The Legacy of Florentino Perez's first tenure as Real Madrid president
Florentino Perez is a name that is forever going to be attached to Real Madrid. Love him or hate him, when the Spanish business tycoon won the elections of 2000, spearheaded by the promise of signing Luis Figo from FC Barcelona (which he fulfilled), he led a revolution that has arguably changed Real Madrid forever.
So, here are some of the most prominent reasons of Florentino's legacy at Real Madrid during his first tenure.
Los Galacticos
There is no denying that when most people think of Perez's first tenure as Real Madrid president, the Galacticos are the first thing that comes to mind. It makes sense, though, since it was one of the man's biggest factors to become the club's president in the first place and also made a huge change in the way transfers worked in the sport.Perez had a very clear mission, which was turning Madrid into a football juggernaut both on and off the pitch. And while the club was already successful by the time he took over in the summer of 2000, having won the UEFA Champions League that year (and in 1998), he wanted to push the envelope and go further beyond.
This is where Los Galacticos showed up: Florentino's tactic of signing the best players in the world and form a star-studded squad like the world had never seen before. That was also partially what got him the 2000 elections in the first place: the promise that he was going to sign Luis Figo, then Barcelona's captain and best player.
The Portuguese starlet arrived that summer and it was a watershed moment for the club and world football as a whole, with Figo costing a record fee. This was furth emphasized the following summer when he signed Zinedine Zidane, later signing Ronaldo in 2002, David Beckham in 2003, and Michael Owen in 2004.
It was a very ambitious project that paid dividends with a 2002 UEFA Champions League trophy and a 2003 La Liga title, but beyond that, there is no argument that Los Galacticos were the most star-studded squad in the history of modern football.
The lack of balance
While Los Galacticos were a huge revolution for world football and Madrid as a whole, the truth of the matter is that approach came with a cost. Perez wanted an approach of young academy players and stars in the squad, which he labeled "Zidanes and Pavones", with the second part of the title referring to Francisco Pavon, a defender from the academy.However, the success Madrid had in the late 90s and early 2000s wasn't just down to huge stars or academy products. There were several players, such as Claude Makelele, Fernando Morientes, or Santiago Solari, who were perhaps not world class but good enough to keep a degree of balance in the squad.
Perez didn't see eye to eye with many of them and slowly began to cut them from the squad, with Makelele's sale to Chelsea in the summer of 2003 being the most controversial. Back in those days, the business tycoon didn't think that the French defensive midfielder would be so hard to replace but the lack of balance was beginning to show during that season.
This is something very important to take into account because it showed the lack of foresight that Perez had back in those days. It is something he definitely fixed during his second tenure but pretty much doomed the first one.
The excessive focus on commerciality
One of the most underrated reasons Florentino Perez's tenure fell apart the first time around was the excessive focus on commerciality. While business is a normal part of football, the Madrid president didn't have a lot of foresight regarding the impact an excessive amount of attention on that could have.An element a lot of people don't know is that the rise of Los Galacticos led to a lot of preseasons in China, Japan, and other highly profitable markets for the club, which is alright, but the lack of proper preparation took a huge toll. A lot of players have mentioned over the years that their preseasons back in those years didn't give them the preparation they needed to perform on the pitch because they were always doing commercial activities.
This is very important because it shows that the club was struggling to balance the focus on sports and commerce, leading to a lot of frustrating situations on the pitch. Ultimately, Real Madrid is a football club and the focus should have been on performing on the pitch, which is what originally led to this club being so popular in the first place.
Conclusion
Florentino Perez's first tenure as Real Madrid president had a lot of ups and downs but it was ultimately extremely important for the club at the long term. It cemented Madrid as a much more modern club in the 21st century and also raised the institution's status even further by having the likes of Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, and Beckham.However, it was also a cautionary tale of what happens when a club is not focusing on football and the consequences this can have in the long term.
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