Florentino Pérez: Good or Bad for Real Madrid?

History

Florentino Pérez was the man responsible for the Galatico Era at Real Madrid. His ability to bring in star players with little difficulty earned him much popularity. During his reign he brought in Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham, Michael Owen and Robinho as the star players.

Initially, Pérez's policy worked to great success, because each "Galactico" built their squads around the player, and had a more proper team balance of attack and defense. In his first years in office Real Madrid won two Spanish Championships and its record ninth European Cup.

However, in 2003 Pérez would make several decisions which would prove fatal. First he would fire coach Vincente Del Bosque after he won ReaL Madrid's 29th Spanish title. Del Bosque was great in the way he handled the star player's egos, maintaining a balance usually impossible to reach.

When Del Bosque left several other players went with him. In particular, Claude Makélélé, considered the best defensive midfielder and a key component to Real Madrid's success also left. With the support of teammates Zidane, Raúl, McManaman, and Fernando Morientes, Makélélé asked for a raise. He was one of the lowest paid members of the squad. His raise request would be declined but his transfer request would be followed through and he was sold to Chelsea.

Pérez would then go on to degrade Makélélé and his playing ability, but after his departure Real Madrid would go one to win no silverware for three years. At the same time, Chelsea would become a title contender in England.

After Makélélé's departure, Pérez would sign many more attacking talents but could never land another defensive star. Many deals were on the verge of going through but Pérez's policy that defending players should not be highly paid would cause all deals to fall through.

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