Spend, spend, spend has been the name of the game in Spain during the close season, and even though the transfer market still has a few days to run before closing down on 31 August, expenditure has already topped 460 million euros, a record high for La Liga, outstripping the previous high of 450 million euros in the heady summer of 2000. It was then that Florentino Perez ushered in the Galáctico era by tempting Luis Figo to the Bernabeu, a big-money move that heralded the advent of the so-called 'League of Stars'.

Seven years on from that epoch-defining moment, the Merengues have waved goodbye to the last illustrious member of their glittering constellation. But even though David Beckham has headed stateside to join a different galaxy in Los Angeles, the Madrid giants still lead the way when it comes to getting the chequebook out. The only difference is that the new crop of arrivals have failed to generate the same kind of excitement among the fans, who have already seen their revamped team lose five friendlies and relinquish the first trophy of the season to a potent Sevilla side.

Accustomed to welcoming the likes of Zidane and Ronaldo, the Bernabeu has greeted new boys Pepe (€30m) and Wesley Sneijder (€27m) with not a little scepticism. Fine prospects they may be, say the Madrid faithful, but they lack the star status of the heroes of yesteryear. The club has since taken its summer outlay to 119 million euros with the purchases of Royston Drenthe, Gabriel Heinze and Arjen Robben, while also bringing in Christoph Metzelder, Jerzy Dudek and Javier Saviola on free transfers. To make way for them, the reigning league champions have offloaded Emerson, Cicinho, Antonio Cassano, Ivan Helguera and Francisco Pavon among others.

Forlan in, Torres out
Crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid have taken their fans aback with a high-profile recruitment drive of their own, bankrolled by the sale of star striker Fernando Torres to Liverpool for 36.5 million euros. In an effort to start afresh and make a serious bid for some silverware this season, the Rojiblancos have drafted in Uruguayan sharpshooter Diego Forlan (€21m), Portuguese winger Simao Sabrosa (€20m) and Spanish midfielder Raul Garcia (€13m). Also lending their support to Argentinian starlet Sergio 'Kun' Aguero up front will be English Premiership exiles Luis Garcia (€4m) and Jose Antonio Reyes (€12m).

With a summer transfer bill of 64 million euros, Barcelona have shelled out a little over half the amount spent by arch-rivals Madrid, Thierry Henry's signature accounting for 24 million euros of that total. While the arrival of the French goal machine attracted most of the headlines, Frank Rijkaard has also brought in able performers Yaya Toure, Eric Abidal and Gabriel Milito, while dispensing with the services of Giuly, Juliano Belletti, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Maxi Lopez, and continuing to strengthen the club's much-admired pool of talented youngsters.

Fourth place in the list of big spenders goes to Valencia, whose 17-million-euro capture of beanpole striker Nicola Zigic took their close-season spending to 32 million euros. The only other foreign imports joining the Serbian at the Mestalla are Portuguese defender Caneira and German goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, with the club continuing to put its faith in homegrown talent by snapping up Ivan Helguera, Alexis, Javier Arizmendi, Juan Manuel Mata and Sunny.

Sevilla trust in Monchi
Over in Seville, meanwhile, Spain's most successful club in recent months continues to pursue its policy of austerity, while trusting in the uncanny knack of sporting director Ramon 'Monchi' Rodriguez to bring in talented performers for a low fee and sell them on at a handsome profit. In a summer marked by the continuing Daniel Alves transfer saga, Sevilla have spent a mere 17 million euros, strenthenging their squad with the likes of former Lens man Seydou Keita, Tom De Mul, Khalid Boulahrouz and Morgan de Sanctis.

Elsewhere, Deportivo La Coruna, Espanyol and a clutch of other first division sides have all kept their expenditure to below the ten-million-euro mark, although the most cash-conscious outfit in the land are spendthrifts Racing Santander, who have so far refused to venture into the transfer market despite the sizeable cheque they received from Valencia for Zigic's services.

All that remains is to be seen is whether such variations in financial outlay will be reflected in next May's final league table, and whether heavy investment will necessarily translate into increased entertainment for the fans. The answers to those questions will start to become clearer on Saturday evening.