Who is Florentino Perez

Florentino Perez Rodriguez splits his time between Spain's largest construction company, Grupo ACS (Actividades de Construccion y Servicios) and the world's most valuable sports team, Real Madrid. 

Perez essentially invented Real Madrid's modern business model, signing major stars like David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane in his first tenure as president, between 2000 and 2006, boosting commercial revenues and making the team number one in terms of worldwide sales. 

Re-elected in 2009, Florentino's Real Madrid outpaced Manchester United to become the world's most valuable soccer club in 2013. Florentino has also been president and CEO of Grupo ACS since 1997. 

He owns a 12.5% stake in the global construction company and his current net worth is estimated at $1.64b.

Pérez first ran for the presidency of Real Madrid in the 1995 election and campaigned on the poor financial situation of the club and the alleged mismanagement by the board. On that occasion he lost to the much loved incumbent Ramón Mendoza.

His second attempt was more successful when he took over as president in 2000, beating the current chairman at that time, Lorenzo Sanz. 

In his campaign Pérez also promised the incredible - to bring in Luís Figo from Barcelona – which played a key role in the outcome of the elections. He was then re-elected in 2004 on a similar platform – a policy to bring some of the best football players in the world to Real Madrid each season. 

The strategy became made the Real Madrid squad became known as Galácticos. 

In 2001, Zinedine Zidane was signed from Juventus for a then-world record transfer fee of €73.5 million. A move that was followed in 2009 with Ronaldo, after short periods of David Beckham and Michael Owen playing at the club in their later years. The Brazilian superstar Robinho was also signed in 2005 but failed to impress and was off loaded to Manchester City.

In the first Perez Presidency Real Madrid won two Spanish Championships and a record ninth Champions League trophy. The club also sold the valuable Ciudad Deportiva training ground in central Madrid and cleared the club’s outstanding debt.

In the 2002–03 season, Pérez decided not to renew Vicente del Bosque's contract, despite Real capturing a 29th La Liga title. The move led to the departure of a number of the old guard including Fernando Hierro, Fernando Morientes, Steve McManaman and Claude Makélélé.

Regardless increased financial success came the club’s way as it exploited marketing potential around the world, especially in Asia and North America. However, increasing criticism for the marketing of the brand and not enough success on the football pitch, saw Perez resign in 2006, acknowledging that the team and the club needed a new direction.

Amidst the economic crisis Pérez was the only one able to provide the €57,389,000 guarantee necessary to run for the presidency in 2008

In 2013 Pérez was awarded a fourth term as the Real Madrid president and brought in PSG manager Carlo Ancelotti – one of only six people to have lifted the European Champion Clubs' Cup as both a player and coach. Also the second manager, after Bob Paisley, to win the trophy three times. As a player he won back-to-back European Cup triumphs in 1989 and 1990.

Pérez also brought Welsh footballer and PFA Player of the Year Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for €100m - again breaking the world record. 

Florentino also announced Real is seeking to sell the naming rights for its stadium and looking for a sponsor for the €400 million project. The proposed design of the stadium renovation, produced by German architects GMP, was unveiled in 2014. 

The new design includes a retractable roof, with the overall cost of around €400m likely to be met half via the sale of naming rights and half via a bond issue to Real members. 

"We want to make the Santiago Bernabéu the best stadium in the world".

The same season proved a resounding success, as Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey and its much sought after tenth Champions League title – La Decima

In 2015 Ancelotti’s contract was not renewed and his replacement was former Liverpool, and Napoli manager Rafa Benitez – and local boy come good - who joined last June.

On January 4th 2016 Zinedine Zidane replaced Rafa.

It has been a long-time dream of Florentino Perez that a former Galactico manage the Galacticos. The most decorated French footballer now gets that chance and Perez will hoe that he does not have a Materazzi moment.

Factfile - Florentino Perez

Age: 68

Source of Wealth: construction, Self-Made

Residence: Madrid, Spain

Citizenship: Spain

Marital Status: Married

Children: 3 

#12 billionaire in in Spain

Last five Real Madrid managers
Win percentage
Juande Ramos 2008-2009 66%
Manuel Pellegrini 2009-2010 75%
Jose Mouirnho 2010-2013 72%
Carlo Ancelotti 2013-2015 75%

Rafael Benitez 2015-2016 68%

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Why United Should Say No Way Jose

Claudio Ranieri was everything the Premier League needed this season. A manager brimming experience – good and bad; full of character; natural humility; a winning ethos and most importantly, an understated ego. The fact that Leicester City did so well all during the season ensured that we all came to know him better as with every victory came another interview. All of which were entertaining and interesting. With a touch of “will he or won’t he do the business for The Foxes to all of them. Even up day the club were to win the title Claudio was in Italy having lunch with his 97-year-old mother. A touch of class one would have to say and everything that makes the game of football truly beautiful. Therefor thought that Jose Mourinho may return to the Premier League as the boss at Manchester United is horrendous. His last game was at King Power before he was sacked and the Special ego got in the way of the job once again.

