Hassan Chamas
How strong is Florentino Perez? The past Real Madrid chief-in-command has not needed to utter one word, and the entire planet is acting as if he has already won the imminent Real Madrid presidential ballot. With former boss Ramon Calderon so pitifully disgraced – thanks to his alleged pro-tabloid Marca – and the interim Vicente Boluda only serving until June, Florentino Perez at Real Madrid is only growing as a perceived reality as time goes by. With no potential and viable suitors able to knock him out of the competition, the stage headlight is all but pointed at the Madrid-born businessman to craft his exultant return.
The return of Perez to take the reigns of the world’s wealthiest club is a sureness whose odds are mounting by the minute, no better yet, by the second. One moment there is talk of luring Kaka to the Bernabeu after the Brazilian narrowly missed a transfer to Manchester City in January. On another occasion buds the ceaseless folk tale of Cristiano Ronaldo’s desire to play for Real Madrid, and with that, starts the conjecture on whether the FIFA World Player of the Year will make his boyhood dream come true this summer. Mind you that for these couples of stars alone rests a little over than €200M. And that is not counting the speculative tittle-tattle that bills Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Frank Ribery, and Douglas Maicon as future Madridistas.
Much like the sacking of Bernd Schuster at the tail end of last year, the touted onset of Florentino Perez in office has grown to be a necessity after the capital club sunk lately, both on – that has been addressed somewhat as new coach Juande Ramos continues to do an impressive job – and off the pitch. While it is pointless to say that Los Blancos are still domestic back-to-back champions – a feat that Perez’s Galacticos failed to produce – the arrival of a new direction to excavate Madrid from the crisis has long been whispered, with murmurs that matured into dissent in light of the team’s constant embarrassing exits from the Champions League before Easter.
Perez’s return to Madrid is considered a requisite by many aficionados, who are enthusiastic to ease the pain inflicted by Ramon Calderon and his sidekick Pedrag Mijatovic: From the shameful dismissal of Roberto Carlos two years ago after more than eleven years of club loyalty, to the useless chase of Cristiano Ronaldo last summer, to the “vain” signing of Rafael van der Vaart, to the botched summer plans, to the let-go of Robinho, to the infamous assembly rigging, and many more mistakes that are too many to be mentioned but recalled by hoards of Madridistas.
Florentino Perez will restore pride and prestige that the club lost after Ramon Calderon’s spell in office. Calderon promised Ricardo Kaka, Cesc Fabregas, and Arjen Robben. Out of the threesome, only Dutch master Robben managed to spare his sponsor’s head, and even he arrived a year late. On the other hand, when Perez pledged to capture Luis Figo from Barcelona in the middle of the electoral tempest back in 2000, crowds and critics alike deemed the promises of the current ACS president as nothing more than destined-to-fail propaganda. Yet, the presidential candidate dazed the world by swiping the Portuguese winger for a then record fee of £38.7M.
The names did not stop there: Zinedine Zidane joined the following year, Ronaldo after that in 2002 after a successful World Cup with La Selecao, David Beckham in 2003, Michael Owen in 2004, and Robinho in 2005. With a dressing room made up of astronomical earners and Cantera lads, the “Zidanes y Pavones” strategy enabled Real to clinch two league titles and a ninth Champions League trophy in three years.
Another thing that Perez will assure at the Bernabeu, should he take control again, is players who are worthy of donning the famous white shirt every weekend. His arrival could see the likes of Christoph Metzelder, Javi Garcia, and Javier Saviola shown the door, as it is clear that such players should be nowhere near the Valdebebas training pitch every morning. Perez will only import quality, household names that will restore the cachet that the club lost in the Calderon era, as former full-back Roberto Carlos stated in recent dialogue with Antena 3.
On another note, Perez will also guarantee the club the utmost financial stability. That is not to say that Pedrag Mijatovic was handing out blank checks on demand, but the return of the man credited with clearing the club’s debts upon arriving at the dawn of the millennium will surely lock Madrid into their number one spot as the leaders in terms of revenue.
However, it isn’t all sweetness and light. What people have seemed to forget, in light of their exasperation with the previous regime, is that Florentino Perez is the exact same man that led Real Madrid into three years of trophy famine, as his Galacticos policy soon boomeranged when he started purchasing players known more for their aptitude sell jerseys rather than collect silverware.
Florentino Perez is the exact same man that drove his winning coach Vicente del Bosque and captain Fernando Hierro out of Madrid, a day after the club managed its 29th league title.
Florentino Perez is the exact same man who pushed Claude Makelele to Chelsea after refusing to grant him a competitive pay raise to bring him close to the level of the Galacticos, describing the Frenchman after his departure as possessing “average” technique, “lacking speed and skills”, and having “bad distribution” of the ball.
Florentino Perez is the exact same man that failed to replace the departing Makelele, the same man who deemed Patrick Vieira as “too expensive” back in 2004, when the former Arsenal captain was the best at what he does.
Florentino Perez is the exact same man that bought average Joe’s like Thomas Gravesen and Jonathan Woodgate to the club, offering them to the masses as players that could fill in the boots of past legends such as Fernando Redondo or Manolo Sanchis. Gravesen stayed a year and a half – he was scarcely used in his second season – while Jonathan Woodgate managed only a miserable 12 appearances in his three years in a white jersey.
Florentino Perez is the exact same man that fired no less than five coaches in three years. He is the exact same man that wanted to presume to be – in addition to his presidential duties – football director, and coach. He is the reason that the Madrid name was so ridiculed during his last three years in charge.
*RARE* Real Madrid 03/04 ZIDANE Real Madrid 08/09 Euro **20% off**
Florentino Perez is the exact same man that flushed the club’s Spanish identity away by banishing potentially gifted youth players into exile, opting to fill the few opportunities they had with foreign talent every time the opportunity presented itself.
But this time around, things are different. While citing that “the club needs a new direction” as his decision to disembark what was a sinking ship back in the spring of 2006, all pieces of the puzzle are assembled in such a way that the red carpet is already rolled outside of the Santiago Bernabeu, awaiting the return of the Galacticos’ godfather.
As opposed to 2006, Florentino Perez has near-absolute support from past players and foes alike to return to the Madrid office: Zinedine Zidane is already counted in his staff, while players such as Roberto Carlos declared that they would jump at the chance to come back to Spain should Perez open the second chapter of his Charlemagne dynasty. Even the game’s kingpins such as Adriano Galliani and Joan Laporta – yes the Barcelona supremo – have all but welcomed the prospect of a returning Perez, saying that he is the only one capable of putting forward the Real Madrid name once again as one of the best clubs in the world.
But has Florentino Perez learned from his past mistakes? If his sporting director were to propose a top-class defender, would he refrain from acquiring him just because he thinks that centre-backs shouldn’t be so expensive? Would he provide adequate support for his coach, and not change him, just because he felt like it? Most of all, would he sign players needed for their crossing and shooting ability, rather than their cosmetic appearance and just how many magazines they would headline?
People rarely change, but they tend to learn from their mistakes. The news of a rejuvenated Florentino Perez eager to come back and undo the wrongs that he committed during the last years of his past tenure spiraled down the drain seem too good to miss for Madrid supporters. He seems to be willing to finance the purchases that his coach and football director would recommend, not the ones that he may have had in mind while dozing-off in his office. That is not to say that he will necessarily abandon the Galacticos ideal, no that is far from plausible, but this time, he will buy stars that the club needs in order to fulfill its ambitions, not his. That being said, Florentino Perez couldn’t come out of sabbatical at a better time, as the perfect man for the perfect job.
