Come here to laugh at (the semi/possibly/historically/for a moment in time-Fascist Club) Real Madrid

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Guido 🇺🇦

"Legacy Fan"


Another re-launch this week of Real Madrid’s future vision for their Bernabeu Stadium, although little mention that they have already done this twice before, once in 2011 and again in January 2014, and on neither occasion have the artists’ impressions progressed to be any more than that.

The CGI version undoubtedly caught the eye, with a steel wrap over the 72-year-old concrete structure first commissioned by Santiago Bernabeu, and lots of talk about new technology and fan experiences. Sadly no extra standard seats for the rank and file punters at a club where membership had been capped at around 92,500 for some time and one might legitimately ask what €575 million actually buys you these days in stadium design.

If only there was someone at the club who knew a bit about large building projects, unless of course you count the autocratic president Florentino Perez, who happens also to be the chairman of ACS, the largest construction company in Spain. He was joined on stage this week by the major of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, who strayed off script by expressing, not unjustifiably, her astonishment that it had taken the club so long.

Coming in the week that Tottenham Hotspur opened their new stadium to general acclaim, having demolished one and built another in its place in the space of less than two years, it was unfortunate timing. As their financial results revealed, Spurs borrowed around £460 million to build their new ground, with a loan facility for more, and have around £100 million cash in hand. No-one is under any illusions that the next few years will be a balancing act between paying for the stadium and maintaining a team capable of challenging for the top four.
The club’s former president Colonel Ortega, the historian David Goldblatt has written, was executed for his republican sympathies. His successor was imprisoned. Only when the club was put in the hands of one of its former players, Bernabeu, who had served in General Franco’s army, did the dictator find someone he liked. Bernabeu proved so persuasive that it is the belief of many that the concrete that built the stadium came from the same consignment earmarked for Franco’s military monument, The Valley of the Fallen.
It was the Real Madrid membership that paid for the new Chamartin stadium that would come to adopt the name of the project’s instigator. Around 45,000 socios invested in bonds and so the stadium was built. The old footage of workmen hacking away at the ground under a boiling Spanish sun was part of the heritage video at this week’s launch. Strangely, the official website page listing the club’s presidents from 1900 to the present day makes no mention of the doomed Colonel Ortega.

Perez is certainly keen on one old tradition from the 1940s: one of Spain’s richest men also wants the membership to pay for the new stadium. This is doubly important given that the delays over the stadium cost Madrid their first backer, IPIC, an Abu Dhabi energy company who were to have the naming rights. There was the inconvenience of a European Competitions’ commission investigation into the original Las Tablas land deal between the club and the city’s then sympathetic council, which ordered Real Madrid to pay back around €20.3 million of illegal state aid.
Last year, Perez asked the club’s general assembly, a nominal council of elected figures from among the membership that he controls, to grant permission for the club to borrow €575 million for the rebuilding of the Bernabeu. There will be a remodelling of the surrounding area, a bigger scoreboard and a retractable roof at a club that has never required cover in the past. The plans look impressive but the capacity is unchanged and the details were vague.

“New revenues” sounded like a plan to rinse the hospitality market in an “increasingly difficult international football setting" which can be roughly translated as frustration at the lag Spanish footballs broadcast revenues suffer in relation to the Premier League.

More pressing for Perez is where the money comes from this time around. There was no firm indication that financing has been obtained for the new Bernabeu, although rumours abound – from American banks to another bond issue. In the most recent financial results from July of last year the club did factor in a €45 million loss relating to the imminent demolition of the Esquinas shopping mall that adjoins the current stadium. For accounting reasons that may have to come down this summer so the losses do not get passed on to next year’s books.
In the meantime, Spurs, less successful, but now in a position to take on the future have completed their stadium project in much less time than the eight years and counting on the Bernabeu clock. The club from north London do not have 13 European Cups in the cabinet, but they do have a wage bill of £147 million. Madrid will have to address a wage bill of €430 million, second only to Barcelona.
In the meantime we await another summer when the drumbeat from Spain will doubtless be that Madrid are in the market for any number of big name players. Where these astronomical sums are to come from remains a mystery at a club where, eight years on, they are still waiting to rebuild a stadium that will not get any bigger.

