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Florentino Pérez

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Florentino Pérez[1]
Born
Florentino Pérez Rodríguez

(1947-03-08) March 8, 1947 (age 77)
Hortaleza, Madrid, Spain
NationalitySpanish
Alma materTechnical University of Madrid
OccupationCivil Engineer
Known forPresident of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol
Board member ofGrupo ACS (C.E.O.)
SpouseMaría Ángeles "Pitina" Sandoval Montero (died 22 May 2012)[2]
ChildrenMaría Ángeles Pérez Sandoval
Eduardo Pérez Sandoval
Florentino Pérez Sandoval
RelativesEduardo Pérez del Barrio (father)
Soledad Rodríguez Pérez (mother)[3]

Florentino Pérez Rodríguez (Spanish pronunciation: [floɾenˈtino ˈpeɾeθ roˈðɾiɣeθ]; born 8 March 1947) is a Spanish businessman, civil engineer, former politician, and current president of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, as well as ACS. He is most famous for ushering Real Madrid's period of Los Galácticos, a time in which he paid extremely high transfer fees for elite footballers.

Biography

Pérez joined the Democratic Center Union party in 1979, serving among other in the city council of Madrid.

In 1986, Pérez ran in the Spanish general elections as candidate for the Partido Reformista Democrático (Democratic Reform Party). He attended choeifat Polytechnic University of Madrid.[5]

In 1993, he was named vice president of OCP Construcciones. After the fusion of OCP with Gines y Navarro into Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. (ACS) in 1997, he became president of the new company.

Real Madrid

Florentino Pérez first ran for the presidency of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol in the 19 February 1995 election. He campaigned on the poor financial situation of the club and the alleged mismanagement by the board extensively, but lost to the incumbent Ramón Mendoza by 700 votes.

First term

His second attempt was more successful when he took over as president in 2000, beating the current chairman at that time, Lorenzo Sanz. Sanz assumed that the recently won European Cups in 1998 and 2000 would give him enough credit to win the elections, but Pérez's campaign, once again highlighting the financial problems of the club and claims of mismanagement by the previous boards, proved otherwise. Pérez's promise to bring in Luís Figo from arch-rivals FC Barcelona also played a decisive role in the elections. Pérez was reelected in 2004 with 94.2% of the total votes.

Luís Figo also marked the start of Pérez's policy to bring one of the best football players in the world to Real Madrid each season. The strategy was initially known as that of Zidanes y Pavones - in which superstars would play alongside the Canteranos, but the players were soon popularly referred to as Galácticos. In 2001, Zinedine Zidane was signed from Juventus for a world record transfer fee of €73.5 million. He was followed by Ronaldo in 2002, David Beckham in 2003, Michael Owen in 2004, and Robinho for a short while in 2005. Initially, Pérez's policy worked to great success, because each Galáctico built their squads around the player, and had a more proper team balance of attack and defense. In his first years in office, Real Madrid won two Spanish Championships and its record ninth European Cup.

Pérez claimed success in clearing the club's debt; however, this was contradicted by director Ramón Calderón.

After the 2002–03 season, Pérez decided not to renew Vicente del Bosque's contract, despite Real capturing a 29th La Liga title. Del Bosque was able to balance the many different modern player egos in the star studded team. It was widely believed that there was a political split, with del Bosque and his players (Fernando Hierro, Fernando Morientes, Steve McManaman, and Claude Makélélé) on one side, and Pérez on the other. All of the aforementioned players left the club in 2003 in Pérez's shakeup bid to regain control.

In particular, Claude Makélélé, considered one of the best defensive midfielders at the time and a key component to Real's successes, decided to ask for an improved contract with the support of teammates Zidane, Raúl, Steve McManaman, and Fernando Morientes. Up to this time, Makélélé was also one of Real Madrid's most under-paid members, earning a fraction of what was paid to the Galácticos, but Pérez flatly refused to consider Makélélé's request. Upset, Makélélé handed in a transfer request, whereupon he was promptly dispatched to Chelsea. Pérez infamously poured scorn on Makélélé's footballing abilities and proclaimed that Makélélé would not be missed, saying: "We will not miss Makélélé. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past opponents, and 90% of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways."

After Makélélé was sold, Pérez signed a number of high-profile attackers, including Michael Owen, Júlio Baptista, and Robinho, in accordance with his Galáctico policy. Unfortunately, all of the Galáticos were attacking players, with generally limited defensive roles and abilities, and Pérez failed to adequately replace Makélélé in the holding midfielder's role. Negotiations to sign Patrick Vieira from Arsenal in 2004 failed because of Pérez's refusal to pay high wages for "defensive players".

