The Magic Wand of Florentino Perez

 

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 2^nd 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!!

 

 

 

 

JUDE BELLINGHAM IS WORTH THE RAVE!

He moves with speed and poise. He’s a creative midfielder with good ball control and balance. Some years ago, during COVID-19, he was barely known outside his hometown. Today, Jude Bellingham rubs shoulders with World greats, Modric, Kroos, Nacho, Rudiger, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Rudiger, Courtois, et al at Real Madrid.

 

THE MAKING OF A STAR

Twenty-year-old Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid FC of Spain started on a goal run, scoring 8 consecutive goals in nine matches; most of them, in spectacular fashion. Several times he's rescued Real Madrid FC from defeat and currently leads the La Liga goal-scorers chat with 13 goals. Though he’s yet to complete a full season with his new club but has captivated the Real Madrid supporters with his brilliance.

He’s always shown signs of greatness very early in his career. Bellingham got into the first team of Birmingham City, at 16 and became the youngest first-team player in their history.  At Borussia Dortmund FC, he scored on his debut to become their youngest goal scorer. He joined Birmingham City FC as a child and by 2020 sealed a transfer to Borussia Dortmund FC in Germany. He snubbed Manchester United, Liverpool amongst others to join Dortmund; a club with good tradition for youth development. Even with the humble beginning of his club football, Borussia Dortmund coughed about 25 million British pounds, plus some add-ons for his transfer. He believed that like Jordan Sancho, he’d grow at Dortmund. Truly, he excelled with them, before his move to Madrid. He captained the team and won the German FA Cup 2020-21 with them and they had a second-place finish in the league. He also won the Bundesliga Player of the Season.
Bellingham has represented England in all age grades, including the senior national team. He's played 18 times already for the senior team and registered his name on the score sheets. He achieved this feat against Iran at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

 

Speaking about his move to Madrid, Jude said thus; 

"I'd always been aware of the interest from England so that was pretty normal,"

"It was a bit of a surprise when my dad sat me down and said: 'You've had a bit of interest from Real Madrid.'

"I think that was maybe about 12-15 months ago. When he said that I had goosebumps, and my heart was close to stopping. It's something you don't expect growing up - being able to play for a team like this."

THE STAR BOY OF WORLD FOOTBALL

As overwhelmed as he was, Bellingham settled immediately and has become an important player for them. With his outstanding performance, his £113m, six-year transfer fee looks to be worth it. He joins Steve Macmanaman and David Beckham, two English players who dazzled at Real Madrid. Jude has had a great time showcasing his skill and looks ready to compete with the Vinicus Juniors, Mbappes, and Haaland, as the new star boy of World football.

His value continues to increase by the day. His coach Carlo Ancelotti, rates him currently as the World’s best player. His early integration into Real Madrid FC has been astounding and despite his role as a midfielder, Bellingham’s capacity to decide games in his team’s favor continues to make him invaluable. He’s not likely to stop soon because his best is yet to come!

 

 

Note:

This article was edited and republished. Some parts were earlier published in https://worldinsport.com/