Florentino’s choice: The dilemma facing Real Madrid this summer

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the name Florentino Perez?

Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s big-money spending. During his two separate spells in charge of Real Madrid Perez has been responsible for signing the likes Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Ronaldo, Kaka, Mesut Ozil, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and of course, Cristiano Ronaldo.

His time as the head honcho in Madrid has seen five Champions League wins, including the mythical La Decima, and four La Liga titles. Yet it might surprise some to learn that when he came in at the turn of the millennium he was initially committed to home-grown players. Well at least that’s what he told the club’s supporters. Before the Galacticos it was the Zidanes y Pavones, a sign that superstar signings would blend with home-grown academy products.

Yet Perez got more and more out of control and the initial success dried up, most notably following the catastrophic decision to allow Claude Makelele to leave for Chelsea. He eventually recognised his mistakes and stepped aside but upon his return there were little signs of remorse. In his first two weeks back in charge in 2009 he broke the transfer world-record twice, signing first Kaka then Ronaldo. He followed that up by adding Raul Albiol, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema.

Yet eventually something started to change in Perez and Real as a whole. In the summer of 2013 Bale arrived. But on top of that Perez also brought in Asier Illarramendi, Isco and Dani Carvajal whilst Alvaro Morata, Jese, Nacho and Denis Cheryshev were all promoted from the Castilla team.

Over the coming years the likes of Jesus Vallejo, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez, Theo Hernandez, Dani Ceballos and Alvaro Odriozola were all brought in whilst a host of other young players were either purchased or promoted from within. Not all of them have worked out but some of them have and some, like Ceballos and Asensio, were bought in front of Barcelona. The completion of role reversals that began when the Catalans beat Real to perhaps the ultimate Galactico, Neymar.

Let’s not pretend as if Perez has been able to resist his urges however. He has signed James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos, Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard since Bale. But compared to the 2009 splurge he has been restrained.

But it sounds as if Perez is starting to lose the grip on his temptations. Recent reports have suggested that Perez has his eyes on Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and, astonishing as it seems, Neymar, amongst many others.

It comes with speculation over the futures of Isco and Asensio whilst the re-signings of Brahim Diaz and Mariano Diaz haven’t worked out as the club may have hoped.

It leaves Perez and Real facing a dilemma, do they go back to their old ways or keep the faith in home-grown or younger players. It’s all well and good making signings like Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Reinier Jr but they fall into a different category.

These sort of players are neither Galacticos nor Pavones, they are something new entirely. They are investments in the future that sort of straddles the two policies. Spend big early on extremely talented young players in the hope that they will be at your club for a period of time long enough that it pays back the investment, either that or they develop enough to make the money back for you. The next in line would appear to be Stade Rennes starlet Eduardo Camavinga.

There is no reason that Real should not continue to pursue these signings but it feels as if their home-grown policy is getting away from them a bit.

Football’s financial future in a post-pandemic world is as uncertain a time as the sport has ever faced. Revenue shares from various sources may end up decreasing and clubs have to be braced for the future. For a few years it looked as if Real were starting to push themselves towards a more sustainable future but it feels perhaps as if they are starting to regress back to their old ways.

Ultimately though couldn’t Real make the argument that signing Mbappe or perhaps Erling Haaland the following summer is thinking about the future given their age? Couldn’t they argue the same if they sign Camavinga?

Yes, although signing either of the former two is a rather damning nail in the coffin for Luka Jovic, such an expensive signing only last summer, but there is something to be said for the promotion and development of academy players. Primarily because they haven’t cost an eight-figure transfer fee.

La Masia is an academy famous throughout the world but Real’s La Fabrica deserves recognition. A study by CIES football observatory found that the Real academy has 17 players currently playing in the top five European leagues. That is more than any other team in the big five leagues. Across the whole of Europe the only three clubs who can beat that are Ajax, Benfica and RB Salzburg. For reference their figure is six higher than Barcelona’s.

What does that tell us? It’s that Real’s academy staff are very good at identifying and developing talent. Yet the pathway isn’t there. Some players, like Morata or Carvajal, benefited from the buy-back clause system that is more prevalent in Spain compared to say England, but even still. Buying up young Spanish players is one way to plug the gap but that doesn’t work when they stop being able to work their way in either.

So what is the solution? Ultimately you would like to assume that Zidane has enough common sense (and job security) that he would be playing some of these kids if he felt they were good enough. But by the same degree if all these expensive players keep arriving the pressure is going to be for them to get playing time first and foremost. For three seasons in a row Real spent under €100 million but two years ago they spent over €150 million and this season their outlay was an eye-watering €337 million according to Transfermarkt.

The solution might be scale back. Try to work on the basis that all gaps in the squad are more or less filled. Give these players time to grow and work on the assumption that a dynasty can develop because of the investments that have already made. That in turn might allow Zidane to take stock of his squad and look to see where he can complement what he already has with some products of the academy. Long-term that will set Real up better for success because eventually if you keep spending big, be it on youth or experience, you’re going to run into the same problems that plagued Perez’s first spell in charge. It’s time for him to make a change that is lasting and meaningful. Take a step back, and allow this young squad to develop and grow into what it can be, something special.