“It’s obvious we could do with a player like Cristiano Ronaldo but he’s at a big club in Manchester United. I see it as an impossible signing. It’s the same with Cesc Fabregas. We aren’t the only team that would like to have a player like Cesc, but he belongs to a big club in Arsenal and it is almost impossible to sign him.”
With those comments to Radio Marca, Real Madrid sporting director Pedja Mijatovic has officially drawn a line under the ‘galactico’ era.
When Florentino Perez was running the show, Real used to operate under the assumption that no player was out of their reach. “Whoever Florentino wants, Florentino gets,” was a common phrase in the admiring Madrid sports press at the time, as Luis Figo was followed in by Zinedine Zidane (for another world record fee), Ronaldo, David Beckham and (to slightly less fanfare) Michael Owen and Robinho.
Even after Perez left, Marca and As would fill page after page during every transfer window confidently predicting that Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo would come, and that waffle continued even after Ronaldo signed a new deal with United last year.
Mijatovic’s comments today seem to accept that Real either cannot or will not continue poaching the world’s top players, regardless of cost.
Fans should welcome the change in philosophy. This team has a modest look about it on paper, yet they have a better chance of winning the European Cup than they have done in years. As far as the league goes, it should be a doddle. As noted at La Liga Loca, they’ve won away to Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal this season, which is true championship form.
Of course, it’s possible Mijatovic is being disingenuous and we’ll see Kaka, Cesc and Ronaldo playing together in white next season after a $250 million raid. I can’t help feeling that’d be a shame. Turns out modesty and hard work sit pretty well on Real.
PHOTO: Mijatovic gestures during a news conference at Real’s Bernabeu stadium, June 28, 2007. REUTERS/Sergio Perez
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7 comments so far
‘Modesty’ and ‘Mijatovic’ are two words that don’t sit together well. I suspect that it’s not a case of Real Madrid not being able to make a financial offer for these players; rather that the players themselves don’t wish to play at Real Madrid at any cost. The team are doing well in the league, grinding out wins with the teamwork and self-belief instilled on the squad by Capello last year. I don’t think they scare anyone in Europe with their play, which doesn’t mean they can’t win the Champions League, just that they’re not the favourites.
- Posted by GonzaloOK, perhaps ‘modest’ was going a bit far
I do think Real are a better bet for Europe when they’re not over-confident, though. And it’s good to hear the club being a bit more realistic about transfer targets. It was obvious they were in no position to sign Ronaldo after he agreed a new deal with United last year, yet they kept dropping hints/leaking to the media that they were in the hunt.
- Posted by Kevin FylanMijatovic may think one thing, but I’ve got the feeling that (Real president Ramon) Calderon would jump at the chance to bring a big player to the Bernabeu if only to avoid the constant reminders that he has failed to live up to his electoral pledge to sign Kaka.
Sports daily AS is still mounting a carefully orchestrated campaign to get Cristiano Ronaldo to join Real. Yesterday they had an interview with his mum on the front page saying she would die happy if he moves to Madrid. So may just be that they are keeping mum!
- Posted by Simon BaskettI think Real Madrid could still be quite likely to move for any of the players mentioned as they have previous for saying one thing then doing the other, as the Beckham transfer proved, i would think at some point in his career Ronaldo is certain to pull on the white shirt. Wouldnt it be refreshing to see Real Madrid win the champions league when most would see their squad as much inferior to their squad of past recent seasons. Ws long as they win their domestic league i will be happy as personally i cant stand Barcelona who think they have a god given right to win as ALL teams are inferior to them, So keep it up Real.
- Posted by Kenny Greighi guys come one lets be serious here, madrid have the power to buy any player, the players they are after, have never said they would not want to play for madrid, its the clubs they are with who are being such a pain. its only a matter of time, and you will see the big names walk out on the santiago bernabeu pitch. HALA MADRID !!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Posted by saierI suspect Cristiano Ronaldo is waiting to see how many trophies Manchester United manage to win this year before deciding. If they don’t win the Champions League I wouldn’t be surprised to see him paraded before the media at the Bernabeu come the summer.
- Posted by Iain[…] Schuster has Pedja Mijatovic at Real Madrid, Txiki Beguiristain does a similar job at Barcelona, Uli Hoeness manages Bayern […]
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