Sooner rather than later the battle will come over the future of the Champions League, because the biggest clubs in Europe outside England are not going to wait around to discover how much the next Premier League round of rights for 2022-2024 exceed their own. The European Club Association big powers lead by Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli want a de facto European League that guarantees them a place every year and many more games.

This is the period of the Premier League’s history when its staunch belief in collective bargaining and fair sharing of the revenue will be tested to its maximum. Friday’s statement of solidarity was a start but just the beginning of a battle that will determine whether the old league system of English football can survive the onset of modern game’s priorities.
 
I've been saying for a couple of seasons they are full of hot air when linked to players. The bottom line is they need to sell before they can buy, the problem is no-one is prepared to buy what they have especially at the fees, more wages, that the players demand!

So, think again when you scream "pay him what he wants" or else you have a player like Bale earning £30m a year not adding a great deal to your team eating up wages. This will also hit Utd too though with players all on massive wages but who are quite shit.



Funny to think that one of the key moments Sir Alex Ferguson would later identify in his disintegrating relationship with David Beckham was picking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ahead of his famous No 7 for the visit of Real Madrid to Old Trafford in the Champions League in 2003.

By then Beckham, as Ferguson saw it, was a long way from the “wee, starry-eyed kid” he once knew. He infuriated his manager by refusing to remove a beanie intended to keep a newly shaven head under wraps during a pre-match meal and the subsequent warm-up.

Different times. In the distant austerity of those pre-social media days, leveraging one’s celebrity did sometimes involve the wearing of a hat indoors for days on end.

Towards the end of the 2002-2003 season Solskjaer was identified by Ferguson as the successor to Beckham on the right of midfield, until injury and Cristiano Ronaldo intervened.

You wonder how Solskjaer views the latest talented butterfly in the United midfield with designs on a career in Madrid. Sixteen years on from the summer Beckham left, and 10 since Ronaldo went the same way, it seems Madrid want Paul Pogba. Regardless of whether United wish to sell, they are at least in the driving seat.

The same goes for their opponents today, Chelsea, who seemed resigned to losing Eden Hazard to Madrid with just a year left on his contract. If you totted up all the transfer fees and wages Madrid are supposed to be spending this summer you would probably have enough to buy United from the Glazers. Although the only figures that matter are those the Spanish club publish.

Their intermediate accounts corresponding to the first half of the 2018-2019 season, up to Dec 31, are the hard evidence that debunk the myth of a cash-rich Madrid. Published on April 9, they revealed there was no cash in the club during last summer or this January’s transfer windows. The €64 million that appeared in the accounts corresponded to the amount that fell due to the tax authorities in January. Crucially, the wage bill, even after the sale of Ronaldo in the summer, rose from €200 million for the same period the previous year to €205 million.

Ronaldo’s sale kept Madrid in profit, just as the sale of the likes of Danilo and Alvaro Morata had done in previous years and they will have to sell again if they are to acquire players. That relies on the market being prepared to pay a big fee for Gareth Bale, as well as annual wages likely to be around €28 million. Ideally for Madrid they would sell loanees James Rodriguez and Mateo Kovacic but neither Bayern Munich nor Chelsea seem that eager.

When Ed Woodward took power at Old Trafford in 2013 he declared United would never be under financial pressure to sell their best players to Spain’s two biggest clubs and certainly as things stand, that should be the case. On the pitch, United have not made that task any easier, but when it comes to their respective financial situations, Old Trafford is in the stronger position.

Madrid’s latest accounts show that current accruals – money received in advance for services to be delivered next year – have increased significantly from €67 million in June 2017 to €129 million in December 2019. Despite that, there is no cash in these accounts to make the sort of signings with which they are consistently linked. From where do those in thrall to the years of Madrid acquisitiveness think this money will magically emerge?

The week has brought a change of weather over the likelihood of Christian Eriksen, in the final year of his contract at Tottenham Hotspur, leaving for Madrid – with Daniel Levy’s intransigence being cited as a key reason.

Or perhaps he too has cast his eye over the financial results from Madrid and wondered where Eriksen might rank in their fantasy list dependent on money they do not yet have.

