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The president of Madrid, Florentino Perez, claims that his Spanish team has surpassed "Manchester United" in the list of highest-earning clubs.
"We can now guarantee that our revenues are greater than those of other clubs, they are the highest in the world," Perez told the newspaper "Marca." "Only 'Manchester United' is close to us in terms of revenue, but this year we have surpassed them. We have solved our economic problems for good."
In December, it was announced that "Man Utd" has been the richest club in the world for eight consecutive years, earning 171.5 million pounds sterling (301.7 million euros) in the 2003-2004 season. "Real" was in second place with 156.3 million pounds sterling. "Milan" was in third, and London's "Chelsea" was in fourth.
But Perez says that the situation has now changed, and "Real's" revenues have grown by 250 percent since he became the club's president five years ago. He spent over 200 million euros acquiring world-class players such as Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham, and Michael Owen.
Perez freed the capital team from debts by selling the "Real" own sports complex in the center of Madrid for 480 million euros.
Florentino Perez says that in comparing his club to "Man Utd" or "Chelsea," it should not be forgotten that "Real" is managed by club members, not one person and that is significantly better: "Every night I sleep peacefully because I know that Madrid's 'Real' will never die because of one person. Ask 'Man Utd' or 'Chelsea' about that. Their model (club management) is respectable, but it is not convenient for 'Real'."
"United" is owned by American business "shark" Malcolm Glazer, while the "Chelsea" team is led by the Jewish Russian billionaire, oil mogul Roman Abramovich.
Speaking about "Real's" sports achievements, Perez said that the club's direction will not change drastically, even though the capital team has not won anything in the past two seasons: "We had a problem because we thought we could win without getting off the team bus," explained Perez.
"No one should forget that to win, you have to fight hard and train. The idea that we can win simply because we are Madrid's 'Real' does not hold. Last season, we finished second, and that is a poor result."
This summer, "Real" bought two defensive-minded players - Pablo Garcia and Carlos Diogo, although attacking players usually arrived in Madrid. In an interview, Florentino Perez mentioned that it has become very difficult to buy world-class stars.
"We always try to buy the best in the world, but when you already have Figo, Zidane, and Beckham, there is nothing else to buy. Such players only come around once a decade."
