By Harkomal Shoker- Associate Sport Editor
Real Madrid, the 15 time champions league winners, are the dominating force in football- no club can compare to their European success. In their 123 year history Real Madrid have won 36 Spanish league titles, 5 fifa club world wins, 20 Spanish cup wins, 13 Spanish super cup wins and many more. They have built their club to be the biggest force in football, Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is one of the biggest stages in European football, having seen some of the best players.
The best players playing at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is a very common occurrence for Real Madrid. These players are called Galacticos. Featuring players like: Cristano Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, David Beckham, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Gareth Bale, Kaka, Eden hazard, Roberto carlos, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Michael Owen, James Rodriguez and many more. It didn’t matter how good or bad these players were for Real Madrid, they were brought in as stars already and were supposed to shine at the biggest stage in the world. Galacticos’ trend at Real Madrid started when they appointed their new president, Florentino Perez.
Florentino Perez became president in 1996 and his first Galactico was Luis Figo. When Perez needed to get more votes to become president again in 2000, he promised everyone that he would use Luis Figo to help against their biggest rivals Barcelona. This promise helped Perez win the election and as president he brought Luis Figo from their biggest rivals Barcelona. Real Madrid paid 60 million euros for the Portuguese international. This was one of the immensely controversial transfers in history, the amount of hate Luis Figo had for signing real madrid was extreme, but Florentino didn’t stop there as the next year he broke the transfer record with the signing of Zidane.
The transfer cost Real Madrid 77.5 million euros, and the next year they signed Ronaldo. These three players defined generations with the help of other players like: Roberto Carlos, Casillas, Raul, Fernando Hierro. With extraordinary sportsmanship, these players were able to win the 1x champions league, 2x Spanish league titles and 1x Spanish super cup titles between 2000 and 2003. After this incredible run Florentino Perez would buy the biggest superstar and one of the biggest brands in the world at the time: David Beckham.
Beckham arrived after being kicked out of Manchester United and got signed for 37.5 million euros. In the same summer Florentino Perez sold Claude Makelele, one of the most important players for Madrid during this time. He was the defensive midfielder that held the team together, for a very attacking team Claude Makelele was the defensive piece that helped give the team balance. Without the defence the team was left without any protection, this period showed the downfall of Madrid. Demonstrating that lack of knowledge of strategy by the football club can have detrimental effects to winning. Even though it clearly was not their best run of the season they still managed to win the 1x Spanish league title and 1x Spanish super cup title.
After 2007 it was clear that a complete restructure of the club was needed. However, with Florentino Perez only returning in 2009 after leaving in 06, he’d learnt from last time but still believed in buying Galacticos. In 2009 Florentino Perez spent big. They splashed 67 million euros on 2007 ballon d’or winner Kaka, then they continued with 94 million euros on 2008 ballon d’or winner Cristiano Ronaldo. They spent 35 million on Benzema, a future ballon d’or winner but Florentino Perez knew how important defensive players were and he signed champions league winner Xabi Alonso from Liverpool. He would spend 35 million on the defensive midfielder.
The next season Real Madrid would sign future champions league winner and future world cup winner Angel Di Maria. They spent 33 million euros on the right winger as well as the 18 million euros on the future world winner Mesut Ozil, but they also spent money on a defensive midfielder, Sami Khedira. Floretino perez understood that his team needed that balance. With Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso in the club the defence had the balance that the club was wanting. The next season they would sign young French superstar Varane. The centre back was one of the world’s best youngsters. After that they would sign Luka Modric, a future ballon d’or winner. Even considering the previous money spent they carried on into the following season and would break the bank signing Gareth Bale, for a staggering 101 million euros.
After all these signings they would eventually reach their goal and win their tenth champions league title. After this season they would win three more champions league which would transpire to be the 3rd win in a row, this was extremely exciting considering no other team has done it before. During that time they signed important players like Toni Kroos, Keylor Navas, James Rodriguez and Casemiro. These players helped the team overall and helped the forwards shine. This period was one of the best in Madrid’s history. Between 2009 and 2018 they won 4x champions leagues. After the 2018 Cristiano Ronaldo the star player, the best player to play for real madrid was sold to Juventus for 117 million euros, this came as a shock to every Madrid fan. Cristiano Ronaldo became the world’s best player at Real Madrid and still was one of the best when Madrid sold him, but this was the start of a new Madrid. 2009 to 2018 made legends for Madrid’s: Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale, Varane, Benzema, Kroos, Modric, Casemiro and many more. Some of these players were brought in as galacticos like Bale, Kroos, Ronaldo, Benzema- but players like Modric, Ramos and Navas became stars at Real Madrid but never Galacticos, but why?
Well, the answer lies in the fact that a Galactico is a player that is one of the best in their position already and then when they go to Madrid they are already superstars. Modric, Ramos and Navas needed time to grow into the team. In the new rebuild, Real Madrid changed the way we see Galacticos, after Madrid sold Ronaldo they signed a youngster called Vinicius Junior for 45 million euros and signed Thibaut Courtois for 35 million. After this season they signed another two youngsters Éder Militão and Rodrygo. Two seasons later they signed another youngster, Eduardo Camavinga and brought in David Alaba for a free transfer. The next season they acquired another young person called Aurélien Tchouaméni, with another free transfer with Antonio Rüdiger. The next season they signed English star Jude Bellingham and Turkish wonder kid Arda Guler.
Keeping up with this momentum, the following season after they signed young Brazilian superstar Endrick and signed world cup winner Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer. Between 2018 and 2024 Real Madrid have won 2x champions leagues, 3x Spanish league titles, 3x Spanish super cup wins and a Spanish cup title.
Real Madrid changed the way we perceive Galacticos again. We used to see Madrid buy the best players and the biggest brands, then they changed into buying the best in every position and then they changed again and bought the best youngsters and turned them into the Galacticos. Every generation of Galacticos has changed the way we perceive them, we used to think it’s the biggest brands but now in the new generation it’s all about creating their brand through Real Madrid. Which enriches their club along the way.
Real Madrid now buy their experienced players through free transfers, waiting until their contracts end. Madrid were getting players like Rudiger, Alaba and Mbappe for no transfer fee. They let these players run their contracts and lured these players by using their legacy of past Galacticos. Real Madrid players have sold this dream to players that they can be the next Galacticos and thus these young players that used to watch the old Galacticos want to become that and the free contracts players want to be part of that brand. The Galacticos have become a timeless brand for Real Madrid that will bring them the most talented players in the world and no club will do it like them.
Image: Vienna Reyes, via Unsplash