[Sport] Jude Bellingham: Why Real Madrid move would make 'perfect sense'

[BirSaNN]

For many years Real Madrid were renowned for being 'Los Galacticos' - a squad packed full of expensively assembled superstars, bringing unmatched glitz and glamour to their trophy-hungry fans.

The policy was instigated in 2000 by newly appointed president Florentino Perez, who started his spree by launching an audacious move to sign Luis Figo, the best player and icon of eternal rivals Barcelona. He was quickly followed by Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham and Robinho as Perez continued to flex his muscles by splashing the cash.

Another wave of high-end purchases followed after Perez returned to the presidency in 2009: Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez were among those recruited for massive fees, with Real determined to position themselves as the ultimate dream destination for any superstar with serious ambitions.

But then something changed. After years of spending every summer chasing the biggest possible names, Real abruptly halted the Galacticos policy and started to focus their recruitment strategy on the world's most promising youngsters. Instead of signing football's biggest established stars, the club became intent upon snapping up the game's next stars.

 

This shift in strategy - envisioned by Perez and long-serving right-hand man Jose Angel Sanchez, and executed by chief scout Juni Calafat - was necessitated by a recognition of new economic realities.

After so many years of being untouchable in the transfer market, Real could no longer routinely compete with the limitless wealth of the 'petrodollar' clubs. So they looked for an alternative route to success.

There would be the occasional exception - such as the ill-fated £100m move for Eden Hazard in 2019 and the ongoing pursuit of Kylian Mbappe - but Real largely stayed away from those major deals, instead scouring South America for teenagers who had the potential to make it big.

The first significant signing under this new policy came in 2017 when Real club splashed out 46m euros (£39m) on a 16-year-old Brazilian winger who would formally join when allowed to do so on his 18th birthday. His name was Vinicius Jr, now one of the most devastating attackers in the world.

Vinicius scored the winning goal in last season's Champions League final, with the assist coming from another player who had been scouted in South America as a teenager: Uruguayan midfielder Fede Valverde. Yet another hero of the knockout stages, which included a dramatic late double against Manchester City, also travelled the same route: Brazilian winger Rodrygo, who joined Real from Santos at the age of 18.

link: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65477289