In the last couple of days, Real Madrid have really rocked the football world with big money transfers. First, they set the transfer record fee by signing Brazil's midfield maestro Kaka from AC Milan for £57 million. Then, they beat that record by signing Portugal's sensational winger Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for £80 million, so that is now the new world record transfer fee. The Ronaldo transfer is yet to be completed, but will be so by the end of this month if there are no further complications.
Wow, 2 earth-shattering, bank breaking, big money deals in just a matter of days. "Obscene" money!!! And all this, during the global financial crisis. There's no financial crisis for some, it seems. Anyway, it looks like this is Real Madrid's response to arch-rivals Barcelona winning the treble. They didn't take too kindly to being completely overshadowed by Barcelona (& as a Barca fan, I am only too happy to type this out!!).
Florentino Perez recently returned as Real Madrid's president, after holding that post between 2000 & 2007. Between 2000 & 2003, Perez waved the cheque book to bring Luis Figo (from Barcelona, that traitor!), Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo (the original Brazilian version), & David Beckham to the club. The big money signings were known as the galácticos, & those 4 players were known as the first galácticos. Well, now Perez is back & he promised that Real Madrid would again spend big, to try to return to their former glory days. And look at how he delivered on that promise - first Kaka, then C Ronaldo. Both of them herald in the start of the second galácticos, & there could well be more expensive signings - they really are the order of the day when Perez is around.
Whether the second version can be as successful as the first remains to be seen. Real Madrid won the Spanish league title in 2001 & 2003 & the Champions League in 2002. They signed Beckham after winning the league in 2003, but then won nothing until they won the 2007 Spanish title (yes, Beckham had to wait that long to win his first title with Real). So the first galácticos did pick up some trophies. During 2004 to 2006 (when Real Madrid won no trophies), Barcelona won 2 Spanish league titles (in 2005 & 2006) & the UEFA Champions League in 2006. Do take note that this is the same number of trophies as that won by Real's first galácticos, yet Barcelona had spent far less transfer money than Real Madrid did in signing the first galácticos.
So now that Barcelona got the treble in 2008/2009 season, we shall see what Real's second galácticos can do. Barcelona achieved their success without spending anywhere near as much as Real have done on Kaka & Cristiano Ronaldo alone. Both players are immensely talented, no questions there. But will all that money spent bring success to Real Madrid? Only time will tell. Real Madrid must really win big to even begin to justify all that spending. If Real don't achieve sufficient success, imagine the repercussions!
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