Real Madrid is a soccer club whose history is rich with success. Founded over 100 years ago in 1902, "Los Blancos" have won a record 31 league titles in Spain's Liga de Fútbol Profesional, more commonly known simply as La Liga.
The club has also experienced unmatched supremacy in European club competition having secured nine European Cups and Champions League titles, the most recent coming in 2002.
Real Madrid also holds another type of record - which it set in 2000, and since then, its only competitor has been itself.
On June 11th, Real broke their own world football transfer record, when they signed Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo from English club Manchester United for an incredible £80 million (about $130 million) a record they've broken four times since 2000 and twice in the past week. The record is the answer to the question, what happens when a club with a reputation of such eminance as Real Madrid ends a campaign with no hardware to show for it?
The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, is no stranger to spending the club's money extravagently. In the early 2000's, during Perez's first presidency of the club, he set the benchmark when he purchased Portuguese superstar Luis Figo from Spanish rival Barcelona for £37 million (about $60 million).
Other decadent moves included the signings of Brazilian star Ronaldo, Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, and the British heartthrob David Beckham during what was dubbed "the Galactico Era."
Now that Perez is back at the helm of Real, following the dismissal of former President Ramon Calderon, he's marked his return with trademark transfers, spending a combined £139 (about $225 million) million on Brazilian midfielder Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo, and he doesn't plan on putting his checkbook away just yet.
Madrid has already incurred considerable debt and many question the logistics behind the deals. But there are other factors besides the obvious financial concerns that discourage clubs from spending this sort of money.
First, throwing money around promotes a negative reputation amongst supporters of other clubs; you might call this the "Yankees effect." This sort of spending puts a bull's-eye on your back and creates an attitude about the club that says "we don't have to create talent, we can just buy yours."
Second, you have to consider relationships with other clubs. Madrid has continually been accused of immorality by Manchester United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson, beginning last summer when talks of Ronaldo's move to Real first surfaced.
In addition, when you put an immense price tag on a player, you're creating incredible pressure not only for the player, but for the team as a whole. Not to mention that the circumstances will beg questions: what happens if, or when this doesn't work? How soon do you demand results from such signings?
What Perez has done for his club is created the ultimate lose-lose situation. If Real Madrid experiences success, winning La Liga and the UEFA Champions League, it's hardly celebrated because it's expected. If they come short of anything but spectacular result, they become the laughing stock of the world football community.
Be the first to comment on this article!