Real outstrip Utd in battle of the buck

REAL MADRID president Florentino Perez says the Primera Liga giants will make €138m from marketing this year and will outstrip Manchester United as the most valuable brand label in world sport.

“Some years ago Manchester United were the best selling club in the world because of the simple fact that they had a marketing policy that was 10 years ahead of everyone else,” Perez said yesterday.

“This is no longer the case because right now there is nothing to match the global impact of the Real Madrid brand. We are the number one, not just in football, but in all sport.

“This year we are going to earn €138m just from marketing, which is equal to the total income from all sources four years ago.”

Perez, who was re-elected as Real president eight days ago after winning over 90% of the votes of club members, said his policy of signing some of the biggest names in world football was responsible for a spectacular increase in marketing revenues.

“We have shown that investing in the best players can be profitable,” he said. “Just like other business sectors we have tried to develop a good product that sells.”

Perez spent close to €200m to bring Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham to the Bernabeu during his first four years as president.

The spending spree was made possible by the sale of the club’s city-centre training ground to the Madrid local authority for €480m, a deal which is being investigated by the EU for a possible hidden state subsidy.