World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

38 RISEOFRONALDO

REALMADRID

RIGHT:Jose Luis

RodriguezZapatero...

Spain’s primeminister

talkingaboutit,when

normallysoccerisn’tour

thing,” saidthepresenteron

ESPN,goingcoast-to-coast

inthe USA. In themiddleof

the NBA finals itwas their

leadstory.Itwas everyone’s

leadstory.

Perez hadfulfilledhisfirst

objective,onethatdefines

thegalacticosproject.Barely

daysafter Barcelonahad

completeda historictreble

• neverbeforeachiev by
  a Spanishclub– thword’s
  gazewasfirmlys onReal
  Madridinstead erez’s
  obsessionws with returning
  RealMadrd t
  and,sudenl, that is e
  wherthey re. er,
  Kaa andR ado
  ediatelyrought
  Mdridthe e thing
  Perez cravesmorethananythg fohis cub:ttentio
  Thecost was£13 6 million.That’sust in fes.Itwil
  £20ma yeartopay them, akingome £ 25 m in
  AndstillMadrid wantmor. Perez’sppetite i ora
  andnewdirectorgeneralJogeValdnohasdmitt
  thattheywanted“fourorfivmore”
  TheCatalanpressdenoun d thRonaldoeal
  immoralandscandalous,the oralhighgroud
  withunrealisticandopportunist reish.Barcln
  JoanLaportalost hiscoolandra against i. P
  wona secondprizealready:treblewi rsBce
  wererunningscared.
  Everyonewasaskingthe samequestion.We,
  outsideMadridanyway. In theSpanishcapital– to
  least– no onecared,theywerefartooexcited.
  elsewas asking:how on earthcanMadridaffod
  Sure, formerpresidentRamonCalderonhac
  tohaveleft £ 78 m in theclub’s coffers.OK, so
  hopefulofrecovering£85monasmanyasniel
  werehoping to offload.But,how many peoplerel
  Calderon?And as Valdanohimself, added:“Pep
  Madrideasily.”Besides,thatmoney hadn’tyeto
  itstilldidn’tcover Madrid’s projectedspending.
  wereindebttothetuneofalmost £ 50 0m,aco
  oneacademicreport.

THEFAMILY SILVER

Thelast timeMadridfoundthemselvesindifficuli

soldthe familysilver. Theclub’sCiudadDeportiva

oundwassoldoff forthedevelopmentoffoug

r £ 38 2m,wipingoutthe£238mdebt.Itwasan

acle,a lifeline,but as onedirectorcommentd

“Therewon’tbetowerseveryyear.”Now,thereis

erleft to sell.

So,likeanyfamilyintrouble,Madridwenttot

bank.TheonlydifferenceinthiscaseisPerezo

fearbeing turneddown.Worthanestimated£. 1 i

hehas excellentcontactsin thefinanceindusty

media.Heisextraordinarilypowerfuland thesc

ofRealMadridgoesa long way.

Perez securedloansfromCajaMadridand a

Santanderfor a combined£128m.Heisalsobelie

havethesupportof theCatalansavingsbanka i

Anyonewhodoubtedthat

Perez’sreturnwouldmean

a return to thepolicyhe

pursuedlasttimearound

immediatelysaw theerror

oftheirways.Underthe

manEmilioButraguenoonce

cringinglycalled“asuperior

being”,therewouldbea

secondcomingafterall.

MOSTEXPENSIVEEVER

Perez’sMadridhavenow

boasted sixEuropean

FootballersoftheYear. He

hasboughtthemall.Not one

ofthemwon theaward for

hisperformancesatReal

Madrid.It isasifFrance

Football, themagazinethat

awardsthe Ballond’Or,does

Madrid’s scouting.Well,

FranceFootballandHello!,

asPerezalsobought David

Beckham–theonlyoneofhisfirstfivesigningsnot to have

wontheaward.Madridnowboastthefourmost expensive

signingsofalltimeinLuisFigo, ZinedineZidane,Kakaand

CristianoRonaldo.

LasttimePerezwaspresidentheboughta galacticoeach

summer:Figoin2000,Zidanein 2001 , Ronaldoin 20 03,

Beckhamin 2 004 andMichaelOwenin 2005. Owen might

havebeendescribedbyonecolumnist as a“plasticgalactic”

buthestill turnedupwithaBallond’Or underhisarmand

thekeysto theBritishmarket– onePerez especiallycovets.

ThentherewasBrazilianstar Robinho, themanwhowas

dubbed“thenewPele”andthe oneplayer whowassupposed

towintheawardwhileatMadrid,butdidn’t.

Addinga bignametothe cast everyyearwas an obsession.

IfRealMadridwerea film,theywerea footballingOcean’s

Eleven, signingupa newstarand gettinga bitbigger(ifnot

actually anybetter)everyyear.Ocean’sEleven,Ocean’s

Twelve,Ocean’sThirteen...

Thistime,Perez hasjumpedstraighttoOcean’sSixteen.

“Wewillhaveto do in oneyearwhatwewouldnormally

dointhree,” he declared.

Fourdaysandtwoworld-record transferslaterhe was

asgoodashis word.ThisMadridwereoncoursetobeeven

moregalacticthanthe galacticos.Everyonehad gotused

tolongsummersoapoperas,thistimethebiggestdeals

wereoverin a flash – like a galacticodrive-thru.

Theannouncementofthelatest acquisitionwasshortand

tothe point,a statementreading: “RealMadridconfirmthat

wehavemadeanofferto ManchesterUnited foracquisition

ofthe playingrights of CristianoRonaldo.Theclubhopesto

reachanagreementwiththeplayerin thenextfew days.”

Theydidn’tneed to saymuch,everyoneelsewouldsay

itfor them.Itwas headlinenewsall over theworld.

“Youcantellhow bigthisisbythefactthatevenweare

“TheonethingthatPerez

cravesmorethananythingfor

RealMadridisattention”