As I have written time and again Florentino Perez is a decisive factor in why Madrid has under-achieved in so many years because of his farcical policies, which during the years he’s held a position in office haven’t worked in the least bit.
Rewinding to the day of the transfer deadline, the media in Germany were in a frenzy as they were unsure what would happen with their “golden boy”, the creative hub of their National team, or as he is labelled- “the German Messi”. They were all labelling Real Madrid a Circus. As the deal to Arsenal came through, despite knowing he has to acclimate to a league where the defending is certainly a lot tougher and the direct style of play is much faster than he is used, they were all relieved that he made the change considering he was facing an unknown future with “los Blancos” and it was clear by the third match day that he really didn’t have the confidence of the coach as he had previously stated.
Under Florentino Perez, “los Merengues” are as big a Circus as “Circus Krone“. Season after season there are absurd, nonsensical happenings, especially with the revolving door of players and coaches alike constantly whirling. With Perez as president we have seen good and bad players come in and go out as soon as the transfer window opens. For him, a transfer window indicates a new player must arrive and others must leave to facilitate this whether or not you’re a good player. Özil was no different. For Perez, one good season is enough to spend 100 million euros to acquire you, it doesn’t matter how good you actually are. Remember Beckham? Remember the choice Perez had between Ronaldinho and the English man? Remember the choice he made? Remember what Ronaldinho went on to achieve? Remember what Beckham went on to not achieve? Based on his looks and ability to sell jerseys Beckham became the obvious choice for Perez and the “not so attractive” Ronaldinho was instead signed to Barcelona where his ability spoke on the pitch. This time around Bale was chosen instead of Özil. The German’s ability has been proven over and over again on the pitch and his statistics don’t lie. According to Opta Sports his time with the whites saw him provide 72 assists (more than any other across the top five leagues) and formed a deadly partnership with Ronaldo providing 27 goals for the Portuguese star. Bale on the other hand had one good season and based on comparative statistics would even seem a generally lesser player to Walcott.
Özil with his 72 assists and 27 goals in three years contributed more to Madrid than Bale did in six years at Tottenham and that is also playing far less time than the Welsh man [Özil was substituted more times than any other player in La Liga in the last three years with 58]. Despite all this Özil was bullied out of the club and Bale chosen as the new star.
The logic behind Bale’s signing, both in sporting terms and financially, is incomprehensible. There was an “idea” behind the signings of Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. Both are good looking players, had achieved quite a bit of accolades personally and collectively with their teams and they were quite frankly “made players” in their own right. On the contrary, Bale has only achieved individual league awards, no collective accolades with Tottenham or Wales and bluntly isn’t easy on the eyes. So where was the value in the transfer fee paid? What happens when he achieves the bare minimum? Will he leave on a free after five years as Kaka did- another player whose career was ruined by the Circus?
Whatever the outcome, we should all remember that the past “Galacticos” was a huge and utter failure and with the creative hub of the team disposed of I see no reason it won’t again be. Perez’s idea of having a big signing every summer is simply stupid and his reaction to what a big signing is after failing to sign Neymar is even more comical than the sum he paid.