Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka: Two Mighty Signings for Real Madrid

Economic recession has not got over yet. Still, Real Madrid dared to spend about $250 million only on two players: Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka- in the summer. Time has not come yet to evaluate their performance and justify the two movies. However, one thing is for sure that no other club in the world could have gone that far to spend such a huge amount only on two players at the time of the economic recession, regardless of the fact how much they really deserve it.

Spending big amount is a trademark for the current Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who is currently in his third spell at Madrid hot seat. He did the same in his previous two terms brining in some of world’s best players like Figo, Zidane, Beckham, Ronaldo (Brazil) and many other star players. The main objective was to make some quick cash in by capitalizing on the starry image of the likes of Zidane, Figo, Beckham and others.

Well, it is true that he brought a considerable financial success for the club, but in terms of performance, Real Madrid was not very dominant. It is true that Real Madrid won some trophies both in Spain and Europe, but towards the end of Perez’s second spell, Real started showing poor performance, and thus, the pressure was mounting on the star players.

So, in the long run, I do not believe that Real Madrid’s current approach of signing big players and bringing success would work well. For sustainable success, you need to have a strong and effective youth policy (like Arsenal), and if you look at the Real Madrid youth side, you can see that their youth system could not yet produce any world class player after the current goal-keeper Iker Casillas.

So, I think, Real Madrid needs to have a productive approach towards sustainable success; rather than short term glory. It is true that Real Madrid may get some strong success this season or in the coming seasons, but after that would come another spell of some poor seasons because there is no productive approach in their youth policy.

Florentino Perez Promises to Bring Kaka and Arsene Wenger at Real Madrid

(This entry was first posted in Thursday, January 22nd, 2009)

You already know that Ramon Calderon recently stepped down as the president of Spanish club Real Madrid recently. Now, former president Florentino Perez is running for Real presidency once again and has already made some big promises like signing Kaka from AC Milan and most importantly, bringing current Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Well, you might consider these as impetuous promises which, at first look, seem to be unrealistic, but if you look at Florentino Perez’s first presidency tenure, you would not be able to write off the promises made by Perez. The Spanish business tycoon had promised to sign Portuguese legend Luis Figo from rival Barcelona before he was elected as Real Madrid president nine years back and he kept his promise by signing Figo. During his tenure, Real Madrid turned into a club full of star players like Ronaldo, Figo, Zidane and Roberto Carlos. Even though his approach of signing star players without thinking much about the team balance was hugely criticized, Real Madrid’s performance was excellent both in Spain as well as in Europe.

Real Madrid performance so far this season is not satisfactory at all. In fact, the club is going through a poor run and has already been out of title race in Spanish La Liga with half the season left in hand. Now, let us see if Florentino Perez can step into Real presidency once again and helps the Spanish giants to get over the current poor form.

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Telegraph

Real Madrid Director General Jorge Valdano on the Club’s Spending Spree

Real Madrid has been in a spending spree since Florentino Pérez became the club president for the third time. He now seems to follow big-signing approach, which he followed during his first two terms as Real Madrid president, in order to make a star-studded squad. This approach worked very well during his first team as the club president, but the club failed to perform at the same level towards the end of his second term which eventually led him to step down as Real Madrid president in 2006.

Real Madrid has already signed two super stars of today’s football: Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo. Real Madrid needed to spend 93 and 65 million euros to get the service of Ronaldo, who is world’s no. 1 player at this moment, and Kaka respectively. Moreover, Real Madrid is now very close to secure young French striker Karim Benzema. The club is still eyeing on Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso and Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribéry.

Real Madrid faced some criticism from Spanish government for their spending spree amid the global economic recession. UEFA president Michel Platini thinks that Real Madrid’s spending nature is not normal and it could be a threat for the financial balance in the European league competitions.

However, Jorge Valdano, the director general of Real Madrid, thinks that Real Madrid can afford to go for such big money signings because the Spanish club is world’s richest club at this moment. He thinks that the club makes huge sum of profit and that is why, it has the ability to buy the service of many star players.

Well, there is a financial advantage of signing star players. Real Madrid experienced this advantage during Pérez’s first two terms as the club president because Real Madrid became the world’s richest club in 2005 by selling t-shirts of those star players as well as souvenirs. The signing of Kaka could reportedly generate 100 million dollars extra for Real Madrid.

Real Madrid fans would like to see success on the field. They would not like to know how much money the club generates per year. In terms of on-field performance, Real Madrid was really miserable last season and they would now like to see silverware at Bernabeu. Now, let us see if the newly signed stars can bring out success at the club.

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inquirer

Kaka Joined Real Madrid to Help AC Milan Financially

Star Brazilian footballer Kaka has been signed by Spanish giant Real Madrid following a long-standing negotiation regarding a possible deal which has now been settled for a fee ranging from £56 million to €68 million. With this move, Kaka has put an end to his 6-year stint at AC Milan during which he has won almost everything including Serie A and Italian Super Cup titles in 2004, Champions League in 2007 and FIFA Club World Cup 2007. Most importantly, the 27-year-old became the FIFA World Player of the Year Award 2007.

Kaka has now become the first player whom Real Madrid signed after Florentino Perez taking over as club president for the second time. There is no doubt, Kaka was the prime target of Real Madrid in Summer 2009. Regarding the reason of the move, Kaka said that he wanted to help AC Milan financially by moving to Real Madrid. Here, it is noteworthy that AC Milan is now facing financial crisis.

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FIFA.com