Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said on Thursday he wants to bring another superstar to the club during the summer.
”I want to stay true to history and continue to strengthen this project. We have incorporated youth team players and we have been able to bring a great player each year,” Perez told Radio Intereconomia. ”I’m sure our sports director will try to do so for next season.”
Sports director Jorge Valdano, however, had earlier suggested there may be no major arrivals in off-season.
Since Perez became president in 2000, Madrid has signed Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham in successive summers to assemble what is considered the most star-studded team in soccer history.
Arsenal’s striker Thierry Henry and Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy have been reported to be possible Madrid targets although Henry has repeatedly said he will stay with Arsenal, and Van Nistelrooy has signed a new contract to keep him at Old Trafford until June 2008.
Other players said to be on the Spanish club’s shopping list are AS Roma’s Francesco Totti, Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved and Liverpool striker Michael Owen.
Perez has rejected spending large sums reinforcing the team’s defence, in the belief that homegrown players can suffice, even though this is considered by many to be the team’s weakest area.
Perez, who is also president of the construction giant ACS, is expected to stand for re-election when his four-year tenure ends next summer. — Sapa-AP