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Real Madrid have posted record revenues of more than 600 million euros for the 2013-14 financial year.

At a press conference on Friday, club president Florentino Perez said the club earned revenues of 603.9 million euros, an increase of almost 11% compared with the previous period one year earlier.

In more good news for the club and its shareholders, Los Blancos enjoyed a 4.4% increase in net profit to 38.5 million euros, while the debt was reduced by 21% compared to the previous year, down to 71.5 million euros.

Speaking about the club’s finances, Perez said Los Blancos were in the envious position of being the biggest revenuer generating club in the world for the 10th consecutive season.

“We are extremely satisfied with the financial stability of the club which gives us institutional balance and sporting success. For the 10th consecutive year we will be the club with the biggest revenue in the world. We have ended the financial year with a revenue of 603,9 million euros,” he told journalists.

In the summer, the club spend around 130 million euros on the transfers of James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Keylor Navas, but recuperated much of that by selling Angel di Maria, Xavi Alonso, Diego Lopez and Alvaro Morata.

The club’s finances will also have been boosted by the success in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

 

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Florentino Perez, Real Madrid president

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has said he sold Angel di Maria to Manchester United because of his ridiculous wage demands.

The 27-year-old winger completed a 75-million-euro move to Old Trafford last month, but in an open letter in Marca, said he only left the Santiago Bernabeu because he was forced out by the president and that it wasn’t his choice to leave the 10-time European Cup winners.

Hitting back at those claims, Perez told a press conference on Friday that di Maria was asking for too much money and that the only player who deserves to earn what the Argentinean was asked for is Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Madrid made the best offer you could to a football player and he didn’t accept,” Perez said.

And he continued:”I have never spoken ill of a player who has been with me and then left. But a player who has an active contract leaves because he wants to, because we have always complied with contracts. He had some legitimate economic requests that Madrid did not meet.

“It is a personal decision and we can’t do anything else. If we had accepted his conditions, it would have created a situation that would have put the club’s finances in danger of being unstable.”

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There are two main stories dominating the headlines in the Madrid press this morning – the fallout over the summer transfer business at the club and the news that Real Madrid announced profits of more than 600 million euros for the 2013/14 financial year.

Florentino Perez has spoken out about the transfer deals carried out over the summer. Los Blancos signed James Rodriguez, Keylor Navas, Toni Kroos and Chicharito, and sold Xabi Alonso, Angel di Maria, Diego Lopez and Alvaro Morata.

The sale of Alonso and di Maria upset Cristiano Ronaldo, who last week said in an interview that if he was president of the club, the pair would have stayed at the Santiago Bernabeu. Perez has denied any issue with the Portuguese player though and claimed the club sold di Maria because he was asking for too much money.

The Argentinean winger, now at Manchester United, refutes those claims, and says Perez wanted the 75 million to recoup his layout for Kroos and Rodriguez.

Elsewhere, there are more injury concerns for Los Blancos after Fabio Coentrao missed training for Portugal ahead of their game with Albania. Real have already lost Sami Khedira for eight weeks with a thigh problems, and AS reports the Portugal left back pulled out of training with a knee problem and will be assessed by the Portugal medical team.

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Oliver Bierhoff, the technical director of the German Football Association, has blasted Real Madrid for not realising how serious Sami Khedira’s knee injury was.

The 27-year-old midfielder faces up to eight weeks out with a thigh problem, and there has been some dispute between club and country as to when that injury was picked up exactly.

It is a blow for the World Cup winner, who spent much of last season on the sidelines with a serious knee injury picked up on international duty. He made is comeback for Los Blancos in time to help his side with the Champions League before going on to help Germany lift the World Cup in Brazil.

Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Bierhoff said the medical team at the Santiago Bernabeu didn’t take Khedira’s injury seriously enough and sent him away on international duty.

“The player already had problem when he travelled to Germany,” the 46-year-old former striker stated.

And his continued to criticise the 10-time European Cup winners, saying: “And what’s more, he had already been examined by doctors in Madrid. They didn’t consider it to be a serious injury. After that, Khedira decided to consult a reliable doctor here [and he] diagnosed a muscle tear.”

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Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has reiterated his desire to rejoin Manchester United one day.

But for any Madridistas worried he may be off in the near future – he said he wants to see out at least the rest of his contract – which would take him up to the age of 33.

The Portuguese striker spent a successful spell at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson. In his time in the north west of England he picked up the Premier League winners’ medal as well as the Champions League and FA Cup.

He switched to the Santiago Bernabeu in a 90-million-euro deal in 2009 and has fired Los Blancos to just as much success he did with the Red Devils, winning La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey among others.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ronaldo stated he wants a return to Manchester.

“I love Manchester. Everyone knows that – I have said it many times. Manchester is in my heart. I left many good friends there, the supporters are amazing and I wish I can come back one day.

“I am happy here in Real Madrid and have four more years, but in the future you never know because they treated me unbelievably there. I really did love being at Manchester United. Believe me, they will be a good team again. I’m sure of it. It is a great club,” he added.