If true that he will be back the airwaves will be once again cluttered with his weekly nonsensical musings about matches. Or a streams of criticisms of match officials all of whom are seemingly part of an inter galactic conspiracy to make his life tough. Which at one time amused the press in the mixed zone, as The Special One was always able to muster a distraction, but have now become monotonous. His record at Real Madrid prior to the second coming at Chelsea used the same Modus Operandi and so few cried when he finally left the club in 2013. The polar opposite to the case were Ranieri to leave the King Power Stadium this week to take the Italy national; job for example. The City would draw to a halt in sick as the Italian has epitomised everything the sport should stands for; his club representing the spirit that football has enshrined over the decades. That over the years have eroded as the player wallets got bigger but somehow has been revitalised for the next generation of fans with the new Champions.

Not unlike Kevin Keegan or Graham Taylor in their time, Ranieri also introduced a new vernacular in the world of football speak - Dingly dingly dong.

Clearly the success of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United has come at an unforeseen price with the club apparently still unable to chart a path to success ever since the Scot retired. With his immediate replacement David Moyes failing to deliver results after arriving with an impeccable CV from Everton. Now the pedigree of Dutchman Louis van Gaal has failed to quell the rumours that his time may also be up now. And a narrative that has proved a constant irritant as the media repeat the questions almost weekly about his imminent demise. Which probably helps explains why Mourinho was so popular with the press as he provided easy copy daily for the less industrious writers. As van Gaal is less articulate in English the obsession became personalised and ultimately a negative force. 

The latest reports now suggest that Mourinho may be a shoe in within days or hours to formally replace Mourinho former boss/ partner at Barcelona. Unimaginable though before the FA Cup Final next week.

With no track record in young players at any of his clubs and rarely lasting more than three season seasons at any in recent years Mourinho seems a strange choice for United given the need for longer term stability. Rather than a quick fix. Having just trusted van Gaal and arguably failing the long running rumours may solidify into fact pretty soon. With the added pressure of Pep Guardiola installed across at City it might make the fact that Jose was not originally selected when Ferguson left now irrelevant. When needs must the devil rides so they say and as the composition of the board has changed somewhat and the US owners are more anxious for results. Particularly seeing fellow American John W Henry enjoy a resurgence at the club’s other rivals Liverpool. The club now in the Europa League Final under Juergen Klopp – a new era manager with a proven reputation. 

So the Glazers may bite the bullet and bring in Mourinho offering him an open chequebook to buy what he needs. Which is one thing Jose knows how to do – that is spend money - but not always effectively.

In truth Jose is more PSG material where with Middle East owners are not afraid to test the limits of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play and would enable the Portuguese manager to spend his way to success. More easily won in a Ligue 1 where Paris clearly now dominate and that allow focus to remain on the Champions League with minimal player rotation. Unfortunately, the incumbent Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc has extended his contract until the end of the 2017/18 season. But the 50-year-old former France World Cup winner in 1998 has also played for United and knows the club. Having led PSG to back-to-back Ligue 1 titles and only last season completed an unprecedented treble of league, League Cup and French Cup triumphs he oozes ability. Which is more than Mourinho at this time and with a contrasting style that would befit the Old Trafford Club in their current battles. 

Surely United could attract his interest as Blanc has failed to get his hands on the Champions league trophy in this three years at the club after replacing Carlo Ancelotti. So a change might be good.

Earlier this season in the first meeting of Chelsea and Leicester City Mourinho proved true to type and particularly after being defeated at Kings Power stadium to long-time rival Ranieri. It was a loss that left Chelsea resting around the drop zone area and put Mourinho out of work. An imaginable thought less than six months prior when the Special One was heroically celebrating another Premier League title at Stamford Bridge. So no doubt that even the darkest of humour could not have laughed that situation off. Even less so Mourinho – who fails in that department – and takes himself far too seriously. Therein lying his problem as his players seemed to desert him leaving the manager isolated on the side-lines at his hour of most need and helpless to correct anything. Seeking solace with megaphone diplomacy to reach out to his players in recent weeks. The opposite to Ranieri another former Chelsea manager.

