Real Madrid: Florentino Perez excels at what no one else does
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez came under fire from fans for putting too much pressure on club legend Zinedine Zidane during the 2020/21 season, when Zizou kept the team in LaLiga title contention until the very last Matchday and advanced to the Champions League semifinals despite working with an injury-ravaged, sub-optimal squad.
Perez's entire transfer strategy was called into question, as the young forwards struggled to make an impact, while high-priced 2019 signings Luka Jovic and Eden Hazard provided little.
However, Real Madrid won LaLiga and the Champions League the following season. Those same youngsters, including new center midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, were instrumental in the Merengue club winning the 14th champions League trophy.
When PSG and Manchester City began to increase their spending in response to Real Madrid's unprecedented three-peat, Perez began to focus even more on signing prospects. He took a chance on Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo Goes, spending nearly 100 million euros on each forward. In addition, he signed Takefusa Kubo, Brahim Diaz, and Reinier Jesus.
Florentino Perez's youth strategy has been financially successful.
Only Vini, Rodrygo, Eder Militao, Camavinga, and Fede Valverde are squad regulars among the newcomers, but those three were crucial to Real Madrid winning both trophies. Vini was LaLiga's second best player and the matchwinner in the Champions League Final. He could even be Europe's second-best player right now, after teammate Karim Benzema.
Perez had a strategy and stuck to it. He was well aware that he would not be able to "hit" on every young signing, especially when spending around 50 million euros on young prospects with limited experience in various leagues. But he also knew that if he trusted his head scout, Juni Calafat, and signed players who were approved by the person in charge of evaluating talent, he would have a good chance of success. All he needed to do, for example, was find two future stars for the attack, and any failed signings would be forgotten.
Perez is getting a return on investment even with players like Brahim and Kubo, who are showing promise but not quite shining on loan. He paid 17 million euros to sign Brahim from Manchester City and has already collected 3.2 million euros in loan fees from Milan. So long as he sells 14 million euros, he will have made a profit. And what about Kubo? He was practically free!
Perez's ability to find new ways to compete with clubs with more money is impressive, and it distinguishes him from the other elite clubs competing with Manchester City, PSG, and the Roman Abramovich-owned Chelsea. He's willing to take chances and put his faith in the people who should be making football decisions to scout players. That may seem obvious, but consider Manchester United as an example of a club that sabotages key decision-makers and Place football decisions in the hands of inept executives.
Perez was once that myopic executive who focused solely on marketing, missing the forest for the trees and dismissing the importance of youth development. Perez is now putting his trust in Juni Calafat and the young talent he signs. Even when fans were ready to give up on Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo, Perez remained steadfast, rejecting all transfer offers from PSG and Liverpool.
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