Lorenzo Sanz passed away this Saturday in Madrid at the age of 76. The businessman had different businesses throughout his life but became famous when he occupied the main seat of the Santiago Bernabéu's presidential box since Ramón Mendoza's resignation on November 26, 1995. His legacy is history. He returned the European Cup to the club 32 years later with the Seventh (1998), added the Eighth (2000), also won a League, an Intercontinental and a Spanish Super Cup and signed players who marked an era in the white club.
The first summer, 1996 when the Gallaghers were still together and Wonderwall was one of the themes of the year, He was the first to design the squad and undertook signings to revolutionize the team for an equivalent price that exceeded 50 million euros., a real fortune at the time.
As for transfers, the best known of his career, that of Pedja Mijatovic, closed. The Titograd forward, current Podgorica, signed on July 1 after Real Madrid deposited with the LFP the termination clause that tied him to Valencia: 1,489 million pesetas. Sanz negotiated with Pedja during the entire previous campaign when he was in Mestalla without Francisco Roig, president of Ché, knowing about it, which sparked a crossing of statements in the media and strained the rivalry between the two clubs when he left.
The move would go well for Lorenzo Sanz as a Montenegrin goal would end a 32-year drought without winning the European Cup only one season after arrival.
That same summer he brought in another club legend, Roberto Carlos, who would remain on the team until 2007 without anyone moving him from the Bernabéu's left wing. Inter released him in exchange for six million euros.
In addition, he also dressed Suker, Seedorf, Illgner, Panucci and Zé Roberto in white. The Croatian and the German triumphed at Real Madrid while the 10, the Italian and the Brazilian demonstrated their best level further from the Bernabéu. Seedorf shone for a decade at Milan, Zé Roberto did so at Bayer Leverkusen and at Bayern and Panucci in Rome.
There was no other summer like it
Lorenzo Sanz kept looking for stars to reinforce the team but there was no other summer like the one in 1996. In the winter of '98, they finally managed to bring to Karembeu, after a tug-of-war of months with Sampdoria. The New Caledonian left two marks for white history in the achievement of the Seventh against Leverkusen and against Borussia Dortmund. That same year Savio came from Flamengo, and two Spaniards who would spend some years in the white discipline leaving a good memory: Fernando Morientes and Aitor Karanka.
The third season was more dedicated to sales, with the departures of Zé Roberto, Dani García, Amavisca or Santi Cañizares to add touches to the European champion squad with less-than-blinding signings.
In the last of Sanz, the 99/00, spending soared with a very powerful investment (more than 30 million) in Nicolas Anelka, at that time, promising French striker for Arsenal. Another 21 were spent at Elvir Baljic and up to 8 at Ognjenovic. In the end, the ones that came out the best were the cheapest: Michel Salgado, for which 6 million were paid to Celta, Iván Helguera, which cost 2.5 million and Steve McManaman, who came free from Liverpool.
That was a year of staff reform in which they came out Seedorf (€ 24m to Inter), Mijatovic (€ 12m to Fiorentina), Panucci (€ 9.3m to Inter), Davor Suker (€ 5m to Arsenal) and Samuel Eto'o, which did not materialize in Madrid and was sold for € 4.5 million to Mallorca at just 18 years old.
On May 24, 2000, Lorenzo Sanz's Real Madrid won the Eighth in Paris against Valencia and on July 16 called elections, in which he fell in front of Florentino Pérez, current president of the club ending his stage at the head of the white entity.