The question facing Chelsea, who look the most vulnerable of all as regards Hazard, is whether they could face next season with a transfer embargo and money they cannot spend raised by the sale of their best player. They may look at the example of David De Gea, who entered the final year of his contract at United and, after a very near-miss with Madrid, signed another deal. Madrid simply do not have the funds to pay one-off big fees unless they sell first.

Revenue has stagnated for the half-year period, from €374 million up from €370 million, sustained by earnings from their Champions League prize money (up from €32 million to €54 million) and an increase in member contributions (€24 million to €27 million). Neither can be relied on for the next half-yearly results. Marketing revenue was down €17 million, mainly a consequence of losing a €30 million Telefonica contract.

The adidas deal expires at the end of next season and has not yet been renewed, with sales in their shops down 30 per cent. Above all, it is about cash, and Madrid are stretched in their borrowing too. The club have agreed to borrow €575 million to fund their stadium development with annual payments of €29.5 million due from July 2023 to July 2049. They also have a credit line with lender Providence Equity Partners, although given that was agreed in return for a share of any increase in their declining marketing revenue, it is unclear how much will be at the club’s disposal.

They have a manager who returned to the club, presumably on the promise of a rebuild. Zinedine Zidane has already signalled his displeasure with president Florentino Perez’s big signing of last summer Thibaut Courtois, dropping him for Keylor Navas. But the question for Madrid remains not who they will sign, or for how much – but with what?

:harrysmile:
 
Oh but it’s amazing how many professional footballers were/are Real Madrid fans?
160px-Robbie_Keane_2011.jpg
 
Hazard literaly being told to point and KISS THE BADGE. What a cringe fest of a Club.
I genuinely don't know what the appeal of that club is... You can play like a god there and people will still boo you to oblivion if you misplace a pass! If I were a footballer, Real would be the last place I would think of going to alongside Woolwich and Chelsea. Toxic place with the shittiest fanbase on Earth, although Liverpool, United, Juve and Inter run them pretty close.
 
I've been saying for a couple of seasons they are full of hot air when linked to players. The bottom line is they need to sell before they can buy, the problem is no-one is prepared to buy what they have especially at the fees, more wages, that the players demand!

So, think again when you scream "pay him what he wants" or else you have a player like Bale earning £30m a year not adding a great deal to your team eating up wages. This will also hit Utd too though with players all on massive wages but who are quite shit.



Funny to think that one of the key moments Sir Alex Ferguson would later identify in his disintegrating relationship with David Beckham was picking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ahead of his famous No 7 for the visit of Real Madrid to Old Trafford in the Champions League in 2003.

By then Beckham, as Ferguson saw it, was a long way from the “wee, starry-eyed kid” he once knew. He infuriated his manager by refusing to remove a beanie intended to keep a newly shaven head under wraps during a pre-match meal and the subsequent warm-up.

Different times. In the distant austerity of those pre-social media days, leveraging one’s celebrity did sometimes involve the wearing of a hat indoors for days on end.

Towards the end of the 2002-2003 season Solskjaer was identified by Ferguson as the successor to Beckham on the right of midfield, until injury and Cristiano Ronaldo intervened.

You wonder how Solskjaer views the latest talented butterfly in the United midfield with designs on a career in Madrid. Sixteen years on from the summer Beckham left, and 10 since Ronaldo went the same way, it seems Madrid want Paul Pogba. Regardless of whether United wish to sell, they are at least in the driving seat.

The same goes for their opponents today, Chelsea, who seemed resigned to losing Eden Hazard to Madrid with just a year left on his contract. If you totted up all the transfer fees and wages Madrid are supposed to be spending this summer you would probably have enough to buy United from the Glazers. Although the only figures that matter are those the Spanish club publish.

Their intermediate accounts corresponding to the first half of the 2018-2019 season, up to Dec 31, are the hard evidence that debunk the myth of a cash-rich Madrid. Published on April 9, they revealed there was no cash in the club during last summer or this January’s transfer windows. The €64 million that appeared in the accounts corresponded to the amount that fell due to the tax authorities in January. Crucially, the wage bill, even after the sale of Ronaldo in the summer, rose from €200 million for the same period the previous year to €205 million.

