Florentino Perez: “The time will come when the top 30 clubs in Europe will be owned by countries”

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez spoke to the club board members ahead of the general assembly at Real Madrid City.

Perez spoke about the European Super League, and his concern about the future of football, among other things.

“In 1955, the European Cup was created and it was the same situation as now,” Perez said. “Football has to be played based on the merits and resources that you have,”

“And you have to have the principles of the EU: solidarity, competition and fair play. We have to sort it out and I will fight for it.”

Perez explained that he takes great pride in ensuring the club runs on its own profit, and is worried about Real Madrid’s struggles in competing with privately-owned clubs.

“I strive for [financial] management [of the club] to be the main thing, not the money you get from elsewhere,” Perez explained. “The time will come when the top 30 clubs in Europe will be owned by countries.

“That is not the principle of the European Union. I came here to fight and I have been fighting since I arrived.”

Perez also touched on the fact that a club like PSG are in a place where they can easily reject a 200m offer for a player who will leave them for free.

“We have to fulfil our contracts and we try to bring in good players and the best players,”

“But you have to be able to afford them. Now you offer 200 million [euros] and they don’t sell.

“When they finish their contracts it’s better, but right now there are a lot of state-backed clubs and they don’t want to sell you players.”