Jump to content

Florentino Pérez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 194.165.159.210 (talk) at 11:31, 30 September 2015 (→Signings). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Spanish name 2

Florentino Pérez[1]
Born
Florentino Pérez Rodríguez

(1947-03-08) March 8, 1947 (age 77)
Hortaleza, Madrid, Spain
NationalitySpaniard
Alma materTechnical University of Madrid
OccupationCivil Engineer
Known forPresident of Real Madrid
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
Jose A. 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, as well as ACS. He is most famous for ushering Real Madrid's period of Los Galácticos, a time where the club paid extremely high transfer fees for elite footballers.

Biography

He attended the Polytechnic University of Madrid.[5]

Pérez joined the Union of the Democratic Centre party in 1979, serving among others on Madrid city council.

In 1986, Pérez ran in the Spanish general elections as candidate for the Partido Reformista Democrático (Democratic Reform Party).[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 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 699 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 Pérez presented José Mourinho as new coach of Real Madrid for £6.8M.

During the next three years he brought a lot of new faces to Los Blancos, including the German wonderkid Mesut Özil and Ángel Di María, who attracted attention from Europe's elite football clubs, during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This squad enjoyed its share of domestic success in 2011 and 2012, with the club bringing home a Copa del Rey title[13] and a La Liga title.[14] However, the club's lack of success in European competition and a disappointing 2012-13 season[15] encouraged Mourinho to depart for Chelsea F.C..[16]

On Sunday 2 June 2013, Pérez was awarded a fourth term as the Real Madrid President, bringing Carlo Ancelotti to replace Mourinho. Mesut Özil and Gonzalo Higuain were sold to Arsenal[17] and Napoli,[18] respectively, at the start of the season to secure spots for Luka Modrić and Karim Benzema in the first team. Pérez also brought Welsh footballer and PFA Player of the Year[19] Gareth Bale, purchased from Tottenham Hotspur F.C. for a fee reported to be in the £85 million range.[20] Two promising Spanish talents, playmaker Isco[21] and holding midfielder Asier Illaramendi,[22] were also secured by Pérez prior to the start of the season. The following season proved to be a resounding success, as Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey and its 10th UEFA Champions League title.

During the 2014 summer transfer window, Pérez brought World Cup stars James Rodríguez,[23] Toni Kroos,[24] and Keylor Navas[25] to Real Madrid for a combined cost of £95m, as well as Javier Hernández on a loan deal from Manchester United. As a result of the mounting competition for starting spots and wage disputes, Angel Di Maria left the club for Manchester United for a British transfer record fee of £60m.[26] Xabi Alonso also left during this transfer window, in order to play for FC Bayern Munich.[27] In January 2015, Pérez again showed muscles on the transfer market when Real Madrid signed the 16-year-old Norwegian "mini-galactico" Martin Ødegaard in competition with all the big clubs in Europe like Bayern, Barcelona and Arsenal.

Controversies

After Iker Casillas's move to Porto in July 2015, Casillas's agent, Santos Marquez, hit out to Pérez saying: "he doesn't like black players, but is not a racist", and that is why players like Claude Makélélé and Samuel Eto'o weren't paid as much as other players. Marquez also expressed that he expects Pérez to leave Real Madrid after Casillas's transfer.[28]

Signings

Rank Player From Transfer Fee
(£ millions)		 Transfer Fee
(€ millions)		 Year
1. Wales Gareth Bale England Tottenham Hotspur 85.3[29] 100[29] 2013
2. Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo England Manchester United 80.0[30] 93.6[31] 2009
3. Colombia James Rodríguez France Monaco 63.6[32][33] 80.0 2014
4. France Zinedine Zidane Italy Juventus 44.0[34] 75.0 2001
5. Brazil Kaká Italy Milan 56.8[35] 65.8[36] 2009
6. Portugal Luís Figo Spain Barcelona 37.0[37] 58.5 2000
7. Brazil Ronaldo Italy Internazionale 28.5[38] 43.0 2002
8. Croatia Luka Modrić England Tottenham Hotspur 32.0 40.0 2012
9. Spain Xabi Alonso England Liverpool 30.0 35.4[39] 2009
10. England David Beckham England Manchester United 24.5[40] 35.1 2003
11. France Karim Benzema France Lyon 30.0[35] 35.0[36] 2009
12. Spain Asier Illarramendi Spain Sociedad 27.8 32.1[41] 2013
13. Portugal Fábio Coentrão Portugal Benfica 27.1 30.0[42] 2011
14. Portugal Pepe Portugal Porto 27.1 30.0[43] 2007
15. Spain Isco Spain Malaga 23.1 27.0[44] 2013
16. Spain Sergio Ramos Spain Sevilla 18.6 27.0[45] 2005
17. Germany Toni Kroos Germany Bayern Munich 14.7 25.0 2014
18. Argentina Ángel Di María Portugal Benfica 20.5 25.0[46] 2010
19. Argentina Walter Samuel Italy Roma 16.8 25.0[47] 2004
20. Brazil Robinho Brazil Santos 16.5[48] 24.0 2005
21. Brazil Júlio Baptista Spain Sevilla 13.8[49] 20.0 2005
22. England Jonathan Woodgate England Newcastle United 13.4[50] 19.8 2004
23. Spain Raúl Albiol Spain Valencia 12.8 15.0[51] 2009
24. Germany Mesut Özil Germany Werder Bremen 12.3 15.0[52] 2010
25. Germany Sami Khedira Germany Stuttgart 11.4 14.0[52] 2010
26. France Claude Makélélé Spain Celta de Vigo 9.1 14.0 2000
27. England Michael Owen England Liverpool 8.0[53] 11.9 2004
28. Turkey Nuri Şahin Germany Borussia Dortmund 8.1 10.0[54] 2011
29. Spain Pedro León Spain Getafe 8.0 10.0[55] 2010
30. Portugal Ricardo Carvalho England Chelsea 6.5 8.0 [56] 2010
31. Spain Dani Carvajal Germany Bayer Leverkusen 5.5 6.5[57] 2013
32. Brazil Casemiro Brazil São Paulo 5.1 6.0[58] 2013
33. Italy Antonio Cassano Italy Roma 3.8 5.5[59] 2006
34. Spain Sergio Canales Spain Racing Santander 3.8 4.5[60] 2010
35. Spain Esteban Granero Spain Getafe 3.4 4.0[61] 2009
36. Norway Martin Ødegaard Norway Strømsgodset 3.0 4.0 2015
37. Spain Álvaro Arbeloa England Liverpool 3.0 4.0[62] 2009
38. Uruguay Pablo García Spain Osasuna 2.7 4.0[63] 2005
39. Denmark Thomas Gravesen England Everton 2.5[64] 3.6 2005
40. Turkey Hamit Altıntop Germany Bayern Munich 1[65] 1.8 2011

