(Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
It was a secret to no one in Spain, that the election of former chairman and entrepreneur Florentino Pérez to the Real Madrid presidency obeyed to the widespread desire of bringing back Spain’s most emblematic and honored club to its former bright and glory.
The decomposition of the once much-admired and flamboyant 2003 Real Madrid squad, nicknamed “galácticos” (Spanish for: the ones who come from a galaxy), an operation which started on summer 2005 forced by lack of results and massive critics, was just the beginning of a dimmed age which saw the most acclaimed team in European club history falling down sharply in terms of prestige and competitiveness in front of their traditional contenders, most notably arch-rival Barça.
And given Barcelona’s latest deeds in Spain and in Europe, the need for resurging was imperious. Understandingly, they want to make it in full shape, and quite faithful, it seems, to Florentino’s style: By force of money.
Yesterday’s evening, Real announced the signing of Karim Benzema, the rising French star, for an approximate amount of thirty-five million euros, plus six million euros more for accomplished objectives.
His recruiting was added to those of Kaká ( 65 million euros) Cristiano Ronaldo (96 million euros) and Albiol (15 million euros), in what seems a frantic bet to build a team of the best players available today, something that vaguely reminds us of Chelsea’s assemblage some years ago.
And we say vaguely, because despite being criticized for heavy expenses, Abramovich’s disbursements through the years of building up Chelsea turn out to be pale when we compare them with the brutal sums paid by Real Madrid this year per player.
Abramovich is said to have spent about 440 million euros in players transfer and signings in about 5 years since the club’s takeover (2003-2008), including managers. His recruits total 31 players and three managers in that period.
However, Real Madrid’s disbursements for the first five weeks of their “extreme makeup” operation totalizes 212 million euros, for the signing of just four players, plus three more for a manager.
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