Abraham P. Romero Madrid

Madrid

Updated Wednesday, January 31, 2024-15:51

"It's just that

far from Madrid it's a little cold

." At the

Valdebebas

Sports City they embrace the football cliché that is used to summarize the drop in performance of a series of players when they leave a team. It is not an expression that only works for

Real Madrid

, but in recent years the white team has starred in it like no one else. Involved in a reconstruction process since the

three consecutive Champions Leagues

, Chamartín's team has known how to continue winning (

League, Cup, Champions, Club World Cup, Super Cups

...) while the players who were falling by the wayside suffered in their destinations. Even agreeing to let star footballers leave who have not performed in other locker rooms. There are the cases of

Varane, Casemiro, Ramos, Benzema, Cristiano

... In sporting terms they have all lost, although economically they have won.

During his 20 seasons at the helm of Real Madrid (the current one is number 21),

Florentino Pérez

and the technical direction of the white team, first with

Jorge Valdano

and later with

José Ángel Sánchez

, have faced several traumatic departures for Real Madrid fans. But reality, in terms of Madrid's own titles or the trophies or legacy won by players outside of Chamartín, has ended up proving them right in almost all of their decisions.

The first time Florentino opened the door to a Madrid star was just two weeks after becoming president. Pérez, with

Luis Figo

under his arm, sold

Fernando Redondo

to Milan for 18 million euros (3,000 million pesetas). The Argentine, who had repeated in the pre-season that he wanted to stay, went to Italy earning approximately the same salary that Figo was going to earn at the Bernabéu, and his departure even caused demonstrations at the gates of the stadium: "No

Figo, "Redondo si

!", sang the 200 people who crowded into the Castellana in July 2000, the same month in which Madrid sold Anelka to PSG for 5,000 million pesetas.

Redondo played 16 games

in the four seasons he spent in Milan, always hampered by injuries, and Figo was a vital man in the two Leagues of 2001 and 2003 and the Champions League of 2002. It was Florentino's first victory in the offices, but not latest. Although there were also defeats.

Makelélé's trauma

Historically, there is a sale that is assumed to be painful sportingly in Chamartín: that of

Claude Makelélé

. Defensive axis of the

Galacticos

, his departure to Chelsea for 20 million and the arrival of

Beckham

tactically destabilized the team, being the beginning of the end of Madrid's golden era. At Stamford Bridge, Makélélé was essential for Mourinho, winning two Premier Leagues and reaching the Champions League final.

In his second stage, Florentino knew that to deal with the arrivals of

Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Benzema

he had to get rid of

Robben and Sneijder

. And the Dutch have been the only ones who have not been "cold" away from Chamartín, winning the Champions League and reaching the

World Cup final

with their country. However, the list leaves many victories and few defeats in the fights that the stars wanted to have with the Madrid management.

Mesut Özil

left in 2013, a few months before La Décima, for 47 million to be the star of Arsenal. He played 184 games and won 4 FA Cups, but did not win in the Premier or Europe. That summer,

Higuaín

, in constant sporting fight with Benzema, went to Naples for 40 million. He was Calcio's top scorer in 2016 and ended up winning Serie A with Juventus, but like Özil, he missed the 4 Champions Leagues. And

Kaká

, who also left in 2013, spent time in Milan without playing before going to Orlando.

After La Décima, Xabi Alonso and Di María

changed clubs

, which became the highest sale in Madrid's history:

75 million

. The Argentine played a year at United before being transferred again, in that case to PSG, where he played 7 seasons. In France he won 5 leagues and lost a Champions League, until the World Cup in Qatar gave him his greatest gift. Alonso, for his part, played three years at Bayern, won 3 Bundesliga titles and retired without winning the Champions League again.

All while Madrid won three European Cups

.

The reconstruction after Cristiano

Cristiano Ronaldo

's 'goodbye'

in 2018 began a small reconstruction. In the fight with the Portuguese, Florentino accepted the offer of 117 million from Juventus and let his biggest star leave. It seemed like the world was opening up on the Bernabéu floor. But again, reality made the manager the winner.

Cristiano

won two leagues in Italy but ended up in Manchester, banished by

Ten Hag

, and became an icon of Saudi football. His pocketbook has grown, but who knows what he would have earned in Chamartín.

The domino has continued, non-stop, in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. In 2019, Madrid opened the door to

Kovacic

(to Chelsea for 45 million),

Marcos Llorente

(to Atlético for 30) and

Keylor Navas

(to PSG for fifteen). In 2020 it was the turn of

Achraf

(to Inter for 43),

Reguilón

(to Tottenham for 30) and

James Rodríguez

(to Everton, free). In 2021 it was

Sergio Ramos

(free to PSG),

Varane

(to United for 40) and

Odegaard

(to Arsenal for 35). In 2022

Casemiro

(to United for 70),

Gareth Bale

(free to Los Angeles),

Isco

(free to Sevilla) and Marcelo (free to Olympiacos). And last summer, to finish,

Benzema

(free to the Saudi Al-Ittihad) and

Asensio

(free to PSG) left, after they found more money abroad than what a Madrid that

in 2022 lifted its Fourteenth European Cup

could promise them. , Florentino's sixth as president.

Of that entire list, only one has won the Champions League away from the Bernabéu,

Kovacic with Chelsea

(

Marcelo

has won the Libertadores with

Fluminense

), and the best placed to do so this year are the Croatian, now at City;

Achraf

, at PSG; and

Odegaard

, who is also fighting for the Premier as captain of Arsenal. Three of a long list of stars who one day left Chamartín out of desire for glory or money.

Varane and Casemiro suffer

, between injuries and lack of chemistry with the coach, the hardships of a disastrous United, 8th in the Premier and out of the Champions League round of 16.

Asensio is not a starter at PSG

,

Isco

has regained his smile at Villamarín after being without a team for many months,

Ramos has returned to Spain

, to a Sevilla fighting for relegation and

Benzema, with physical problems

, is being criticized in Arabia , where his team is seventh, far from

Cristiano

, leader of the league.