Fans and media have doubts about Real Madrid spending spree

By Duncan Shaw Aug 23, 2007, 11:11 GMT

Madrid - Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon is on Cloud Nine at the moment, after signing Arjen Robben and Gabriel Heinze on Wednesday night.

Real will pay around 36 million euros (48.55 million dollars) to Chelsea for Robben and around 12.5 million euros (16.86 million dollars) to Manchester United for Heinze.

The Robben signing is particularly satisfying for Calderon, since the Dutch winger was one of his election promises - along with Kaka of AC Milan and Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal - in July 2006.

Real coach Bernd Schuster is also pleased with Wednesday's signings. He has been desperate for the Robben deal to go through since taking over from Fabio Capello in July, and has also been asking for an experienced left-back like Heinze since Roberto Carlos left for Turkey.

Schuster is anxious for Robben and Heinze to undergo their medical checks on Friday then be presented to the media - in order for them to be available for Saturday's league opener against Atletico Madrid.

His plan is to have both new boys on the bench on Saturday, to be used if Atleti cause him problems.

The fans and the media, however, are not so positive as Calderon and Schuster about Real's spending spree.

An online opinion poll in the digital version of Marca shows, on Thursday morning, that only 25.75 per cent of readers agree with paying 36 million euros for Robben, with 74.25 per cent saying that the price is too high.

In contrast, most readers of Marca seem to agree with the Heinze signing, with 54.92 per cent voting in favour.

An online poll taken by AS, however, fundamentally questions Real's policy of spend-spend-spend.

The question that AS asks its readers is which club has the most effective transfer policy this summer?

Most AS readers are Real Madrid fans. Nonetheless, only 31 per cent of them have, by Thursday morning, opted for Real in the online poll.

Indeed, 48 per cent of AS readers believe that Barcelona have had the most effective policy, while 13 per cent opt for Atletico Madrid, four per cent for Sevilla and two per cent for Valencia.

The Robben and Heinze deals make Real the highest spending club in Europe, with a total expenditure of around 118 million euros (159.16 million dollars) on eight new players.

And the white spending spree might still not be over.

Real are still interested in Sevilla right-back Daniel Alves, particularly so after selling fellow Brazilian Cicinho to AS Roma on Wednesday for nine million euros (12.14 million dollars).

Real are also considering paying 25 million euros (33.72 million dollars) for Zaragoza striker Diego Milito.

Radio station Cadena SER warned on Thursday morning that spending so much money 'will really raise expectations amongst the fans...expectations which might convert themselves into frustration.'

Catalan paper Sport issues a similar warning on Thursday, making the obvious point that both Schuster and Calderon will be 'in the eye of the storm' unless the results obtained are excellent and the style of play much more attractive than under Capello.