remember what figo said?
Veiga, who is currently the chairman of English
League One side, Swindon Town has revealed how former Real Madrid
president Florentino Pérez managed to pull off one of the biggest
shocks in transfer history by snapping up Luis Figo from Barcelona
for €65 million.
Accoring to Sport, Veiga disclosed that he had
signed a pre-agreement with Pérez, who was running against Lorenzo
Sanz for the club’s presidency then, to bring Figo to the
Bernabéu.
He then claimed that the main reason he signed the
document was to pressure Barcelona into
accepting a contract improvement for the player, in addition to
pocketing a handsome €3 million in commission.
What Veiga didn’t know at the time – other than the fact
that Lorenzo Sanz would lose the elections and hand the reigns over
to Pérez – was that as per the signed agreement, there was a €30
million exit fee attached should Veiga or Figo
himself break the contract to join Los Blancos.
With Veiga trapped between a rock and a hard place, Figo
then asked the agent: “What do we do now?” to which Veiga replied,
“There are three options. One, you remain at Barça and pay the €30
million which you do not have, two, you don’t pay them and I go to
jail, or three, you go to Real Madrid.”
Veiga believes that it is a similar tactic that current
president Ramón Calderón is using to snatch Cristiano Ronaldo from
Manchester United; making the player sign a deal with Los Merengues
that includes a penalty clause that could cost the Portuguese
millions should he break his end of the deal.
