Florentino Pérez is locked in battles with the media, Barcelona, and La Liga, yet he continues to sidestep the real issues plaguing his club. “This is the starting point for our pursuit of a 16th Champions League title,” he declared in the Wembley tunnel shortly after lifting the 15th European Cup. Tireless and never satisfied, Pérez beamed with pride over a united, battle-hardened squad. “The key is the team, the atmosphere they live in—a family. That’s one of the secrets to our Champions League success: no one is the star, no one wants to be the center of attention,” he proclaimed that night in London.
Nearly two years later, the joy of England has turned into anger in Madrid. The Real Madrid president now faces intangible enemies—those he challenges by calling for elections—and tangible ones, like the media, with whom he remains locked in a war of trenches. The Florentino of 2024 and the one of 2026 are separated by two years, but more importantly, by a growing list of problems. All are obvious and painful. The most successful club in history has gone two seasons without winning any of the three major trophies and has cycled through three head coaches—two officially departed (Carlo Ancelotti and Xabi Alonso), and one (Álvaro Arbeloa) whose future is uncertain. And all this after the Wembley speech and the signing of Kylian Mbappé, the jewel of the Galácticos, a player Pérez pursued for nearly a decade.
Now, some believe the Frenchman’s arrival was a mistake. Ancelotti repeatedly called the Real Madrid dressing room “the healthiest in world football,” but Mbappé’s arrival broke that balance. Two years later, internal conflicts and poor results plague the team. Information leaks worry management, and everyone wants to distance themselves from the mess. The “family” Pérez built has been shaken by Mbappé’s arrival. On the pitch, Toni Kroos’s departure left the team without direction. The German’s exit was seen by the board as an opportunity for young midfielders like Eduardo Camavinga, not as a major loss that needed replacing through transfers. Both Ancelotti and Alonso requested a new midfielder in the last two summer windows, but Pérez refused, insisting on Tuesday afternoon that he already has the best squad in the world. Two years of impotence in La Liga and Europe show that the sporting plan is far from ideal. Yet the blame falls on the coaches, who, along with the media, are treated as scapegoats for the club’s failures.
José Mourinho as a solution. Florentino is now set to turn to José Mourinho again, just as he did during the second Galácticos era when the Portuguese coached Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Kaká. It’s an emergency response to an emergency. In 2021, he brought back Ancelotti, despite having previously criticized his first tenure, and the Italian rewarded him with two more Champions League titles, placing him alongside Zinedine Zidane on Pérez’s coaching hierarchy. Now, Mourinho aims to become the third trusted coach in that tier. Restoring competitive edge is crucial for protecting Pérez’s legacy, especially as the Bernabéu renovation drags on with persistent issues. The stadium is impressive inside, with a retractable roof and underground facilities, but questions remain about soundproofing and the exterior, which does not match the original design. Real Madrid still cannot host concerts or major public events, only football matches, causing top international artists to prefer the Metropolitano over the Bernabéu—a renovation that has already cost €1.35 billion. This frustrates the president, who, for now, cannot outshine his neighbors on the Paseo de la Castellana.
Apart from his media war, Pérez is locked in a legal battle with Barcelona over the Negreira case and a dispute with La Liga over audiovisual rights, though he seems to have ended his fight with UEFA over the European Super League. The president’s biggest project outside of Real Madrid is now focused on integrating his vision into the Champions League.