With rumours of moves afoot for Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard, despite the fact that Real Madrid already have Keylor Navas and Isco in situ, it’s fairly obvious who is calling the shots at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Now that a stumbling block has been removed in Zinedine Zidane, Florentino Perez can go back to doing what he does best; picking the team.
There’s little point in denying that the president has an influence in this regard as Rafa Benitez even alluded to it after he was dismissed from the coaching position at the club, ironically to allow Zidane to take charge.
Though Perez publicly appeared to support Zidane’s decisions, and by and large allowed the Frenchman to ‘get on with it,’ the way that the coach dug his heels in over another potential goalkeeper signing, Kepa, was an embarrassment for the club, and to Perez himself.
Ever the autocrat, Zidane’s departure actually gave Perez back the keys to the safe. Allowed him to bring someone on his terms.
Who better than Julen Lopetegui? A man who professes to even like the Madrid anthem. Say what?!
A man who was manipulated so easily that he left his job – with the Spanish national team and with whom he was unbeaten – on the eve of the World Cup.
Unwilling to get off on the wrong foot with the person about to become his new employer, and therefore unable to give himself a few weeks breathing space before throwing himself whole-heartedly into club football, he left his country in the lurch.
But at least Florentino was happy.
Fast forward a few weeks and Los Blancos are already back training, in preparation initially for their US tour, then the UEFA Super Cup followed by the start of the league season.
Those players who he left behind in Russia will soon join him and their team-mates but in the meantime, Lopetegui will use Castilla players to supplement the first-team training sessions.
One has to wonder what’s next of course. Just how involved will Perez want to be?
It can’t be any coincidence that in the three years Zidane was in the job, the period was one of Real Madrid’s most successful in history.
The Frenchman’s legendary status at the club, and in football generally, no doubt played a part in him being cut more slack than any other coach in Real’s recent past, but the model and way of working that he defined must surely resonate with the president.
No ‘galactico’ signings at this stage is unusual, especially when your coach and best player have jumped ship, so what Real need now is a strong leader to steer them through some choppy waters.
However, what they’ve got is the president’s lap dog.