For all Mourinho’s alleged suaveness and style, he is unable to do a number of basic things required of an experienced football manager – the first is having a thick skin. Also to accept defeat when it arises, understand the vagaries of refereeing, display some humility when there are short comings to his plans, or even accepting blame at times for mistakes. Most importantly though, moving on to the next game and leaving the past behind him. 

That’s not for him as it is always the blame game and at Leicester City it was the turn of the ball boys – who allegedly in Jose’s eyes – were too slow giving back the balls to his players towards the end of that game. Perhaps playing a causal role in the Chelsea’s loss as a result in his view. The need to win at all costs is something that has worked well over the years since he first landed on the football landscape with the Champions League win at Porto in 2004. Having repeated the feat with Inter Milan in 2010 and added league titles in four European jurisdictions his CV leaves him in an exclusive club no doubt. However, it does not all read like a fairy tale as at each of the clubs he has left behind some level of crisis as he is capable of starting a row on his own in a phone booth - when the mood takes him. With an ability to also target those players who he feels carry too much power in his dressing room. Or too high profile in his eyes. 

Hence Juan Mata was shipped out off to United on Jose’s return to Chelsea despite having played his best season at the club the previous year. 

Mourinho then chose to find a home for Radamel Falcao for some reason at Stamford Bridge - someone who hardly played a game since leaving Monaco - and carrying an injury since dominating the headlines for Atletico Madrid they won Europa league in 2013. In addition, the chase for Diego Costa, who also had established himself as Falcao’s replacement at Atletico under Diego Simeone - but was injured toward the end of the season – even coming off in the Champions League Final in Lisbon. Which was followed by a poor world cup with Spain in Brazil, and unable to reclaim his place under Del Bosque. It took time but he eventually outperformed all expectations in his first season for Chelsea. But has been absent without trace this year.

Perhaps Jose’s best decision was to sell David Luiz – doing so at the top of the market during the last world cup – and before the splendour of the home teams hopes imploded on the Copacabana – when they were dumped out by Germany. With PSG paying €50 million euros for a player even Rafa Benitez could not decide was a defender or midfielder. And lest we forget there were some other astute moves like coaxing Cesc Fabregas back to London from Barcelona, a move that paid dividends for both parties as the former Arsenal player delivered last season. Eden hazard was another that repaid Mourinho’s faith as did Drogba when he returned from China.

But ever since the unneccary Eva Carneiro incident Hazard has only been a shadow of his former self, as indeed has been Fabregas. With neither performing as needed this season. Why Oscar wasn’t sold during the transfer window was another bizarre Jose decision given that he was unable to hold his place in the physicality of Mourinho’s game plan in the Premier League.

As the former Liverpool striker and one time Wales and Real Madrid manager, John Toshack, used to say - even top class managers last only three seasons. The one in which they arrive and acclimatise to the job, which then may pose problems in the second if there is the need to win something and prove the honeymoon is over. With the third possibly cut short even if titles were won year as the winning laurels are easily forgotten if not maintained. The exit door the surest guarantee. As occurred at Real when Mourinho accused the players of leaking team information to the media. The two targets in his sights proving immovable club stalwarts, captain Iker Casillas and vice-captain, Sergio Ramos and the ensuing carnage during the club’s chase for the tenth Champions League title.

No doubt Mourinho’s own paranoia get the better of him also given his need to control all events with that over exaggerated self-belief. Which don’t make him immune to life’s realities. Those times when events are not going his way for example and there is an urgent need for Plan B. It appears that Mourinho doesn’t do that second plan. Its all or nothing for him.

At Chelsea that inability to adapt cost him the job he craved at United once Real Madrid agreed to dispense with his services. Whether going back to Stamford Bridge was wise is now a redundant argument as they won trophies last season. With the chastening experience of the current developments one imagines Madrid would not seek his services ever again. With Porto not big enough anymore and Inter offering no vacancy either. From all the soundings through his agent it is clear that Mourinho wants another go in the Premier League to right the perceived wrongs. 

If the bookies were to be believed at the time his departure  the move was contrived to secure the Special One a spot at Old Trafford - the place he always wanted - but was never offered. The club selcting instead the low key choices of David Moyes and then the pedigree of van Gaal that were the preferred options. But both proving short of the mark thus far and leaving the United board still facing the Fergie replacement problem four years on. With that overriding sense of desperation it may mean Mourinho does come back.

But would we would not be all better off with less of the bitter Mourinho and more of the Real Special One, Claudio Ranieri.

