The first era lasted from 2000 to 2006. Florentino Perez began his presidential term at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium and hinted at that unfathomable ambition by bringing in Luis Figo, which Barcelona saw at that moment as the Portuguese’s act of high treason. Then came Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Robinho and Sergio Ramos. Altogether, for 276,000,000 euros, not counting the ‘natives’ like Raul, Guti, Fernando Hierro, Roberto Carlos, Iker Casillas, Steve McManaman… They won two La Liga titles and one Champions League and after that they were more interested in marketing than football. Like the Beatles, they made the Royal Club the richest club on the planet without bringing them much in the sense of trophies.The second era spanned from 2009 to 2018. Kaka arrived first, but that group’s alpha male was Cristiano Ronaldo. And there were other aces, though with more modest mentalities and a more pronounced team spirit. From Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso, through Angel Di Maria and Mesut Ozil, all the way to Luka Modric, Isco, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez… Florentino Perez spent more than 500,000,000 euros and Real won everything that could be won. Repeatedly.##NAJAVA_MECA_7881126##Perez now starts his third Galacticos era. To be more precise, it had already started quietly back in 2018 when Vinicius was signed, and no one could even guess what he would turn into. Skeptics even commented that it was just a desperate move by Perez, who was afraid of the Neymar scenario repeating itself. But Thibaut Courtois also arrived that summer, Eden Hazard the following season, although Rodrygo and Eder Militao are much more important for this story. The intention was clear, only Real Madrid was patient this time. They waited for years. Along the way, they filled the holes so that they would not have a repeat of the first Galacticos when he did not take care of players with defensive characteristics. As part of the current project, one after the other, Eduardo Camavinga, David Alaba, Aurelien Tchouameni, Antonio Rudiger arrived at Bernabeu…And then: the biggest investments. Not one, but two. Last summer, Jude Bellingham, surely one of the biggest hits in Europe in recent years. Kylian Mbappe will join him this summer. Although no one wants to rush and say that he has already chosen Madrid, it seems the deal is done.É chover no molhado falar que o Real Madrid é o maior clube do mundo, porém, é preciso destacar a grandeza desse time.É um projeto muito bem feito, sem atropelar nenhuma etapa. No momento certo, na hora certa.Quando você vê, estão com os Galácticos 3.0.pic.twitter.com/TXTRFHxVTz— Resenha Escrita ⚽️📝 (@resenhaescrita) February 15, 2024 Florentino Perez somehow managed to form the most spectacular team on the planet again. Of course, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will be synonymous with the system as long as he is there and no one will easily remove him from the top, but with Vinicius, Bellingham and Mbappe – the Royal Club created the Gen Z Galacticos. Mbappe was born in 1998, Vinicius in 2000, Bellingham in 2003. Let’s not forget that Los Blancos have already signed 17-year-old Endrick, who is coming of age in the summer and arrives from Palmeiras for an initial price of 42,500,000 euros.With Camavinga who is only 21 years old, with Federico Valverde (25), with Rodrygo (23) and Tchouameni (24), and Rudiger, Alaba, Ferland Mendy and Dani Ceballos who are a bit older, but still have a couple of good seasons ahead of them, Real may not have selected such a bombastic team as in Perez’s first two attempts, but they have put together a squad that will dominate European football for the next decade.Perez has learned his lessons. Claude Makelele ran away from him, because Real’s supremo didn’t value defenders as much as he should have, and the Frenchman didn’t want to put up with that. Patrick Vieira turned him down for the same reason. He brought Figo and Beckham knowing they would not be able to play on their favored right side of the field…It seems that he is now determined to nip vanity in the bud. With Mbappe, it will be a challenge. He was spoiled by Paris. After the fiasco with Neymar and Lionel Messi, Nasser Al-Khelaifi was determined to make him the symbol of Paris Saint-Germain. Mbappe could do whatever he wanted. He had a monthly gross salary of 6,000,000 euros! Net, on an annual basis, it is 55,000,000. Gross 72,000,000.The calling of Real Madrid: Perez and Ancelotti won’t seduce Mbappe with money – but with gloryOn top of all that, he had bonuses for games, premiums for loyalty… Marca says that if he had agreed to stay at Parc des Princes, next year with all the bonuses for staying, he could have made an unimaginable 222,000,000 euros! Because on top of everything, 60,000,000 euros would have to be included as the third installment of 180,000,000 that PSG gave him when he signed a new contract in 2022. For three seasons. He served two, the third was optional – and Mbappe made his choice.He chose Real Madrid, even though he will take much less money. Although it is clear that there will be no poor people. With the fact that Real immediately told him that there would be no bragging like in Paris. At the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, Toni Kroos is currently the highest paid player with a gross annual salary of around 25,000,000 euros. David Alaba has 22,500,000, Luka Modrić slightly less than 22,000,000, Vinicius and Bellingham are at 21,000,000, although we should expect raises, especially for the latter.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Mbappe will be by far the most expensive. In Madrid, they claim that he will not receive more than 25,000,000 euros, in net amount. The gross cost for Real will be significantly higher. It is speculated that Real could go a little more than the mentioned amount, maybe even up to 35,000,000 euros net. Again, that’s 20,000,000 less than what he had at Paris Saint-Germain, and that’s the best option.Of course, Real are not stingy either, so Mbappe will receive between 100,000,000 and 120,000,000 euros just for his signature. He will certainly not have financial problems, not for the rest of his life, and even for the next few if he believes in reincarnation.More interesting to us though: will the dressing room ‘burn’ in Madrid like in Paris? Or will the royal blood of Real manage to tame the temperamental Mbappe? Because if it succeeds – it will be a truly dominant team by 2030. For the conditions of Spain, maybe even too strong. As long as Perez manages to channel the vanity of the biggest stars, which is no easy task.