 

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Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said Javier Hernandez always dreamed of playing for Real Madrid.

The 26-year-old completed a transfer deadline-day move to the Santiago Bernabeu from the Red Devils, and will spend a year on loan in the Spanish capital. Should all parties reach an agreement next summer, the Mexican forward could stay on in a 20-million-euro deal.

The striker, who appeared for his country at the World Cup in Brazil this summer, was signed to provide cover for Karim Benzema, the only recognised number nine that Los Blancos have in the squad having sold Alvaro Morata to Juventus in an 18-million-euro deal.

Chicharito was signed by Ferguson for United and won a number of trophies in his time in the north west of England, including the Premier League on two occasions. He netted 59 times in 154 appearances for the Old Trafford side, but according to Ferguson, always dreamed of playing for Los Blancos.

Speaking at a coaching conference organised by UEFA, the legendary boss said: “He will do very well in Madrid. He will score many goals, for sure. He’s very focused mentally and his wish was always to play in Madrid. He will come good there.”

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Former Real Madrid sporting director Jorge Valdano has joined a growing chorus of those saying the sale of Xabi Alonso and Angel di Maria was a mistake.

The midfield duo were sold at the end of the transfer window to Bayern Munich and Manchester United respectively. Club president Florentino Perez allowed the pair to leave following the arrivals of Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez.

Los Blancos started the league season with an unconvincing win over La Liga newcomers Cordorba before being soundly beaten by Real Sociedad, going down 4-2 in San Sebastian on Sunday. They European Super Cup in August, they were also beaten by Atletico in the Spanish Supercopa.

And Valdano said the slow start to the season overall was due to the side missing the inconsistency of di Maria and Alonso.

Speaking to Cadena Ser, the former Los Blancos player and manager said: Xabi Alonso was a much-needed player at Real Madrid due to his positioning and sacrifice. He is a very intelligent player and gives the feeling that he handles the rest of the team like a herd.

“Xabi Alonso and Di Maria represented consistency, the thinking of the collective – one through his intelligence and one through his intensity.”

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James Rodriguez has said he is happy playing in whatever position in the team that Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti wants him to.

The 22-year-old, an 80-million-euro summer signing from Monaco, is more familiar with a role on the wing, but has been used in a number of different positions this season as the Italian manager tweaks his tactics to bed in the new players.

And Rodriguez said he is happy to do what Ancelotti says as he is comfortable playing anywhere across the attack.

In quotes published by Madrid-based daily, Marca, the Colombian said: “I’ll go wherever the manager tells me to, and wherever it is, I’ll be fine.”

The new arrival in the Spanish capital also praised his teammates for their help following his move to the Santiago Bernabeu, and said everyone at the club is doing all they can to make him feel welcome and settled.

“All the players are very humble. That’s why they’re there. And they are great players,” he said.

The Colombian won the Golden Boot at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, netting six times in five games, including the goal of the tournament – a wonder volley against Uruguay in the second round.

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New Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso has said that the former manager of fierce rivals Barcelona, Pep Guardiola, was one of the main pull factors behind his move to Germany.

The 32-year-old had a successful five years at the Santiago Bernabeu, winning the La Liga title and the Champions League whilst in the Los Blancos shirt, and even managed to transfer his form to the international stage as Spain won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 during Alonso’s spell in the Spanish capital.

But the move motivated by a man so synonymous with Real’s fiercest rivals will surely confuse Madridistas, as he said: “I know Pep very well from the games against Barca. It’s clear to me how he wants to play.”

The midfielder admitted himself that he felt the move was weird, as he made his debut against Schalke a day after signing, before watching his ex-teammates surrender a two goal lead to lose 4-2 to Alonso’s first club, Real Sociedad.

Alonso said: “It’s all gone very quickly. My debut was very pleasant, although it would have been ever better with a win.”

‘It was a bit weird seeing my old teammates on the TV. Nobody expected that result, I was a bit surprised.”

 

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Real Madrid legend Hugo Sanchez has said new signing Javier Hernandez – or Chicharito – will be a success at the club following his deadline-day arrival.

The 26-year-old Mexican signed on a one-year loan from Manchester United, and Los Blancos have the option to buy at the end of the campaign for around 20 million euros.

Many pundits in the game have said the signing was just to provide cover for Karim Benzema, but Sanchez says Hernandez has all that it takes to be a success in the Spanish capital and should be given minutes on the field to show what he can do.

“Fortune has smiled on him and in this case Real Madrid needed a centre-forward and ‘Chicharito’ met those characteristics,” said Sanchez, in quotes published by ESPN. “I hope he gets the time and the minutes to succeed on the squad,” he added.

He went on to say that the Mexico forward doesn’t need too much time to adapt as he has the right attitude, and it is easy to play for one of the best sides in the world.

“I don’t think playing style will be a factor because playing with Real Madrid is like playing on any other side in the world and you don’t need much time to adapt to playing with the best in the world,” Sanchez stated.

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