Real Madrid Morata was the only signing this summer

It would be enough to make you believe pigs do indeed fly, but Real Madrid have done the unexpected: they have spent less than they have received in transfer money this year.

The Champions League winners re-signed Alvaro Morata from Juventus for 30 million euros, but sold a number of players too: Jese to Paris St. Germain for 25m euros; Denis Cherysev to Villarreal for 7m euros; Alvaro Medran to Valencia for 1.5m euros; and Omar Mascarell left for Eintracht Frankfurt for 1m euros, while Borja Mayoral went on loan to Wolfsburg for a fee of 3m euros.

In total Los Blancos have received 37.5m euros for players, meaning they have a surplus of 7.5m euros, which they have not come close to doing since the 2012/13 season when they signed Luka Modric for 30m euros and their transfer expenditure was equal to their income.

Zinedine Zidane has sent a clear message to Florentino Perez and the Real hierarchy: we won't sign a player for the sake of signing a player.

After the club missed out on Paul Pogba, the Frenchman made it clear he was going to work with what he had, reiterating to the media that he was 'happy' with his squad.

Having won the Undecima only in May, the coach is keen to keep the squad as is and not disrupt the ecosystem at Valdebebas, and instead of buying new players he has elevated younger prodigies such as Marco Asensio.

Isco and James Rodriguez were the only players likely to leave by the end of the window, although Zidane neither asked them to leave nor promised them anything if they stayed, instead leaving it up to the player themselves to make their own decisions.