Showman Perez gets Real at last

This time, there were no easy labels; no slick slogans. The hope at Real Madrid, however, is that it’s all finally a lot less superficial than that.

It was around this point in 2001, a year on from the grand unveiling of the Galactico project, that president Florentino Perez announced its evolution: ‘Zidanes y Pavones’. The concept was that the club’s lavish expenditure on stars would be balanced by the promotion of young players, simultaneously promoting two important historic pillars of the club.

Perez hasn’t dared use the same type of words this summer, but the club have broadly acted in a similar way.