The tectonic plates that underpin global football moved and moved precipitously towards Real Madrid one again.
Another 35 million euros shelled out, this time to Lyon for the services of Karim Benzema. The French striker becomes the fourth player to sign up in the Florentino Perez era joining Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Raul Albiol. As for Man Utd, they will have to look elsewhere. Its hard to say this, as a Gunners fan, I have developed a feeling of camarederie with our nemesis. Only in relation to Real. We all should.
A monstrous travesty is unfolding in the world. We ask a simple question. We ask for shame. When does going after a title cross the bounds?
This goes for the most dyed in the wool Madrid fan. Calciopoli type of illegal match fixing is excluded. We point a finger at Chelsea as a prime example of excess but the amounts that Florentino Perez has been forking out has rendered this quaint. Real unlike Chelsea was always in the forefront of Spanish football even before Perez’s first cash stuffed venture attracted worldwide attention and skyrocketed the prices of footballers in a domino effect not just in the big European leagues but everywhere else.
Man City has been gearing up to do the same. There might be a modicum of sympathy there because Man City has struggled to maintain a foothold in the premier league whereas even in Real’s relatively few dark moments, this was never the problem. But such grace is short lived if the club is looked on as a high priced poacher of talent elsewhere.
More than this untrammeled lust for a title what Perez is doing has far reaching consequences in his own country’s footballing traditions. It can be argued that he just proved himself the worst enemy of the cantera, the storied Spanish practice of producing homegrown talent that has enriched club and country. A talented player like Esteban “El Pirata” Granero who is desirous of coming back to his club will think twice with Kaka, Ronaldo, and Benzema on this squad. With Ribery yet to be pried away, Granero knows whatever chances he had are slowly being snuffed out. Yes, Granero’s presence benefits Getafe, his present club but that is not what the canteras were supposed to do. They act as bulwarks in this crazy lopsided world that has become football. That I think is the real tragedy. It calls for a fuller article which I will try and attempt but this is when real (pun partially intended) journalism should write about the actual consequences of Perez’s motives.