of that than Felix who was signed for a record 126-M Euros to replace the departed Antoine Griezmann.
There was a lot weighing on the 20-year-old Portuguese sensation’s shoulders.
In 34 appearances, he only scored eight goals and made two assists – a modest return on Atleti’s investment. However, he only had one season at Benfica under his belt and has plenty of time on his side.
But we can’t be so understanding of another big-money signing of last summer, who the player Felix replaced at Atleti.
Antoine Griezmann – Barcelona
From the moment he pondered his future at the Wanda Metropolitano very publicly in a bizarre video entitled “The Decision” back in 2018, the aura of Atleti’s best player over the past five seasons had been sullied.
To post a “should I stay or should I go” video online for all the Atleti fans to see and fume at, it was strange behaviour to say the least.
But Rojiblancos’ fans may have a little smile looking at Griezmann’s travails since his transfer to Barcelona last summer.
He joined a stellar frontline of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and had the 17-year-old sensation Ansu Fati in the wings.
But the Frenchman simply wasn’t up to scratch, only really showing up at the end of the season when the damage was done. Now Barca are working out how they can recoup some of the 120 million euro fee.
After Barca’s disastrous Champions League exit to FC Bayern, all but four of the squad were slapped on the transfer list and Griezmann is being touted as a makeweight in a move to bring Neymar back to the Camp Nou from Paris Saint-Germain.
We knew Griezmann would be in the La Liga 2020 news in the title run-in, but we didn’t expect his role to be that of a scapegoat.
Luka Jovic – Real Madrid
At the start of this season, Los Blancos weren’t the happiest set of players around while their coach Zinedine Zidane cut a frustrated figure.
The La Liga 2020 betting odds gave them little chance of wrestling the title from the grip of Barcelona, who were looking for a third consecutive league triumph.
But the signing of striker Luka Jovic seemed to be the silver lining to the cloud as the Madrid giants had fought off interest from Paris Saint-Germain for the prolific Eintracht Frankfurt forward.
However, fast forward 12 months and Los Blancos are triumphant while Jovic has disappointed.
Two goals from 15 appearances is a poor return for the 60 million euros Real paid for the big Serb and he may be on his way out in the near future.
Rony Lopes – Sevilla
Sevilla have had another good season, with a top-four finish in La Liga and a Europa League final meeting with Inter Milan on the agenda.
But it’s been a shocker of a campaign for their most expensive recruit in Rony Lopes, who signed in a 25 million euro deal to bring him from Ligue 1 side Monaco to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
The Portuguese star failed to live up to even the most modest expectations, making just 12 appearances in all competitions.
He only made five appearances in La Liga while contributing just a solitary assist, so he’s been shipped back to France on loan to Nice.
To make things even more frustrating, the player who went the other way in this deal is Wissam Ben Yedder, who has scored 18 Ligue 1 goals for Monaco and has quickly become a fan-favourite.
Well, I guess you can’t get it right every time!
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