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OSM - Florentino Still Needs a Real Plan

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Florentino Perez is no doubt choking on his copos de maiz this bright Sunday November morning as he struggles to find any tasteful headline on the front pages of Madrid’s sports dailies, Marca and AS. Hoping to avoid the screaming headlines coming from Catalunya where Mundo Deportivo, La Grada, SPORT and L’Esportiu focus the numbers 0-4 all over the place. With supporting quotes from Barcelona manager Luis Enrique saying: "This victory tastes glorious because it is against our eternal rivals," said Enrique, who played for both sides. "It will be very difficult for us to better this performance." 

Enough to put anyone in the Real Madrid camp off their breakfast following the teams shattering home defeat by four goals to nil at the Santiago Bernabeu. None more so than Rafael Benitez who may be undercover in the safety of Liverpool perhaps with his family following the fallout from El Clasico. The news no better from Merseyside where Juergen Klopp celebrates a 4-1 thrashing of Manchester City on Saturday at the Etihad. The kind of news that will resurrect the questions as to why Perez couldn’t convince the German to come to Madrid.

Under normal circumstances Florentino has a plan when a manager is let go, fired or departs under mutual consent. On this occasion it didn’t seem to be the case and almost surreptitiously Benitez became the choice – and the only choice. Catching even the Spanish press off guard in July as there was so little pomp and ceremony. All strange given that the end of season under Carlo Ancelotti became a debacle his departure was heralded well in advance. Usually a signal that the new and better alternative is ready for action. 

The complication appears to have been Juergen Klopp rigidly sticking to his plans for a sabbatical year – a plan that Fenway Sports Management seem to have easily broken – when the German joined Liverpool after Rodger was fired. Confirming in a way that somewhere along the line the Real Madrid President’s best laid plan was foiled.

Now post a humiliating defeat to Barca the options for Rafa Benitez and Florentino Perez seem limited. With only a quick written letter to Papa Noel able to save the manager from the sack at this moment in time. Given that the media were already on his case about the style of play and the defeat to Sevilla even before Saturday’s clash. The added discontent displayed by Cristiano Ronaldo these days fans the flames of another spectre for Perez also. Adding to the general malaise amongst the squad following quotes emanating from the social media conscious, Sergio Ramos. 

With Gareth Bale struggling with injury – and still not flavour of the month at Madrid – he is looking more likely to return to the premier league next year. Despite the best protestations of his agent, Jonathan Barnett.

For Rafa the next few days will be Shankly-esque. Indeed pale in comparison to any of the worst days at Liverpool, or Napoli. Or indeed the battles he faced when he stepped in as interim manager at Chelsea. Prior to Mourinho’s return. A man whose name has also been quoted as a candidate to return to the club. As has Ancelotti and indeed Guus Hiddink. All of whom would only be short term replacements as the club seeks out their long term candidate. 

In the short term the issue is whether Benitez can be rehabilitated as the current candidate. Or will the club expedite Zidane or Fernando Hierro to step in the breach,

Clearly Florentino now needs a plan. 

It maybe one that does not include the former Real Madrid player - Rafael Benitez Maudes

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Coleman Believes Bale will Stay

Chris Coleman believes Gareth Bale will stay at Real Madrid - and that Wales will benefit from the forward’s decision. The 26-year-old has been linked with a move to Manchester United but Wales manager Coleman is convinced Bale’s future lies with the Spanish side.

Coleman, speaking after the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying draw in St Petersburg, said: “Gareth will do what he wants to do, he’s good enough to play for any team on the planet but I think he will probably end up staying at Madrid and who would blame him for that?

“There is pressure in playing for Real Madrid but Gareth is one of those players who can handle that. The demands of playing in the Premier League and the demands of playing in La Liga are different. From our point of view we get a fresh Gareth Bale – if he’s in the English Premier League physically it’s more demanding.”

Coleman also rejected claims that Bale’s contribution to Wales is so great that they are effectively a one-man team.

“No one has ever said that to me and anyone who has ever seen us play would not say that. We have a lot of talent in our team, all our success has been down to a team ethic and Gareth fits into that. We are difficult team to play against, we are hard to break down and we have goalscorers and match-winners.

“We have also got a group of 11 players on the pitch who are prepared to defend for their lives. If you look at our record in this European campaign so far we have conceded one penalty and one free-kick. You can’t be a one-man team with a defensive record like that.”

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Wales’ only appearance in the World Cup finals was in 1958, but they were drawn as top seeds in Group D along with the Republic of Ireland, Austria, Serbia, Moldova and Georgia.

Coleman, who added he would focus on qualifying for Euro 2016 in France before thinking about a new deal to take him through to Russia, said: “It’s a long time isn’t it? First and foremost we have got to take care of qualifying for France. After we know our fate with France we can start concentrating on the World Cup but we know it has been a long time since 1958 and we know we have got a lot of work to do in the Euros yet.

