Has Florentino Perez Had More Transfer Hits or Misses in 2nd Spell as President?
Real Madrid have long been a club that causes a split of either fierce love or absolute dislike, and that's not just regarding supporters and the team itself. Within the confines of such a politically charged environment such as Madrid, even high-profile individuals can split the fanbase asunder, and no face does that more often or to a greater extent than club president Florentino Perez.
Responsible for the frequent hiring and firing of managers, Perez built his reputation in his first spell as president by buying Galacticos for the first team: enormous names for enormous fees, securing the vote for the post with the lure of greatness.
His second spell has been a mix in the transfer market, starting from the summer prior to the 2009/10 season and overseeing over 40 transfers for the first team since that time. Here we judge each as a hit or a miss and ask: is Perez's altered approach bringing more hits or misses to Los Blancos?
2009/10: Last Summer of the Galacticos?
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Signings: Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso, Karim Benzema, Raul Albiol, Esteban Granero, Alvaro Arbeloa.
In looking at each season, we're only assessing those who were signed from another club (not promoted from Castilla) and who played a game—so no Alvaro Negredo, signed and sold in this same summer without a competitive fixture.
The massive outlay at the start of Perez's second spell as president was a continuation of his previous approach, with two of the biggest and most impressive names in world football at the time moving to the Santiago Bernabeu within a few short days of Perez's appointment.
Cristiano Ronaldo has perhaps been the most successful purchase of any club, anywhere, any time with regards to what he has achieved and how much he has progressed, but Kaka had ups and downs across his time in Madrid. Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema—still a starting striker—were undeniably impressive signings, but the same cannot be said for Spanish pair Albiol and Granero.
Alvaro Arbeloa gets a hit rating for longevity and usefulness, even if he was never in the same class as some of the others.
Hits: five
Misses: two
2010/11: A Move to Younger Talents
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Signings: Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Pedro Leon, Ricardo Carvalho, Sergio Canales, Emmanuel Adebayor (loan).
While a few of the names on the list are megastars now, at the time they were early-20s, precocious young talents who were not yet at the top of their game, and it represented a leap of faith for Real to move from signing established brilliance to hoping younger players would grow with the team.
Winning the Copa del Rey and LaLiga within two years suggests it was probably the right path to take.
German pair Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira played a key role for a time before moving on; Angel Di Maria won the UEFA Champions League and became one of the world's best midfielders before a huge-money move to the Premier League; Ricardo Carvalho was dependable, aggressive and resilient at the back.
The same cannot be said of the Spanish pairing, one not good enough and the other beset by injuries, while Emmanuel Adebayor has never been a long-term fix at any of his clubs.
Hits: four
Misses: three
2011/12: At Least Varane Was Good....
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Signed: Fabio Coentrao, Nuri Sahin, Raphael Varane, Jose Callejon, Hamit Altintop.
All in all, the summer of 2011 is unlikely to be remembered as a critical one in Real Madrid's history.
The outlay of over £50 million was mostly taken up by the addition of left-back Coentrao, but he has failed to have the sort of impact expected of him after signing from Benfica. Raphael Varane was a project signing at the time and has developed into a fantastic centre-back, if not quite at the level of consistency hoped for, but the less said about the others this year, the better.
Sahin was a total flop, Altintop a free gamble that didn't pay off and Callejon, despite being Jose Mourinho's impact sub of choice for a spell, was never in the class required.
Their debut season might have ended in Real Madrid winning the title, but the quintet played a combined 2,868 minutes of football in LaLiga—fewer minutes than Sergio Ramos in that campaign, and about the same as Toni Kroos in league play last season under Rafa Benitez and Zinedine Zidane.
Hits: one
Misses: four
2012/13: All You Need Is Luka
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Signed: Luka Modric, Diego Lopez, Michael Essien.
If Ronaldo was Real Madrid's greatest signing, Luka Modric is probably making a good case for second place in the Perez era. The Croatian continues to be a huge asset to the team, the fulcrum of midfield who blends attack with defence, work rate with quality and ingenuity.
Should any club find a way to impart his professionalism and consistency on the rest of the squad, they'd guarantee themselves titles year after year.
