On his way to Madrid?
Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno gave an interview to Bloomberg today in which he vowed to spend even more money in the club’s attempts to overtake Barcelona and win La Liga. “The sports directors will try to improve some positions, strengthen them,” Butragueno was quoted as saying. “We invested a lot of money, it’s true, but it’s difficult to build a champion team in two months. In life, you always have to try and improve things.” Let’s not forget that Los Merengues already spent $300 million last offseason on Kaka, Ronaldo, and Benzema. What can they possibly do for an encore?
Franck Ribery has been tipped as a likely target, and the English press has gone insane the past few days with some rather ridiculous transfer rumors. The Sun proposed a Benzema for Vidic and Evra swap, while Gerrard, Rooney, and Messi have also been “linked” to the club. About the only recent rumor that makes any sense is a move for $23 million rated Javi Martinez of Bilbao. Martinez, who plays midfield for Athletic and at just 21 years of age is likely to form the core of the next generation Spanish midfield (along with Cesc and Busquets), has also been linked to Chelsea.
The problem with Real’s stated desire to spend even further this summer is that they seem to have failed to notice what’s been going on around them in Spain lately. So lets recap.
1)Spain was one of the intended targets of the ridiculous $1 trillion bailout plan announced over the weekend by the European Commission the Germans.
2)Spain is about to undergo a nasty period of austerity.
3)Spanish banks looked extremely wobbly last week.
The last one is important because Real apparently borrowed $192 million of the $300 they spent last summer from Banco Santander and Caja Madrid. It says something about the sorry state of the Spanish economy that those loans are probably on the better end of what’s on the books at the two banks. Still, Santander, especially, is not Roman Abramovich, and those loans will have to be paid back eventually. It seems insane to embark on yet another transfer spending spree given the circumstances. But this is Real. Bring on the Universos.
Benzema for Vidic and Evra would be horrible for Man United. Almost as bad as Eto’o and $$$ for Zlatan.
Madrid will probably just end up with Dzeko and Javi Martinez. Not too shabby, though…
hadley- 22 goals in 34 Bundesliga games for Dzeko? That’s amazing.
The one thing you forget is that Real Madrid has very powerful friends that can and do pressure the banks in ways no other club can do.
TFA is right. Those loans are interest free, basically gifts to the club with the expectation that they’ll be paid back sometime down the line. These aren’t the same loans that Liverpool and United are suffering under. Hopefully, if they spend some of that money on local talent like Javi Martinez, some of the struggling clubs can deal with their own debt.
I’d disagree with both of you except for the fact that the Spanish government has tacitly allowed most of the smaller banks (cajas, many of which are state-owned) to pretend they aren’t insolvent many times over due to bad property and development loans. So a loan to an entity with actual cashflow like Real Madrid is likely to get very favorable treatment.
well, i guess i would defer to ian, our resident finance guru.
I could go for a Tevez-Higuain swap I suppose
I was kinda hoping Dzeko would end up at Spurs. Chaaaampions league!
/dreaming
I’m pretty sure the best we can hope for is Klass-Jan Huntelaar and Craig Bellamy.
Am I the only one that thinks they’d be better off buying Robben back instead of Ribery?
They need another winger like Ronaldo needs more hair gel.
Well Ronaldo’s perception is that he always needs more gel, and perception is reality, so bring on the wingers!
I can’t see Florentino buying back a player he already decided wasn’t Galactico enough for him.
Ronaldo also perceives that a million stepovers are necessary and the reality is that they are not.
Reality is subject to Ronaldo’s whims. If Ronaldo thinks a million stepovers are necessary, reality bows to his will.
I’d love to get Andy Gray and Ronaldo in the same room.
I heard it was a Fletcher/O’Shea for Higuain swap.
/dreaming
[...] Real Madrid planning to top last summer’s spending. (Unprofessional Foul) [...]
[...] Real Madrid planning to top last summer’s spending. (Unprofessional Foul) [...]
Where in the interview did Butragueno actually say they will spend more than they did last year? The lines quoted don’t say that at all.
[...] Real Madrid planning to top last summer’s spending. (Unprofessional Foul) [...]
[...] Real Madrid planning to top last summer’s spending. (Unprofessional Foul) [...]