“It’s been widely-publicised my contract is coming up at the end of the Euros and we are all just keeping our eye on that tournament because we can’t afford to start thinking too far ahead. There is a lot of work to be done and once we know our fate we can start thinking about everything else.”

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OSM - Gareth Could Bale Out Real Perez

Mystery Mates

Paul Breitner and Kevin Keegan

info@optimum-sports.com

Real DeGea Deal on Football Leaks

David de Gea was set to earn £9.2m a year until 2021 at Real Madrid had he completed a move from Manchester United last summer, according to the Football Leaks website.

United and Madrid in August agreed a £29m transfer that would have seen the goalkeeper swap Old Trafford for the Bernabéu, but the proposed switch fell through after the requisite paperwork was not submitted before the Spanish deadline.

On Monday, Football Leaks published a document it claims is the contract De Gea was due to sign at Madrid. It shows the Spain international would have received a figure of €11,818,182 (£9.2m) for each season from 2015-16 to 2020-21.

There is also mention of a break clause of €500m (£388m), which De Gea would have been obliged to pay if he walked out on his contract.

Only a few days after the move failed to materialise, United announced De Gea – who joined them from Atlético Madrid on a five-year deal in 2011 – had signed a new four-year contract, with an option to extend for a further year.

That deal was reportedly worth £200,000 per week. The figures from the Football Leaks document equate to around £176,000 per week.

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Klopp in Lewandowski Real Chase - Beckenbauer

Honorary Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer stated in a column for German news agency DPA that Robert Lewandowski could soon join Real Madrid. "Lewandowski was already mentioned as a possible Real Madrid target", said the 'Kaiser'." 

Thomas Müller, on the other hand, has already made it clear that he's staying at Bayern, which has made the fans love him even more", he added.

Beckenbauer is predicting a very active transfer market in what remains of January, given Premier League clubs' ever-growing financial muscle and the fact that Real Madrid and Atlético's transfer bans mean they will in theory be unable to make moves in the next two transfer windows because of irregularities linked to signing young players.

Meabwhile, Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, is also hoping he can convince Lewandowski to reject any approach from Real Madrid and get the former Borussia Dortmund striker to join him at Anfield.

Following months of speculation over the 27-year-old's the Bayern Munich president confirmed that Manchester United and Chelsea are also understood to be monitoring the situation.

Lewandowski has managed to score 23 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions this season and Klopp is deperate for Lewandowski to join him on Merseyside. However, with Champions League football looking increasingly unlikely next season the deal would represent a massive coup should Klopp and the club manage to pull it off.

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Bale Madrid Move Real World Record

Gareth Bale's move to Real Madrid has been confirmed as a world-record transfer - despite Real Madrid's attempt to keep it under wraps.

Real have always maintained in public that the deal which took Bale to the Bernabeu from Tottenham in 2013 was not as big as the one that secured Cristiano Ronaldo's switch from Manchester United in 2009.

The La Liga club said that the Bale deal was worth €91.59million, with Ronaldo's fee eclipsing that at €96million - although the British media have always insisted that the Bale transfer was indeed a world record.

But the finer details of the contract have now been revealed in the Spanish media for the first time, with AS reporting that Bale's fee amounted to €100,759,418 after they opted to pay Spurs in instalments rather than up front.

AS - quoting the football website Football Leaks - also claim that the document detailing the deal, which runs to six pages, specified that Real would issue a press release stating that the price of the deal was €91.59million. It also stipulates that Spurs could not reveal any financial details surrounding the transfer to the media.

In section 16 of the document, Real also declared that they would ensure Bale would not make any negative or derogatory comments about Spurs, the club's chairman Daniel Levy or any of its staff.

The significance of the story might be slightly lost on a British public who had always considered Bale's transfer to be a world record, but in Madrid the revelations are likely to have political repercussions.

It has long been thought that Real's insistence that Bale's fee was not as large as Ronaldo's was part of a concerted effort to appease their talismanic forward.

The Sunday Times journalist Jonathan Northcroft claimed earlier this month that he had been asked not to refer to Bale's transfer fee as a world record in an interview he had conducted with the Wales international.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "Real Madrid are a club so worried about image that when I interviewed Bale it was requested to me, 'don't put in the article how much Gareth Bale cost'.

"The reason for that is because it was a world record transfer fee but Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't like to see that someone else cost more than him."

Ronaldo's future at Real remains a matter of intense speculation, with Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United both keen to sign him at the end of the season.

Spanish newspaper Marca, meanwhile, say that Bale's fine form this season will be rewarded with a new contract that could keep him at the club until 2021.

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