Valdano 'Surprised' By Reaction To Real Madrid's Spending

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Ever since Real Madrid followed up their headline-grabbing signing of Kaka with the audacious bid to buy Cristian Ronaldo, the club and their president, Florentino Perez, have come under heave fire from certain detractors, none more so than his Barcelona counterpart, Joan Laporta.

The Blaugrana chief immediately branded Perez’s efforts as “imperialistic” and “arrogant” and even though the Madrid supremo has had his fair share of supporters, he has declined the temptation to bite back.

But after continuous attacks, he has finally responded to the claims that he and Los Blancos are merely trying to show off their economic superiority.

“We are quite the opposite of imperialistic and arrogant. As everyone knows, this is a club for the socios [members], we do not make any profit for ourselves and the only thing we are trying to do is create a social benefit for the people, especially the children,” Sport quoted him saying to a Colombian radio station.

Perez then went on to justify his reasons for the lavish spending to bring the best players in the world to the Santiago Bernabeu.

He explained, “Our economic model is based on our sporting plan, which is to have the greatest players in the world, and it is this model that allows us to remain independent.”

Los Blancos have also recently been criticised by the Spanish Prime Minister, Zapatero, who believes that Madrid’s €94 million offer to Manchester United for Ronaldo is an “excessive” amount.

Real yesterday secured another £70m loan from Spanish bank Caja Madrid. Possibly for the purchase of Ribery or Villa.

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Real Madrid director-general Jorge Valdano has admitted that he has been surprised by the reaction to the capital club's spending habits this summer.

Los Blancos have already spent €67 million signing Kaka and look set to complete a €96 million deal for Cristiano Ronaldo soon.

The deals have been met with mixed reactions from around the footballing world, and that has taken Valdano by surprise, as he told Cuatro.

"We are responding to the clamor. For the last two or three years I have been hearing that Real Madrid needs Cristiano Ronaldo and players like Kaka. They are now here and I am surprised that there is skepticism in some cases and aggressiveness in others. We do not want to play that game. We like to conduct business differently, so we listen and keep quiet," he said.

Despite the big money moves though, Valdano acknowledged that there is still work to be done at the Bernabeu this summer.

"Barcelona are capable of winning the treble because they already proved that they have the weapons to do so. We are trying to pull closer, but it will take a lot of work. Signing five or six players doesn’t mean you have a team. There’s a new administration and it’s important to count on reliable people. Not only does it take time, but it creates a sense of anxiety," he mused.

Finally the director-general spoke about the situation with Raul, stating that now he has a tough task on his hands to keep his place.

"Let’s look back at when Raul first appeared with the first team. He had been playing on the ‘C’ team and replaced a legend…[Emilio] Butragueno. Raul’s battle now isn’t with a player from the ‘C’ team, but against greats from all around the world," he explained.