Several years after leaving Real, McManaman and Morientes stated that Makélélé was the most important and least appreciated midfielder, the latter saying "The loss of Makélélé was the beginning of the end for Los Galácticos... You can see that it was also the beginning of a new dawn for Chelsea." From the 2003–04 season onward, with the absence of del Bosque and Makélélé, Real Madrid failed to win a trophy.

Though Pérez's policy resulted in increased financial success based on the exploitation of the club's high marketing potential around the world, especially in Asia, it came under increasing criticism for being focused too much on marketing the Real Madrid brand and not enough on the football.

He announced his resignation on 27 February 2006, acknowledging that the team and the club as a whole needed a new direction.[6]

Second term

On 14 May 2009, Pérez announced his candidacy for President of Real Madrid in a press conference at the Hotel Ritz Madrid.[7] On 1 June 2009, given that he was the only candidate able to provide the €57,389,000 guarantee necessary to run for the presidency, Pérez was announced as the new president of Real Madrid.[8][9]

Pérez has continued with the Galácticos policy pursued in his first term. On 8 June 2009, he bought Kaká from Milan for just under £60 million.[10] On 11 June, Manchester United accepted an £80 million offer for Cristiano Ronaldo, which would once again break the world record. On 25 June, Pérez and Real Madrid announced the signing of Valencia centre-back Raúl Albiol for €15 million.[11] On 1 July, Pérez bought Karim Benzema from Olympique Lyonnais for at least £30 million and could rise to £35 million, depending on his success.

On 5 August 2009, Real Madrid confirmed the signing of Xabi Alonso from Liverpool[12] for £30 million, becoming the second Liverpool player to join Real Madrid in the same transfer window after full-back Álvaro Arbeloa's £3.5 million switch to the Santiago Bernabéu in July.

On 31 May 2010, Florentino Perez presented José Mourinho as new coach of Real Madrid for £6.8M.

On 1 July 2010 Real Madrid announced that Sergio Canales will join the team from Racing Santander. The fee was believed to be €4.5 million plus incentives.

On 8 July Real Madrid signed Argentina International Ángel di María from Benfica. The transfer fee was a total of €25 million plus €11 million on incentives.

On 15 July 2010, Real Madrid confirmed the transfer of Pedro León for €10 million from Getafe.

On 30 July 2010 Real Madrid signed Germany international Sami Khedira from VfB Stuttgart for €14 million.

On 10 August 2010, Real Madrid signed Ricardo Carvalho for a reported fee of £8 million on a 2–year contract with an optional third from Chelsea.

On 17 August 2010 Real Madrid confirmed that they secured the signing of Germany's World Cup 2010 star Mesut Özil from Werder Bremen for €15 million.

Real Madrid's signings for the 2010/11 season (Canales, di María, Pedro León, Khedira, Carvalho and Özil) were presented at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium before the match against Peñarol kicked-off. The fans at the stadium gave each player a clamourous welcome.

On Sunday June 2nd, Perez was awarded yet another term as the Real Madrid President

Signings

Rank Player From Transfer Fee
(£ millions)		 Transfer Fee
(€ millions)		 Year
1. Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo England Manchester United 80.0[13] 94.0[14] 2009
2. Brazil Kaká Italy Milan 56.8[15] 65.8[16] 2009
3. France Zinedine Zidane Italy Juventus 46.0[17] 76.0 2001
4. Portugal Luís Figo Spain Barcelona 37.0[18] 58.5 2000
5. Brazil Ronaldo Italy Internazionale 28.5[19] 43.0 2002
6. Croatia Luka Modrić England Tottenham Hotspur 32.0 40.0 2012
7. England David Beckham England Manchester United 24.5[20] 35.1 2003
8. France Karim Benzema France Lyon 30.0[15] 35.0[16] 2009
9. Spain Xabi Alonso England Liverpool 30.0 35.4[21] 2009
10. Portugal Fábio Coentrão Portugal Benfica 27.1 30.0[22] 2011
11. Spain Sergio Ramos Spain Sevilla 18.6 27.0[23] 2005
12. Argentina Ángel di María Portugal Benfica 20.5 25.0[24] 2010
13. Argentina Walter Samuel Italy Roma 16.8 25.0[25] 2004
14. Brazil Robinho Brazil Santos 16.5[26] 24.0 2005
15. Brazil Júlio Baptista Spain Sevilla 13.8[27] 20.0 2005
16. England Jonathan Woodgate England Newcastle United 13.4[28] 19.8 2004
17. Spain Raúl Albiol Spain Valencia 12.8 15.0[29] 2009
18. Germany Mesut Özil Germany Werder Bremen 12.3 15.0[30] 2010
19. Germany Sami Khedira Germany Stuttgart 11.4 14.0[30] 2010
20. France Claude Makélélé Spain Celta de Vigo 09.1 14.0[31] 2000
21. England Michael Owen England Liverpool 08.0[32] 11.9 2004
22. Turkey Nuri Şahin Germany Borussia Dortmund 08.1 10.0[33] 2011
23. Spain Pedro León Spain Getafe 08.0 10.0[34] 2010
24. Portugal Ricardo Carvalho England Chelsea 06.5 08.0 [35] 2010
25. Italy Antonio Cassano Italy Roma 03.8 05.5[36] 2006
26. Spain Sergio Canales Spain Racing Santander 03.8 04.5[37] 2010
27. Spain Esteban Granero Spain Getafe 03.4 04.0[38] 2009
28. Spain Álvaro Arbeloa England Liverpool 03.0 04.0[39] 2009
29. Uruguay Pablo García Spain Osasuna 02.7 04.0[40] 2005
30. Denmark Thomas Gravesen England Everton 02.5[41] 03.6 2005
31. Spain Dani Carvajal Germany Bayer Leverkusen 05.5 06.5 2013

