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Perez works a quiet revolution at Real Madrid
( 2001-10-17 11:01 ) (7 )

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the man who broke the world transfer record twice in a year to sign Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane, may seem an unlikely defender of his club's youth policy.

But Perez, who is happy to be known more for his business brain than for any footballing nous, is promising that the club will no longer undervalue home-grown talent as he continues his quiet revolution at the Bernabeu.

"Real Madrid has to return to its origins," Perez told a small group of foreign journalists in Madrid this week.

"The best players in the world have always come here. Last year we bought Figo, this year it was Zidane and in the future there may be someone else.

"But what we're not going to do any more is bring in players who are not of the best quality. We're committed to the youth system here and in future we'll trust the players who we've brought up rather than those from outside."

That means there will be no panic buying after a disappointing start to the current season which has seen Real struggle to 16th place in the Spanish first division table, without a win away from home.

"I'm sure we'll be back on track by December and with (coach) Vicente del Bosque we'll have a champion team," he said.

Perez still cuts an incongruous figure as a football club president, even if he is starting to sound like one.

The 54-year-old Perez first came to prominence in the late 1970s as a politician in the UCD, the party that was central to Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy following the death of Franco.

GLORY DAYS

ACS, the construction and building services company he runs, is one of the largest in Spain and he admits his decision to stand for the Real presidency was a surprise for most people.

It was even more of a surprise when he managed to defeat the incumbent Lorenzo Sanz, who had assumed that the club's two European Cup wins during his time at the helm would see him re-elected by a membership grateful for the return of the glory days to the Bernabeu.

A controversial deal to sign Figo from the club's arch-rivals Barcelona for US$56 million swung the election in favour of the challenger though and he took over in June last year.

Perez has already made significant changes at a club that was at the summit of European football but was saddled with a debt of some US$250 million.

A financial situation he described as a "grave sickness" has been resolved, thanks to a deal to sell the club's training ground complex to the local government.

Then there have been the high-profile signings of Figo and Zidane, two of the world's best players, to give unmatchable attacking flare to the Real squad.

There are other plans in the pipeline: a Real Madrid sportswear brand, the modernisation of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, complete with fast food outlets and shops, and an attempt to break into new markets.

"The future of football is to do with marketing and merchandising," Perez said. "There are millions of people out there and we haven't been able to get to them.

"If we sell a Real Madrid shirt or cap we're creating a new fan. We need a big line of products and a worldwide distribution network and that's what we're in the process of creating."

GOOD SHAPE

Perez cuts a far less brash figure than the cigar-smoking Sanz, who regularly travelled with the team and was never shy in offering his opinions to journalists.

The new president leaves footballing matters to Jorge Valdano, the former coach of the club who was persuaded to come back as sporting director following the election last year.

"I'm not here to be a prominent president of Real Madrid," he says. "I've got less than three years left of my term here and I want to leave the club in good shape.

"When I've done that I'll go."

When Real Madrid won the Spanish league for the 28th time in their history last season half a million fans took to the streets to celebrate, suggesting that Perez has certainly succeeded in winning over the supporters.

There have been the first whispers of discontent this season, though, with the press claiming that Perez chose to sign the more marketable Zidane instead of the two centre-backs and striker requested by Del Bosque.

In response, Perez goes back to what is his central theme these days: the unrealised potential of the club's youth system.

"There will be no new signings this year," he insists.

"The world-class players we have signed have increased our prestige in world football but we will combine them with our own players from Real Madrid in what can be an explosive mix.

"It's a policy that has risks but that's what we're going to do."