For his
capabilities to successfully manage the brand and wonderful football records of
Real Madrid FC, Spanish business mogul Florentino Perez deserves commendation.
To be given a national award by Spain, UEFA, and FIFA for his contributions to
football development would be in order. With
their 4-1 Spanish Super Cup victory over Barcelona FC in January 2024, his
achievements have surpassed that of legendary Real Madrid President, Santiago Bernabeu.
With Perez as President, the club has won 33 major trophies over 32 won by
Bernebau.
For
almost two decades and serving in two different terms, he's successfully managed
the financial stability and football success of the club, providing its
followers with unending celebrations.
In his first term in
2000, he started the Galacticos policy
wherein he made sure Real Madrid FC signed some World renowned footballers to
improve the fortunes of the club. He brought Louis Figo, from bitter rivals,
Barcelona FC, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo de Lima, and David Beckham but they failed
to win any trophy from the 2003-2004 season to 2006. The partial failure of the
initial plan during his first term forced him to resign. As later events show,
his resignation was just an opportunity for him to rejig his strategies and
when he returned in 2009, it was with a resounding bang!
Under
his current leadership, the club has recruited such players as Kaka, Cristiano
Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, and lots more. For a
successive period of four years, they won the UEFA Champions League three
times, the La Liga, and many other titles. Their marketing rights with Emirates
Airlines and the revamping of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium are business masterstrokes that only astute businessmen such as Perez can pull.
His
great ambitions for football made him and other like minds propose the Super League.
Despite threats and strong opposition from UEFA, the recent European Court judgment
has resuscitated their plans.
Aside from his huge responsibility at Real Madrid FC, Florentino Perez is the Chairman of
Grupo Construction Company, which currently remains the largest civil engineering
company in Spain. Whilst bitter rivals Barcelona FC, wallow in a precarious
financial situation that has affected players’ salaries, transfers, and
on-field activities, Real Madrid FC enjoys a positive financial balance sheet
and is currently building probably the most robust Galacticos of the 21st century.
Seeing
the team Florentino Perez has already built in comparison with the Qatari-backed PSG FC of France, gives an understanding of his knowledge of the
transfer markets and integration of players with complimentary profiles that
can form a strong unit. With the rumored and expected arrival of Kylian Mbappe
to the team this summer, matching their football prowess would be a difficult
task for most teams in the La Liga and European competitions. With a team
comprising Vinicius Jnr, Rodrygo Goes, Eduardo Camavinga, Tchouemeni, Rahim
Diaz, Thibaut Courtois, Andrey Lunin, Kylian Mbappe, David Alaba, Rudiger,
Bellingham, Nacho, Kroos at all, what else can a coach ask for? The Brazillian star, Endrick is also expected in Madrid this summer.
Carlo
Ancelotti has remained an astute manager and is amongst the best managers in World
football. With
eleven major titles for Madrid, he jointly sits with Zinedine Zidane as Real
Madrid FC’s 2nd most successful manager in their history, three
titles short of Miguel Munoz’s fourteen titles. He’s helped Florentino
Perez and Real Madrid FC navigate through perilous situations without much
fuss. It’s expected that they’d maintain the leadership of the 2023/24 La Liga
season and win the trophy! Well done Florentino Perez!!
