The stage was set, and it will remain set for the rest of the summer. Quite literally. And although this time there has been a change — so far, anyway — the rest of it is much of the same; the same words, the same faces, the same protocol. Thumbs up and kick-ups too.
Usually, a temporary platform is erected on the eastern side of the Santiago Bernabeu, facing the seats of the directors’ box, where presentations are made. This time, it has been set up inside, behind the directors’ box where the canapes are carried and deals are done. As the hot weeks pass, one by one the players come — often all the way to the very last day of August. Outside, fans wait for a glimpse of the new star. Sometimes a few come, sometimes loads do. It’s been relatively quiet of late, a little low key. And that’s the thing.
Sometimes managers come too. Julen Lopetegui was there, a day before he was supposed to be in Sochi leading Spain into their first game of the World Cup. Friday was Vinicius’s turn; at 18, he says he’s ready. Before him came Alvaro Odriozola on Wednesday. And the first presentation of the summer — the time of year when Florentino Perez, the president, traditionally steps centre stage both metaphorically and physically — represented the continuation of Real Madrid’s recent policy.
It also suggested a return to an old one, sidelined a little in the past couple of years. The one that once defined them.
“When someone asks you if you want to go to Real Madrid, it’s like when you’re a kid and someone asks if you want to go to Disneyland; you say ‘yes’,” Odriozola said. At 22, included in the Spain squad for the World Cup, a quick, offensive, talented full-back, bought for a fee of €30 million plus a further €5 million — essentially a negotiated, agreed way of meeting the buyout clause Real Sociedad had set for him — Odriozola is part of a recent shift in policy.
Young, Spanish, the next generation of great players spotted early-ish (that’s the hope, anyway), although usually having demonstrated it at first-team level not in the youth team, and usually signed with relatively little fuss, the buyout clause paid. Buyout clauses at that age and at Spain’s “other” clubs are rarely so prohibitive, after all. So a player comes, perhaps a little overpriced now (although often not) but, if all goes well, he is potentially a bargain in the future.
Yet back then, over a decade ago now, Ramos was an exception. Now, it is a rule. Odriozola follows Marco Asensio, Dani Ceballos, Jesus Vallejo and Theo Hernandez into the Bernabeu. Although not Spanish, some of the same thinking lies behind the signing of Vinicius at €40 million. Going back further, although not Spanish, Raphael Varane — brought in by Zinedine Zidane in 2011 for €10 million — can perhaps be seen as a kind of forerunner of the policy.
In parallel, Madrid’s younger players, either coming through the system or brought in with the idea of them playing for Castilla first, are given loan deals or sold with a buy-back option, as a way of preparing them for the first team. Dani Caravajal, now facing competition from Odriozola, is perhaps the best example. And the approach can be applied to Borja Mayoral, Marcos Llorente, Asensio (loaned to Espanyol) and Alvaro Morata. Casemiro, too.
It is an economic necessity: However big Madrid are, the market is expanding rapidly, driven by Paris Saint-Germain and the Premier League. Prices increase, and there is not simply money to burn. Recent departures underline the need to recuperate money as well as spend it; they also underline that very good players want to play: Morata and James Rodriguez went.
It also may not always work. There is perhaps a risk, as was suggested last year domestically, that the gap between the younger players brought in and the starters is bigger than hoped. Between those younger players and departees like James and Morata, too. There is a risk that opportunities are few and that potential is not fulfilled, whether that’s play or personality. Theo is an example. Going back further, perhaps Asier Illarramendi was too.
One thing is for sure: it is not chance, it is a conscious policy.
A conscious policy that represented a shift. The last time Madrid signed a Galactico was after the last World Cup, when James came. The year before that, it was Gareth Bale. Since then, Madrid have spent less on signings than they have recovered in sales. In terms of players they paid for, few were signed in the past two years: only Theo and Ceballos last season, and Morata the year before. The year before that, it was Mateo Kovacic, Danilo, Asensio and Vallejo.