Diego Lopez was signed as goalkeeper cover in the winter and was first choice thanks to Iker Casillas' drop in form, but a genuine transfer hit? Nowhere close, all things considered.
Hits: one
Misses: two
2013/14: The Great Spanish Experiment
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Signings: Gareth Bale, Asier Illarramendi, Isco, Dani Carvajal, Casemiro.
While the talk of the football world was predictably on Gareth Bale's world-record transfer to Real Madrid in the summer of 2013, the rest of the deals marked a move by the club toward incorporating the best of homegrown talents alongside the superstars of the world.
It was supposed to be a long-term strategy that saw Real fight back in terms of dominating the Spanish national team, too, at the time top-heavy with Barcelona stars and winning every major international tournament going, but it didn't last long.
Asier Illarramendi failed to hold down a spot and Isco is still struggling to do so. The latter is perhaps likely to be the biggest split of opinion of all Perez's deals: Is he talented enough and simply not given a chance, or is he inconsistent, over-arrogant and lacking in his all-round game despite absurdly strong technique?
The other three are undoubted hits, even if Casemiro's stock has only risen in the last six months or so and Bale took his time to convince many.
Hits: three
Misses: two
2014/15: You Never Buy After a World Cup...
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Signings: James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos, Lucas Silva, Keylor Navas, Javier Hernandez, Martin Odegaard.
In a world of Karel Poborskys, Klebersons and Florin Raducioius, it has become popular wisdom that clubs should never sign players for big money based on top performances at major international tournaments. Real Madrid opted to ignore that advice after the World Cup in 2014, and it was a pretty good decision.
Kroos remains a mainstay in midfield, Keylor Navas is their first-choice goalkeeper and James Rodriguez had a year of monstrously impressive games before being marginalised since.
If Isco is rated as a miss then James must be, too, given how continuously the duo are compared and battling for places. Even so, two out of three is an impressive return, and the Colombian still has time to rediscover his magic...if he can find a way into Real Madrid's XI under Zidane.
Lucas Silva and Javier Hernandez were long- and short-term gambles respectively, and neither set the world alight, save for an important late goal or two from the Mexican striker.
Martin Odegaard is still only 17 and so has plenty of time on his side, but considering the fanfare surrounding his signature and his status as a Norway international, he cannot be thought of as a hit for Real Madrid as yet.
Hits: two
Misses: four
2015/16: Plugging the Gaps
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Signed: Danilo, Mateo Kovacic, Kiko Casilla, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez.
Some players are judged quicker than others, and some players can be judged quicker than others.
Danilo is one who fell foul of the fans and the team selectors of last season in reasonably fast fashion, and to date he can only be categorised as a miss thanks to some awful defensive work, a struggle to adapt to his surroundings and the impressive form of positional rival Dani Carvajal.
Mateo Kovacic, on the other hand, had little chance to be involved last term—yet he is clearly set for a bigger input and impressive year this time around, and has the quality to be labelled a hit.
The same can be said for Marco Asensio, just a handful of appearances into his Real Madrid career. With some players, it's just easy to know that they will shine.
Low-cost Spanish arrivals Lucas Vazquez and Kiko Casilla play support roles in the team, and while the winger did so admirably last term and won a spot at Euro 2016 as a result, former Espanyol goalkeeper Casilla is a rung or two below the genuine standard at the club.
Hits: three
Misses: two
2016/17: Morata and Tallies
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Signing: Alvaro Morata.
Just the one arrival for Zidane this summer, a much-needed striker and a sensible investment whether Alvaro Morata remains at the club in the long term or not.
The former Juventus man isn't a goal-a-game type of striker but will play a key tactical role for the team, and it's already apparent that he can help some of the other stars bring the best parts of their game to the fore just as much as Benzema does.
Hit: one
Misses: none
Total hits: 20
Total misses: 19
Running at just above a 50 per cent hit rate for transfer successes, it's fair to say that Perez is overall doing a more than reasonable job of bringing in those who deserve to be at the club—there are few sides who can say more than half of all transfers work out.
Titles haven't come quite as often as everyone at the club would like in Perez's second spell, but with two pieces of silverware already accounted for under Zidane, perhaps a first LaLiga title in five years is on the way.
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