Record Real Madrid Revenue Means Perez's Galatico Transfer Policy Will Remain
When backed by unrivalled numbers, not even criticism from Cristiano Ronaldo can stop Florentino Perez's Galactico transfer policy at Real Madrid.
Appearing in the presidential box at the Santiago Bernabeu on Friday, Perez announced Real's financial results for 2013-14, proudly declaring Real's revenue to be €603.9 million—a 10.9 percent increase on the previous year.
"For the 10th consecutive year, it will be the highest earning sports institution in the world, and for the third consecutive year, Forbes considers us the most valuable club in the world," the president said after laying out the details.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
According to Forbes, that revenue figure is the highest to be reached in the history of professional team sports.
For Perez, the ability to publicise Real's financial power came at an opportune time.
At the beginning of the week, Ronaldo had made clear his opposition to the club's transfer policy when questioned on the sales of Angel Di Maria and Xabi Alonso.
"I have my very clear opinion, but I must calculate and I cannot always say what I think because tomorrow I will be on the front of the papers and I do not want that," the Portuguese said, per ESPN FC.
"But if I was in charge, maybe I would not do things like that."
It was a blow for Perez. When Ronaldo speaks, people listen. His words carry an enormous influence. If ever one voice was capable of quelling Perez's appetite for new stars, halting his world-famous Galactico policy that has regularly forced key players out the door, it's the voice of Ronaldo—ironically the biggest Galactico of all.
Yet, even the world's finest player seems incapable of influencing Perez amid another round of dizzying figures. The Real president is not your typical footballing administrator, after all.
Instead, Perez is a businessman, a construction magnate focussed on notoriety and financial prosperity, clearly in the belief that winning will be the bi-product of those goals.
"There is no club, not in football or any other specialty, which can reach this figure. Even Forbes magazine has laid down before us," he said with more than a little arrogance during a similar announcement this time last year, per ESPN FC.
Securing the game's hottest properties each year to attract ever-increasing corporate interest stands at the centre of Perez's presidency. Twelve months ago, it was Gareth Bale. This summer, it was James Rodriguez and—to a lesser extent—Toni Kroos. More than a decade ago it was Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham.
Disapproving voices don't matter to Perez. The bottom line does. No matter what others think of his transfer business, the president will point to the numbers for justification of his methods.
Perez's business model, of course, has created numerous concerns for manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Having watched the president disassemble a side crowned as European champions in May, the Italian is now tasked with incorporating Rodriguez and Kroos into a lineup without space for more attacking talents, also needing to find a way to cover the loss of defensive assets.
The results so far—a loss to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup and a 4-2 capitulation to Real Sociedad—would suggest Ancelotti is facing an arduous battle—one he might not ever win.
Thus, despite steering Los Blancos to La Decima, Ancelotti will know more than anyone that the ice is wafer thin at the Bernabeu. According to Diego Torres of El Pais, as relayed by Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC, his players have even spoken about whether they might have a new boss by Christmas.
With Perez at the helm, that's entirely possible. It's Ancelotti's job to orchestrate the victories once the president has done his business, regardless of how twisted that logic may seem.
If the Italian can't do that, Perez will find yet another who's willing to try. And again the continuity that breeds winning will be forgotten.
"Each year, we do the impossible in order to win," the president said last September when asked about the trophy disparity between Real Madrid and their Spanish rivals in recent years.
"But they always take it from us by two points or something like that. I do not know why."
Countless others, including the club's star player, can see why. But until Perez does, and until the revenue numbers stop soaring, the Galactico policy will continue.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
