The last big money buy for Real Madrid was Bellingham and between the summer transfer of 2020 till date, Real Madrid has spent a total of €303.5 million on purchase of players. That's to say, in the last 5 years, Real Madrid spent this amount of money and had sales of players within this same period at €301.35 million. I'm just marveled at this because before now Real Madrid was known for spending big but now seems it has changed and it's the other teams that are the big spenders now.
Didn't Real Madrid buy Mbappe next after buying Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid already has a complete squad for attackers and that's why they aren't spending big money anymore. Real Madrid are known for spending big and also achieving lots of success with their signings and although that of Mbappe hasn't workout for them but I don't think they made a mistake there. With time they'll get a balance team that's going to help them to become more comfortable. It doesn't matter how much Real Madrid spend in the market, it's never a waste because they'll win trophies to recover and be in a balance.
What they are after is the quality of their players so even if they are spending large amount of money, they know that they are investing into something profitable later on. They have their goals and they know how to implement in order to achieve such goals. If they are seemingly not spending huge amount today, they may have reasons and they are eyeing athletes that will really contribute to their team.
Real Madrid is one of the teams that for me can be considered as high spenders because of the amount they really put into acquiring their athletes. Of course, who wouldn't want a team full of top performers? Because they can also get those money back if their team will indeed perform inside the field.