Ronaldo’s sale kept Madrid in profit, just as the sale of the likes of Danilo and Alvaro Morata had done in previous years and they will have to sell again if they are to acquire players. That relies on the market being prepared to pay a big fee for Gareth Bale, as well as annual wages likely to be around €28 million. Ideally for Madrid they would sell loanees James Rodriguez and Mateo Kovacic but neither Bayern Munich nor Chelsea seem that eager.

When Ed Woodward took power at Old Trafford in 2013 he declared United would never be under financial pressure to sell their best players to Spain’s two biggest clubs and certainly as things stand, that should be the case. On the pitch, United have not made that task any easier, but when it comes to their respective financial situations, Old Trafford is in the stronger position.

Madrid’s latest accounts show that current accruals – money received in advance for services to be delivered next year – have increased significantly from €67 million in June 2017 to €129 million in December 2019. Despite that, there is no cash in these accounts to make the sort of signings with which they are consistently linked. From where do those in thrall to the years of Madrid acquisitiveness think this money will magically emerge?

The week has brought a change of weather over the likelihood of Christian Eriksen, in the final year of his contract at Tottenham Hotspur, leaving for Madrid – with Daniel Levy’s intransigence being cited as a key reason.

Or perhaps he too has cast his eye over the financial results from Madrid and wondered where Eriksen might rank in their fantasy list dependent on money they do not yet have.

The question facing Chelsea, who look the most vulnerable of all as regards Hazard, is whether they could face next season with a transfer embargo and money they cannot spend raised by the sale of their best player. They may look at the example of David De Gea, who entered the final year of his contract at United and, after a very near-miss with Madrid, signed another deal. Madrid simply do not have the funds to pay one-off big fees unless they sell first.

Revenue has stagnated for the half-year period, from €374 million up from €370 million, sustained by earnings from their Champions League prize money (up from €32 million to €54 million) and an increase in member contributions (€24 million to €27 million). Neither can be relied on for the next half-yearly results. Marketing revenue was down €17 million, mainly a consequence of losing a €30 million Telefonica contract.

The adidas deal expires at the end of next season and has not yet been renewed, with sales in their shops down 30 per cent. Above all, it is about cash, and Madrid are stretched in their borrowing too. The club have agreed to borrow €575 million to fund their stadium development with annual payments of €29.5 million due from July 2023 to July 2049. They also have a credit line with lender Providence Equity Partners, although given that was agreed in return for a share of any increase in their declining marketing revenue, it is unclear how much will be at the club’s disposal.

They have a manager who returned to the club, presumably on the promise of a rebuild. Zinedine Zidane has already signalled his displeasure with president Florentino Perez’s big signing of last summer Thibaut Courtois, dropping him for Keylor Navas. But the question for Madrid remains not who they will sign, or for how much – but with what?

:harrysmile:


So presumably they have opened a new credit line to fund players they have bought such as Hazard, and others that they intend to buy whether Pogba and/or Eriksen.

A few players up for sale too such as Ceballos, but surely most clubs know RM need to sell and will low ball, and even submit lower bids the closer it gets to the end of the TW.

But I cannot see the proceeds of sales of players even matching the amount they now need to pay to Chelsea for Hazard, so what's their next trick going to be ? Sell their antiquated stadium to the city council for an inflated price with a low rent back deal (aka state aid( ?
 
There is one small thing which gets on my nerves about Madrid. I remember looking at their instagram page once, and most if not all of what they posted was written in English. I understand that they're a huge club and they need to be as "global" as they can, but it feels a bit weird to have THE quintessential Spanish club posting in English. Of course this is a small thing compared to their toxic fan-base and their fascist past.
 
I genuinely don't know what the appeal of that club is... You can play like a god there and people will still boo you to oblivion if you misplace a pass! If I were a footballer, Real would be the last place I would think of going to alongside Woolwich and Chelsea. Toxic place with the shittiest fanbase on Earth, although Liverpool, United, Juve and Inter run them pretty close.

Same reason as a boxer would want to fight mike tyson even though its likely he will lose. A chance of greatness.
 
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