It was Florentino Pérez who understood, as soon as he became president of Real Madrid for the first time in 2000, what would be the business model that football would follow from that moment on. That is why he embarked on a stellar career in search of bringing together the best bunch of footballers on the planet, as the Bernabéu did in the 1950s with Di Stéfano, Puskas, Gento, Kopa and company … Florentino brought Figo first (60 million). Then came Zidane (75), Ronaldo (45), Beckham (25), Owen (12) … Revenues began to grow exponentially in other concepts beyond the box office, such as marketing and advertising sponsors, and all with one rule: Madrid shared 50% of the image rights with its big stars. That was the take-off of the modern Madrid we know today …
Twenty years later, Florentino Pérez still hasn't lost that perspective. The club, even, does not hesitate to put its future intentions in the entity's economic report, the last one approved in the Assembly. It is like a kind of identity stamp that continues to allow the club's economic viability. “During the period 2000-2020, revenues have grown at an average annual rate of 9.6%,” argues the report, which continues: “Towards the future, the enhancement of the Club's image through investment in large players and international expansion continue to be fundamental factors in maintaining the Club's competitive capacity and its position as a benchmark in world football ”. Therefore, the direction to follow is “the enhancement of the club's image through investment in great players.”
As for Florentino, after that great galactic era, he was able to enjoy as the visible head of the club for a decade with the figure of Cristiano Ronaldo, who signed for 96 million euros in 2009 and that dominated the entire media facet of the entity at that time. After his departure, in 2018, he resorted to the signing of Hazard who, for now, has been a frog …
What will come next? 2021 is the key year, the one that pointed to the incorporation of Mbappé, who will only have one year left on his contract at PSG (ends in 2022) and that could go out for a reasonable price. But the crisis caused by the coronavirus, which has caused revenues to fall by 25% in two years to 617 million (that is what the budget for this season indicates) leaves everything up in the air.
That paragraph in which the accounts of Madrid reveal the intentions for the future can speak of the French crack fundamentally. But they can also do it from Camavinga or Haaland. Rennes' French midfielder has also become a priority to revitalize a media in which Modric is already 35 years old. Having changed agents (Jonathan Barnett now runs, the same as Bale's) it is even clearer that it will be out next summer. At 18 years old, its price will be around 50 million. Haaland, however, is more difficult to leave Borussia Dortmund before 2022 due to the verbal agreement reached by the entity's CEO, Hans-Joaquim Watzke, with his representative, Raiola, not to facilitate his departure until the summer of 2022 That's when Benzema ends his contract …
One way or another, Real Madrid needs to continue living on the signings of campanillas, which are the only ones that ensure income beyond the titles won.