Florentino Perez Reportedly Considering Stepping Down as Real Madrid President

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is reportedly "seriously thinking" about stepping down from the top job at the Bernabeu in the summer.

According to Spanish outlet El Confidencial (via Sport), the 68-year-old "has revealed to people close to him" that he is considering calling elections in the summer and not putting himself forward as a candidate. 

Perez was re-elected for another four-year term as president in 2013 and would thus be stepping down a year early were he to call it a day at the end of the current campaign. 

Real fans were calling for him to resign during Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu, which saw Los Blancos drop 12 points back from La Liga leaders Barcelona, and effectively out of the title race for another season, per Eurosport UK:

Save for a three-year period between 2006 and 2009, Perez has held the president's role at Real since 2000.

He introduced the Galacticos policy at the Madrid club, which has seen the likes of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez all signed in high-profile big-money deals.

However, aside from a successful period in his early years as president when Real won two La Liga titles and a Champions League between 2001 and 2003, Perez has arguably been a failure at the club.

The Spaniard has overseen the continued rise of Real's world brand, but results on the pitch have been disappointing despite the huge amount of money spent on players.

Perez has overseen a period of gross short-termism in respect to managers, with 13 different men having been in the Real dugout since Vicente del Bosque was sacked in 2003 despite returning two league titles and two Champions Leagues in less than four years at the club. 

Since the early successes with Del Bosque at the helm, Perez's broken tenure has returned just one La Liga win in 2011-12, and the much-sought 10th European Cup in 2013-14.

In the same period, arch-rivals Barca have come to dominate the Spanish and European game, while neighbours Atletico have also risen to prominence, winning the La Liga title in 2014.

Having sacked Rafael Benitez as manager in January, "Perez has been left without a shield," as the Los Blancos fans will not direct their ire at club legend Zidane, the Spaniard's successor, per Sport.

Real remain in the hunt for the Champions League this season, but there is little doubt that Perez is feeling the pressure, and it would not be hugely surprising if he did indeed decide to step down.