Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has been the subject of attention for all the wrong reasons in the last couple of months.
Perez has had a terrible time in the public eye since April now as his involvement in founding the European Super League has been seen as a disgusting attempt to spoil the basic traditions and roots of football as a sport. In addition to that, his rigidity of making the project successful despite receiving negative feedback more or less universally has been seen as a detrimental action.
In the most recent developments, audio files were leaked about the Real Madrid incumbent being menacingly critical of club legends such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Raul among others. Though Perez has decided to take action against El Confidencial for supposedly tarnishing his image, he didn’t deny the wrongdoing and only labelled it as something that was out of context.
All these factors, combined with the responsibility which many claim was his behind Sergio Ramos’ exit have led to several fans turning against the 73-year-old and also questioning his commitment towards making the club a better image. A lack of signings in the last two years have further added fuel to such claims and Perez faces a do or die campaign ahead of his eyes.
Here are three reasons why.
PEREZ’S SPORTING PROJECT HAS ALL BUT FAILED
Although Real Madrid have not hit lows like AC Milan or Manchester United did a few years ago, the club is certainly not on the podium level where it is expected to be year in and year out. Los Blancos have now ended two of the last three seasons without a piece of silverware from the three main competitions in which they take part on an annual basis. It is a worrying sign.
Florentino Perez’s approach to the club’s sporting project has failed to see the least. Players like Mariano Diaz, Reinier Jesus and Lucas Silva – who were just a number of youngsters the president signed over the last few years have done little to absolutely nothing to contribute to the club’s greater good. Only Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo have been Perez’s successful investments of late.
Not only has Perez let go of coaches one behind the other as well as club legends in quick succession, he has also failed to replace them with worthy candidates. Cristiano Ronaldo left three years ago but he has not been replaced despite being sold for over 100 million euros and that is only down to the Madrid chief who has used his success in the past as a shelter to most issues.
PEREZ HAS BEEN DISRESPECTFUL TO THE LEGENDS OF REAL MADRID
Florentino Perez was only accused of mistreating Real Madrid’s legendary figures like Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Zinedine Zidane in recent years, but the most recent leaks of audio clips have only gone on to show that he is from a unique breed of businessmen who have little to no regard to the humane side of an organisation.
Though Perez has done good things to the club like pulling it out of massive debt and weathering through the pandemic with relative ease, his bad eclipses the good in the eyes of many fans. At a club like Real Madrid where the socios run matters, neither a player nor the president is bigger than the institution and it is going to take something special from Perez to return to the good books of many.
One of the ways in which he can do so is by building a team that is not only worthy of competing for ten years later, but also for the near future. This can be done by holding onto players like Raphael Varane by offering them better payments or signing experienced players from the transfer market, even though their cost may be a bit of a stretch at the moment.
REAL MADRID HAVE BEEN DORMANT IN THE TRANSFER MARKET AND MADE UNNECESSARY EXPENSES
As of now, Real Madrid have failed to sign a single player in the transfer window for two years. Their last acquisition came in the summer of 2019 and since then, the only new additions to the squad were Martin Odegaard, whose loan spell was cut short last year, and David Alaba, who arrived as a free agent from Bayern Munich after the expiry of his stay in the Bundesliga.
Although Florentino Perez is not entirely on the wrong for the construction of a futuristic generational stadium in the shape of the new Santiago Bernabeu, the sporting project will be the one that ultimately leads to profitability in that regard. Without building a squad competent enough to attracting fans and winning serially, the stadium will not be as profitable, which is why signings could have been a priority.
In hindsight, bringing in players like Jules Kounde and Kylian Mbappe – who could be the face of Real Madrid for the upcoming years would have been an equally judicious option. Currently, the club is facing an uncharacteristic financial situation and that may have been mitigated if the sporting needs of the first team were prioritized slightly above the building of a stadium.
In fairness to Perez though, he did not expect a coronavirus pandemic to cripple the club’s finances and credit must go to him for ensuring that the club is not worse off financially.
What changes do you think Perez must bring about in 2021/22 to prove himself?