Real Madrid president slams state-owned clubs Man City, PSG and Newcastle

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has openly criticised the current economic situation that has allowed European football clubs to be state-owned.

The Real Madrid chief has been credited for helping Real Madrid become one of the most financially stable clubs despite going through the blows dealt by the novel coronavirus pandemic like everyone else.

However, he pointed out that nowadays, even if a club has a healthy revenue stream, it has become almost impossible to compete with clubs that have state-backing.

Perez pursued Kylian Mbappe, 22, during the summer transfer window, with suggestions they had offered up to €200 million for the forward. But Paris Saint-Germain turned down an initial offer of €160 million.

Reflecting on Madrid’s failed pursuit of the French forward in the previous transfer window, Perez has criticised PSG’s refusal to sell their star man but remained upbeat regarding the possibility of a free transfer.

“We have to fulfil our contracts and we try to bring in good players and the best players,” Florentino Perez told Marca.

“But you have to be able to afford them. Now you offer 200 million [euros] and they don’t sell. When they finish their contracts it’s better, but right now there are a lot of state-backed clubs and they don’t want to sell you players,” he added.

“I strive for [financial] management [of the club] to be the main thing, not the money you get from elsewhere. The time will come when the top 30 clubs in Europe will be owned by countries. That is not the principle of the European Union. I came here to fight and I have been fighting since I arrived.”

These Florentino Perez’s comments were shared on Twitter by @City_Xtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters.