Florentino Pérez to eclipse Ronaldo, Kaká splash this summer
Éder Militao became the Real Madrid president's 48th signing since 2009 and took the club's spending during that period to well over a billion euros.
Real Madrid’s signing of Porto defender Éder Militao was made official on 14 March for a fee of 50 million euros, making the Brazil international the most expensive defender the Bernabéu board has even purchased.
The 21-year-old also became the 48th signing of Florentino Pérez’s second stint in the presidential seat and took the construction magnate’s spending since he was re-elected to the post in 2009 to over 1.2 billion euros.
Pérez’s initial splash in the 2009-10 season remains his most prolific to date, with the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo (€96m), Kaká (€67m), Benzema (€35m), Xabi Alonso (€34,5m), Raúl Albiol (€15), Esteban Granero (€4) and Álvaro Arbeloa totalling €255,5 million.
That remains the record outlay in a single transfer window by Real Madrid and Ronaldo also tops the list of most expensive sales ever made by the club when he joined Juventus for €117m last summer, Pérez turning a profit on the 33-year-old.
During the same period (2009-present), Madrid have recouped €682 million in player sales.
Of the €1.211bn Pérez has lavished on players during his second mandate, the majority has been spent on the middle of the park. In total, the Real president has signed 21 midfielders for a total price of €487m, followed by forwards, where Madrid have splashed €386.5m on 11 players. Gareth Bale, at €101m euros, remains Real Madrid’s record signing.
Elsewhere, Pérez has bought five keepers at a cost of €63m, and 11 defenders for a combined fee of €275m.
Mbappé, Hazard pursuit set to break single-window record
Pérez’s outlay on the club is likely to skyrocket this summer, with Zinedine Zidane promised three new Gálactico signings when he returned to the fold. In all likelihood, Real will smash the record set in 2009 with Militao (€50m) and Santos forward Rodrygo (€45m) already on the books.
One single move could smash the world transfer record set in 2017 when Neymar moved to PSG from Barcelona for €222m. Madrid have been linked with a €280m bid for the Brazilian’s teammate Kylian Mbappé and are also said to be in the market for Eden Hazard, who Chelsea will not sell for less than €100m.