Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has said the club is still feeling the full impact of the coronavirus crisis and there will be no major upcoming transfer business as a result.
Los Blancos have been a consistent winning machine since the lockdown, winning ten matches in a row to clinch their 34th La Liga title – confirmed with a 2-1 victory over Villarreal on Thursday. .
Florentino Pérez on El Transistor “No (there won’t be big signings this summer). The situation is really bad. It’s hard to ask players to take a pay cut to help deal with it and then sign. It’s waiting. Madrid will sign the best when the situation changes.
— Alex Kirkland (@alexkirkland) July 17, 2020
But despite their impressive success, almost all of Europe’s biggest clubs have had a strange and tumultuous summer to cut costs.
Even the original, newly crowned Spanish champions and apparently financially poor, are in trouble after three months without football. The club confirmed back in April that all players, coaches and directors would take a pay cut of between 10-20 per cent.
When asked if we could expect any big signings at the Bernabeu in the coming weeks, Perez said (via ESPN): “No, the situation is really bad.
“It is difficult to ask players to take a pay cut to help cope with the situation and then make signings like this. It can wait. When the situation changes, Madrid will sign the best again.”
The closure of the Bernabeu has been at the heart of their financial loss for fans, cutting off a key revenue stream for the club.
Just look at Josh. pic.twitter.com/klHWn2kJVB
— 90 Minutes (@90min_Football) July 17, 2020
“This year has been the hardest for me,” Perez said. “We lost significant income from the stadium. We had to talk to the players to do their jobs. If they had not voluntarily reduced their salaries, the company would have suffered. This is an unusual situation.”
“We get a lot of income from the stadium, we lose 25% which is a lot of money. You see it more than other clubs with Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid because they spend their money on television rights. and we don’t.”