How the European champions’ reckless spending, driven by their rivalry with Barcelona, has had a damaging effect on the game
Paul Wilson Their home strip is pristine white, they have won the European Cup more times than any other club, and they stand for everything that is currently wrong with football.
Real Madrid began their Champions League defence with a 2-2 draw at Sporting Lisbon this week, days after admitting they are a crippling oe170 million (R1,7-billion) in debt. The Spanish giants are always in debt, but it appears the acquisition of Luis Figo, Pedro Munitis and Flavio Conceicao has undermined their tottering financial structure to the point where not even their celebrated friends in influential places can shore it up. “The situation is bad,” the new president, Florentino Perez, admitted after an audit revealed even more of a money pit than had originally been feared. “We have a grave sickness and it is a miracle the club is surviving day-to-day.” He can say that again. It’s a miracle football is surviving day-to-day with such an irresponsible role model. For it could be argued, indeed it should be argued since it is palpably true, that Real do not pay silly wages and play expensive games of one-upmanship with Barcelona in isolation. Their behaviour has a knock-on effect on the rest of the game. Barcelona went straight out with their Figo money and bought Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit from Arsenal, who were then obliged to pay over the odds for Sylvain Wiltord. Look at the money Liverpool had to come up with to try to tempt Steve McManaman to stay. Real are paying McManaman oe3,4-million a year even though they don’t want him. Every club with a decent player approaching the end of his contract has to take a deep breath and consider what Real might pay him. Yet Real cannot make their own sums add up. For a club who have won the Champions League twice in the past three years, Real are far from a picture of health. It is not just their overdraft either, although financial recklessness is at the root of most of Real’s problems to such an extent it must gratify more prudent operations like Manchester United. Considering Real are still the most glamorous, impossibly romantic, football team on the planet, the way they have conducted themselves in recent years has been diabolical. This is the club to which every daydreaming schoolboy aspires, but grown-up footballers are finding the reality is distastefully different.
With the exception of Figo and the other newcomers, no one at the Bernabeu really knows whether they are staying or going, whether they are wanted or not. Rumours of a wholesale clear-out refuse to go away. “The players have been left isolated and ignorant,” said former player and coach Jorge Valdano, who has just been taken on as sporting director. “We need to support them and redefine their situations, so they can concentrate on playing and not be driven mad by different versions of the truth.” This would be par for the course at an underachieving club like Internazionale (Inter Milan) or Barcelona, but it is only four months since Real were on top of the world.
Their stylish and thrilling success is fast becoming a memory though, for every time Real achieve the prize they crave they promptly break up the band. Two years ago, manager Jupp Heynckes was sacked and given oe1-million compensation within eight days of their victory over the more fancied Juventus in the final in Amsterdam. This time Vicente del Bosque has survived, although it looked touch-and-go at times last season, but the best midfield in the Champions League has been ripped apart. Fernando Redondo was packed off to Italy, McManaman cruelly hung out to dry. The reason is either bad management or chronically poor accounting. Perez has had to raise oe52-million in four separate bank loans in three months since taking over – the first tranche was necessary to pay players’ wages owing from June. The big plus for Real fans is supposedly the arrival of Figo and his even bigger wages to simultaneously beef up the attack and put Barcelona’s nose out of joint, though there are signs that the Bernabeu faithful are becoming tired of the capricious nature and sheer
financial irresponsibility of the club. Figo was bought at record cost principally to honour an election promise made by Perez, who did not make it clear at the time that this extravagant purchase with money Real did not possess would effectively involve the sacrifice of the heart of last season’s winning team. Perez denies the club went out on a limb for Figo, arguing that most of the oe38- million fee was raised by the sale of Nicolas Anelka and Elvir Baljic. But that explanation hardly covers the unseemly haste with which Redondo was sold to AC Milan. Admittedly, oe11-million is a good price to pick up for a 31-year-old, but the Argentine was at the top of his form, extremely popular with Real supporters, and had just been voted the most valuable player in last season’s Champions League by Uefa.
In recognition of his distinguished service for Real and his excellent form last season,
supporters understood the club had placed an unofficial “not for sale” notice on Redondo, and were surprised and upset when he
departed so quickly. A club statement explained the apparent u-turn by saying it was the player’s “express wish” to join Milan and that he had always wanted to end his career in Italy. Redondo himself has denied this, however, and supporters remain suspicious.
McManaman could never claim to be a club stalwart in the way Redondo was, but perhaps for that reason his treatment has been even more squalid. Indeed, it is hard to see how anyone can get to become a club stalwart if teams are going to cynically exploit the Bosman ruling and make a quick buck on players who cost them nothing. There is not much more you can ask of a foreign player in his first season at a club than to settle into the side after a change of manager, play an integral part in helping reach a European Cup final in Paris and score a goal when he gets there. But do Real appreciate McManaman’s contribution? Not unless trying to sell him to Middlesbrough against his wishes can be construed as a compliment. Again, the club’s almost desperate need to raise cash overlooks the fact that McManaman has proved himself a valuable member of the side. The manager has disputed this, describing McManaman as “surplus to requirements” and doing his best to dishearten the player. The club president has even less interest in McManaman’s welfare, undoubtedly viewing him merely as a potential source of income, but fortunately the Real supporters still know what’s what. When McManaman made his first appearance of the season as a substitute for Figo in a friendly against Santos last week, he was given a standing ovation by 35E000 fans at the Bernabeu. Perhaps they admire his Scouse pluck in standing up for his rights, more likely they know their club is once again in the wrong. “I’m not in confrontation with Macca,” an uncomfortable Del Bosque was forced to admit afterwards. “It’s great that the crowd love him.” You can see why Valdano talks of being driven mad by versions of the truth. It is like when Perez says the only way to raise the
oe200-million or so the club needs is to convert into a limited company, only to dismiss the notion because the members would never stand for it. In point of fact, keeping Real as a members’ club was another of Perez’s election promises, and the idea that investors would flock to support such a financial black hole is risible in any case. Selling the training ground is more realistic. Until then, Perez will operate “crisis measures”. “We’ll go through two difficult years until the club is restructured,” he said. So don’t
expect Real to rush out and buy an expensive short-term replacement for injured centre- forward Fernando Morientes. Well, not for a week or two.