Players marked in bold are currently in the team.
The ranks are arranged according to the player prices in Euro.

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. ^ a b "#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. ^ "Perez makes presidential promise". SkySports.
  8. ^ "Real Madrid News - Real Madrid CF". Real Madrid C.F. - Web Oficial.
  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. ^ http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/232468/report
  14. ^ http://www.espnfc.com/spanish-primera-division/15/table?season=2011
  15. ^ http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/17/sport/football/atletico-copa-del-rey/
  16. ^ http://www.marca.com/2013/05/20/en/football/real_madrid/1369070464.html
  17. ^ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/23929339
  18. ^ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/23442542
  19. ^ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/22331030
  20. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2401904/Gareth-Bale-finally-given-green-light-sign-Real-Madrid-86m.html
  21. ^ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/23083749
  22. ^ http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2013/07/12/4112360/real-madrid-reveal-3219-million-illarra-fee?ICID=CP_124
  23. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/22/james-rodriguez-signs-real-madrid-monaco
  24. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2695525/Toni-Kroos-completes-24m-Real-Madrid-Bayern-Munich.html
  25. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/aug/03/real-madrid-confirm-keylor-navas-signing
  26. ^ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28926665
  27. ^ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28964916
  28. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3167152/Real-Madrid-president-Florentino-Perez-doesn-t-like-black-players-claims-Iker-Casillas-agent-says-departing-keeper-turned-Premier-League-offers.html
  29. ^ a b "Gareth Bale joins Real Madrid from Spurs in £85m world record deal". London: BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  30. ^ Taylor, Daniel. "Manchester United accept £80m Cristiano Ronaldo bid from Real Madrid". London: Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  31. ^ "OFFICIAL: Manchester United Accept Real Madrid Bid For Ronaldo". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  32. ^ "James". Real Madrid. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  33. ^ http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11835/9390467/transfer-news-james-rodriguez-undergoing-medical-in-madrid-ahead-of-real-move
  34. ^ "Zidane". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  35. ^ a b Burt, Jason. "Kaka joins Real Madrid from AC Milan in world-record £56million move". London: Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  36. ^ a b "AC Milan And Real Madrid Agree Kaka Transfer, Says Spanish Radio". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  37. ^ "Luís Figo". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  38. ^ "Ronaldo". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  39. ^ "Xabi Alonso". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  40. ^ "Beckham joins Real Madrid". BBC.co.uk. 18 June 2003. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  41. ^ "Illaramendi". Real Madrid. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  42. ^ "Madrid confirm Coentrão transfer from Benfica". UEFA.com. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  43. ^ "Madrid pick up Pepe from Porto". UEFA.com. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
  44. ^ "Isco". BBC. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  45. ^ "Sergio Ramos". Football Database. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  46. ^ "El Real Madrid hace oficial el fichaje de Di María". Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  47. ^ "Walter Samuel" (PDF). Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  48. ^ "Real Madrid sign striker Robinho in £16.5m deal". London: Independent.co.uk. 22 July 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  49. ^ "Real pip Arsenal to sign Baptista". BBC.co.uk. 29 July 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  50. ^ "Real Madrid sign Woodgate". BBC.co.uk. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  51. ^ "Real Madrid sign Raul Albiol and step up Karim Benzema chase". London: Telegraph.co.uk. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  52. ^ a b "Terms agreed with Real Madrid". vfb.de. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  53. ^ "Owen unveiled by Real". BBC.co.uk. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  54. ^ "Official Announcement". realmadrid.com. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  55. ^ "Official Announcement". realmadrid.com. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  56. ^ "Ricardo Carvalho". Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  57. ^ "Official: Madrid complete £5.5 million Carvajal return". Goal.com. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  58. ^ "Real Madrid complete €6 million Casemiro signing - Goal.com". Goal.com.
  59. ^ "Madrid unveil Cassano". UEFA.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  60. ^ "Sergio Canales". Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  61. ^ "Real Madrid Re-Sign Esteban Granero From Almeria For €3.5m". RealMadrid.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  62. ^ "Alvaro Arbeloa, New Real Madrid Player". RealMadrid.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  63. ^ "Uruguayan pair make Madrid move". UEFA.com. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  64. ^ "Gravesen completes switch to Real". BBC.co.uk. 14 January 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  65. ^ "Real Madrid complete signing of Hamit Altintop". dailymail.co.uk. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
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

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Florentino_Pérez&oldid=683452567"