Florentino Perez: Real Madrid president has curbed his instincts and Zinedine Zidane's team are better for it

Andy West 09:57 20/06/2017
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Will Ronaldo stay under Perez's leadership?

    FOUR MORE YEARS OF FLORENTINO PEREZ?

    Cue the usual parade of jokes and thinly veiled insults in the direction of the Real Madrid president, who can hardly be regarded as one of football’s most popular administrators.

    Even the way in which Perez ensured his re-election – changing eligibility rules to ensure nobody else could run – speaks volumes about his thirst for power and his lack of scruples in how he attains it.

    There are countless stories mocking the supposed vanity and megalomania of the multi-millionaire businessman, with perhaps the best legend being his decree that the club’s in-house TV channel is forbidden from filming him from behind – to hide his bald patch.

    We can all laugh, and plenty do. But facts have a way of speaking for themselves, and the facts of Florentino Perez’s presidency, especially in recent years, are extremely impressive.

    First impressions last, so it’s inevitable that Perez is still closely identified with the Galacticos policy he introduced during his first reign nearly in the early 2000s, with superstar following superstar as Perez relentlessly followed a marketing-led strategy which had more to do with global pulling power than an effective squad.

    But that was a long time ago now, and Perez deserves credit for learning from his mistakes and changing his style.

    Perez has become much slower (barring the occasional Gareth Bale) to meddle in playing matters, instead allowing the squad to be developed by professionals who know what they’re doing.

    Look at the transfer market moves made by Madrid in recent years: Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Isco, Mateo Kovacic, James Rodriguez…they were all signed under Perez’s watch, and they have all played a big role in giving coach Zidane a phenomenal squad.

    They haven’t all been star names, either. Look at Keylor Navas, an under-the-radar goalkeeper from Levante who has replaced Iker Casillas brilliantly. Marco Asensio and Raphael Varane were relatively unknown youngsters when Madrid snapped them up. Casemiro was completely left field.

    So while everyone believes Florentino Perez only signs superstars and is clueless about developing a team, the way his squad secured the first league and European double for more than half a century suggests otherwise.

    We can mock him as much as we want. But he’s having the last laugh.

    Recommended