Real Madrid Transfers: 5 things Florentino Perez needs to accomplish

Hire a new manager

When Carlo Ancelotti was hired by Real Madrid in the summer 2021 transfer window as Zinedine Zidane’s replacement, I was sure he was hired as a stopgap for one year before the so-called “Revolution” featuring Kylian Mbappe.

Ancelotti exceeded expectations to start the season, fulfilling his most important goal of getting more out of Vinicius Jr. And goodness me, has Vinicius broken out this season!

However, Carletto’s early success was a little bit of an illusion, because it came at the expense of the fitness and health of the players. The squad is exhausted now, putting in disastrous performances, and Carlo is getting outcoached by managers like Unai Emery and Mauricio Pochettino, with the latter even rumored as his possible replacement.

By the way Ancelotti acts at press conferences, I think he understands that there will be no 2022-2023 “thank you” run as manager. It’s hard to see how Mbappe or Erling Haaland would want to work with a guy who does not rotate and has antiquated tactical ideas. Nor does he seem to use youth players or subs. At least Zidane had the Castilla integration down pat.

Ancelotti is done. Yesterday’s news. A cycle has been completed because there was no cycle to begin with this time. He was hired to be a one-year caretaker, essentially, and he has not exceeded expectations by any means. Had he gone up against 2019/20 Barcelona or 2020/21 Atletico Madrid, he would surely be outside the title picture.

Who should Real Madrid hire? I am not even going to pretend like I know who will be available. Erik ten Hag is the best option of those who could be feasibly available. But I have always been very, very tempted by the idea of calling up Raul.