Casemiro, Kroos and Modric: The best signings of the century?

Has there been a better midfield trio this century than Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric?

When you consider their cost, and what they have achieved at Real Madrid since being played together for the first time by Rafa Benitez in October 2015, it's hard to find a better one.

The combined cost to bring the three players to the Spanish capital was 70 million euros.

That number is thrown into sharp relief when you consider what the game's other super clubs have spent on their midfields since Kroos, Modric and Casemiro first played together, as we see here.

Barcelona: Around 400 million euros

As Real Madrid were blooding their new trio, so Barcelona were facing up to their own new era, with midfield totem Xavi Hernandez on his way out of the club.

The Blaugrana brought in Arda Turan and Ivan Rakitic, before then spending extraordinary sums on a succession of players, such as Andre Gomes (37m euros), Paulinho (40m euros), Arturo Vidal (18m euros), Philippe Coutinho (135m euros), Arthur Melo (31m euros), Miralem Pjanic (60m euros) and Frenkie de Jong (86m euros).

De Jong and Pedri (20m euros) have been the only successes from that splurge.

Chelsea: Winning the Champions League came at a price

After Barcelona, Chelsea have been one of the biggest spenders as they targeted Champions League glory.

The difference to Barcelona being that Chelsea landed the famous old trophy in 2021, seeing off Manchester City.

The outlay to get there was astronomical, with the club splashing out on N'Golo Kante (36m euros), Tiemoue Bakayoko (40m euros), Danny Drinkwater (38m euros), Mateo Kovacic (40m euros), Jorginho (57m euros), Kai Havertz (80m euros) and Hakim Ziyech (40m euros).

Bayern Munich: The cheaper ones have been the best

Bayern Munich have historically spent less than some of their big European rivals, and indeed it's the players who cost them the least that have turned into their best midfielders.

Joshua Kimmich cost just 8.5m euros and Leon Goretzka arrived at the club on a free, and they were both key as the Bavarians landed the Champions League in 2020.

Their biggest signings since 2015 have been Corentin Tolisso (41.5m euros), and Renato Sanches (36m euros).

Liverpool: 105m euros in just one summer

Jurgen Klopp's arrival at Liverpool in 2015 changed everything, with the club winning the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020.

It helped that they had spent 105m euros in the summer of 2018 on Fabinho and Naby Keita.

Manchester City: Still searching for a formula to win the Champions League

Still no Champions League title for Manchester City, but it's not been for the want of trying.

Millions has been spent on the City engine room, with Bernardo Silva costing 50m euros and Rodri arriving from Atletico Madrid for 63m euros.

PSG: Midfield not their priority

Paris Saint-Germain have clearly focussed on their forward line in recent seasons, with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi all coming through the door.

But midfield has still seen some investment, with Grzegorz Krychowiak setting them back 27m euros in 2017 and Idrissa Gueye 30m euros in 2018.

Juventus: 72m euros on Arthur...

Chasing Champions League glory has been an enduring nightmare for Juventus.

They've won it twice, but they've lost more finals - seven - than anyone.

They've tried all sorts of midfield combinations since losing the 2015 final against Barcelona, bringing in Pjanic the following year for 32m euros and Blaise Matuidi for 25m euros.

Others followed before the remarkable 72m euro outlay on Arthur, which saw Pjanic go the other way for 60m euros.

Atletico Madrid: De Paul the last big signing

Los Rojiblancos brought in the likes of Nico Gaitan and Thomas Lemar in 2016 and 2018 respectively, whilst offsetting that spend with the departure of Rodri and Thomas Partey, among others.

Their last big money signing was Rodrigo de Paul from Udinese for 35m euros.

As for Real Madrid, they have not needed to spend big in the middle of the park, but they will surely hope that at 31m euros, Eduardo Camavinga ends up being the snip that Casemiro, Kroos and Modric have all turned out to be.