Hassan Chamas
Galacticos, Galacticos, and more Galacticos. That has been the talk of the town in Spain ever since Florentino Perez re-assumed presidential duties by default, given that no suitor managed to put forward the 15% required budget – a massive €57.3M – for real competition to take place. Either way, what was predicted as a clean victory for the ACS CEO became reality, and with that, starts a new epoch in Real Madrid history.
Ardent Merengue fans in Europe waited until the early hours of the morning on 9th June for confirmation to come from Kaka – who was training in Brazil with the Selecao for the Confederations Cup. At around 2:30 am CET, it was confirmed that the Brazilian gem would be the leading figure in Madrid’s new project, making him the second most expensive transfer ever in Euros, and the first in Sterling Pounds.
Surely, partying ways with €65.7M for a single player may seem a terrible ordeal for a lot of clubs, but not Real Madrid. With fans still rejoicing the signing of the 2007 Ballon d’Or winner, his Portuguese successor made his way a mere 48 hours later, for the record-breaking fee of €94M. An unexpected surprise, but a very welcome one.
As if a team that holds Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka wasn’t terrifying as it is, the fact that Florentino Perez isn’t quite done remodeling the band is where the true fear lies: Ideas that were once confined to fantasy football and Pro Evolution Soccer imagination are increasing every day into a concrete reality: At least one of David Villa, David Silva, Raul Albiol, Juan Mata, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Diego Forlan, and Franck Ribery will end up gracing the turf of the Bernabeu next year.
Kakas and Ronaldos are exactly what the Santiago Bernabeu faithful need in order to be kept happy: Entertain them – you don’t even have to win – and they’ll applaud like they’ve seen the match of the century. Bore them and the white hankies start sprouting all over the stands. But what Madridistas also want are Spanish players donning the famous white shirt. Next to the foreign influence needs to be present a local essence, and that has been missing dearly at the capital city, as Sergio Ramos remains the only Spanish signing made ever since the start of the first Galacticos dynasty.
Perez promised signings, it’s true, but he also promised more Spanish influence in the team. While the pending arrival of David Villa is sure to calm some of the claims, the negligence that is the Cantera has grown so much that it cannot be overlooked anymore. Miguel Torres remains the only player to have developed on a near-consistent rate ever since he was promoted by Fabio Capello in 2007.
It’s not that the Castilla boys are incapable, no, as some of them have grown into decent footballers, of whom Iker Casillas and Raul Gonzalez are the most noted examples. But the thing is that little of them – if any – are given the opportunity to become a first teamer. As such, youth products have to end up searching for other clubs in order to advance in their footballing careers.
Alvaro Negredo is an exemplary personification of such players. The former Rayo Vallecano youth-teamer is the harvest of the Madrid Castilla, having been summoned at various times – although he had zero playing minutes – under Don Fabio back in 2007. Finding first-team football hard to come by at Madrid, he was eventually shipped to Andalucian outfit Almeria. Under the guidance of former Whites legend Hugo Sanchez, Negredo established himself as the leading figure in the Rojiblancos’ worth-noting season, finishing with 19 strikes to his name, in sixth place on the Pichichi scoring chart.
After spending well over €160M on just two names, as glorious as they may be, one would safely assume that Perez will start selling a few names to allow others on board, and that’s precisely what they are planning to do with Negredo, as the new board sees him as a make-weight in the deal that will supposedly bring Euro 2008’s top scorer David Villa on to Real Madrid’s books.
The potent arrival of a superstar of the caliber of “el Guaje” will no doubt have Madridistas head over heels. The forward is still relatively young, fast, and is an already established Seleccion regular. In other words, he fits perfectly the Galactico profile. Add to him Xabi Alonso, Raul Albiol, and to a lesser extent, David Silva, and you have the whole Spanish fleet at your disposal.
But just like the Kinder kid, who “magically” disappeared off some of the chocolate bars, is the case of Negredo, whom fans do not seem to be impressed by, as much as they are with the Valencia striker. For a team that is required to present instant success, little space is left for the breeding of the young. Negredo is young and inexperienced, while Villa is regarded by many as the best striker in the world.
One thing however that has been shown by Barcelona this season, is that superstars are not bought, they are made. Out of the eleven players that convincingly defeated Manchester United in the Champions League final, seven are youth products that have gradually cemented their status in the starting eleven, of whom Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol are national team pillars.
One would say that the only way Los Blancos could compete with Blaugrana superiority would be by purchasing every available superstar in Europe, and to some extent, this could be very well true: Madrid have finally found the heir to Zidane’s guidance in Ricardo Kaka, while their flanks will be boosted, if not transformed, by the flashy step-overs of Cristiano Ronaldo. Nonetheless, for all his amazing 28 goals in the last campaign, Villa failed to guiding Los Che to a Champions League qualifying spot, while for every five strikes Almeria recorded, two belonged to Alvaro Negredo.
What Real Madrid need to understand, is that the addition of Spaniards is a necessity at the club, with special emphasis to be place on youth teamers. So instead of being held ransom by a cash-needing Valencia, who have augmented the money on Villa’s head to €50M, wouldn’t the signing of Alvaro Negredo, for as little as €5M, be the ideal solution for building towards a better, younger Real, especially in the event of Gonzalo Higuain’s coming to life this season, and Raul’s untouchable starting spot?
Anyone who has been heavily involved in the Spanish Mercado as of late knows that Real are far, far from finished with reshaping their squad for next season. Recently, Marca broke the news that as many as ten to twelve players will be shown the door this summer. While this number may be somewhat peculiar, what’s certain is that the picture of Kaka and CR7 holding the famous white shirt won’t be the last we see this summer. What is also certain is that Madridistas are waiting for the discovery of new juvenile products to be able to compete with those of Barcelona, something the current administration seems reluctant to bet on.
And even though David Villa has been recently linked with Manchester United and Barca, you can’t but have the feeling that he will be the third leg in Madrid’s famous tripod. Whether or not Alvaro Negredo heads in the opposite direction is really anybody’s guess. After all, they could both end up at the Bernabeu when the new season kicks off, couldn’t they?
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