Players marked in bold are currently in the team.

Other offices
Preceded by President of Real Madrid
2000–2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Real Madrid
2009–Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

Template:Persondata

References

  1. ^ Immediately back to work after the Berlusconi Cup at juventus.com
  2. ^ Death of "Pitina" Sandoval
  3. ^ Soledad Rodríguez Pérez
  4. ^ "#536 Florentino Perez - World's Billionaires". Forbes.com. 10 March 2009.
  5. ^ "#677 Florentino Perez". Forbes. 5 March 2008.
  6. ^ Naughton, Philippe; Costello, Miles (28 February 2006). "President quits troubled Real". The Times. London. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  7. ^ Florentino Perez announces candidacy
  8. ^ First measures adopted by the Real Madrid Board of DirectorsANNOUNCEMENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
  9. ^ "Perez to return as Real president". BBC Sport. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  10. ^ The Times Madrid Signs Kaká http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article6458907
  11. ^ http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202774661659/noticia/ComunicadoOficial/Official_Announcement_2009-06-25.htm and Karim Benzema from Lyon
  12. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/8184444.stm Xabi Alonso from Liverpool
  13. ^ Taylor, Daniel. "Manchester United accept £80m Cristiano Ronaldo bid from Real Madrid". London: Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  14. ^ "OFFICIAL: Manchester United Accept Real Madrid Bid For Ronaldo". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  15. ^ a b Burt, Jason. "Kaka joins Real Madrid from AC Milan in world-record £56million move". London: Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  16. ^ a b "AC Milan And Real Madrid Agree Kaka Transfer, Says Spanish Radio". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  17. ^ "Zidane". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  18. ^ "Luís Figo". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  19. ^ "Ronaldo". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  20. ^ "Beckham joins Real Madrid". BBC.co.uk. 18 June 2003. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  21. ^ "Xabi Alonso". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  22. ^ "Madrid confirm Coentrão transfer from Benfica". UEFA.com. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  23. ^ "Sergio Ramos". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  24. ^ "El Real Madrid hace oficial el fichaje de Di María". Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  25. ^ "Walter Samuel" (PDF). Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  26. ^ "Real Madrid sign striker Robinho in £16.5m deal". London: Independent.co.uk. 22 July 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  27. ^ "Real pip Arsenal to sign Baptista". BBC.co.uk. 29 July 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  28. ^ "Real Madrid sign Woodgate". BBC.co.uk. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  29. ^ "Real Madrid sign Raul Albiol and step up Karim Benzema chase". London: Telegraph.co.uk. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  30. ^ a b "Terms agreed with Real Madrid". vfb.de. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  31. ^ "Claude Makélélé". Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  32. ^ "Owen unveiled by Real". BBC.co.uk. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  33. ^ "Official Announcement". realmadrid.com. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ "Official Announcement". realmadrid.com. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  35. ^ "Ricardo Carvalho". Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  36. ^ "Madrid unveil Cassano". UEFA.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  37. ^ "Sergio Canales". Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  38. ^ "Real Madrid Re-Sign Esteban Granero From Almeria For €3.5m". RealMadrid.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  39. ^ "Alvaro Arbeloa, New Real Madrid Player". RealMadrid.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  40. ^ "Uruguayan pair make Madrid move". UEFA.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  41. ^ "Gravesen completes switch to Real". BBC.co.uk. 14 January 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
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