‘The arrogance is astounding’: How Real Madrid became the envy of world football | OneFootball

When Trent Alexander-Arnold was first considering a move to Real Madrid, which was some time ago now, a particular message was relayed. It was the same as that which Jude Bellingham received when given a tour of the Bernabeu by head of recruitment Juni Calafat. You can go to any other club and be a legend, sure. Being a legend at Madrid, however, is like nothing else in football.

Such comments are why the chief executive of a major rival once commented, “the arrogance is astounding”.

Madrid don't care about such statements, though, since they don’t really care what anyone else thinks. “We are Madrid,” as the declarative statement from their senior executives and cigar-puffing wealthier fans goes. They feel above it all, and radiate that. It is this attitude - this “aura”, as it’s so often described - that Arsenal are going to have to overcome more than anything else in this Champions League quarter-final.

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Real Madrid defeated rivals Atletico in a controversial last-16 penalty shoot-out (Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta’s side might at least feel that less than others, since the two clubs have only met once, in the 2005-06 last-16. Arsenal are one of just seven clubs to have played Madrid in Europe and never been eliminated by them, and one of just three in the European Cup or Champions League. The other two there are Monaco and Hamburg.

Arteta’s staff have duly focused more on Madrid’s flaws and shortcomings, to try and give his team a roadmap to victory they can visualise. That is in part to make a club often cast as otherworldly seem human, and mortal. They can be defeated in this competition.

And yet Arsenal may still feel the great weight of Madrid, even before the game. There has long been talk about interest in William Saliba, and a media campaign has already started around Martin Zubimendi. Although Arsenal remain confident they have a deal in place for the Real Sociedad midfielder, Madrid have made it known they want him.

They’ve also made it known that Xabi Alonso could be coming in the summer - in what could be yet another coup - since the Bayer Leverkusen manager is another Real Sociedad legend. The idea is for that to play on Zubimendi's mind. That is all happening as Alexander-Arnold will sign on a Bosman and Madrid mull over whether to leap ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea for Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen.

It could well be a summer that shows considerable superiority over the Premier League, after yet another season when they have eliminated Manchester City.

What is genuinely noteworthy about this is that it all comes just a few years after club president Florentino Perez feared that Madrid had fallen irrevocably behind the Premier League, and were being left for dust by “the state clubs”. The Spanish billionaire had one of the most pronounced hang-ups in football about such ownerships, but only due to what it meant for his club.

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Kylian Mbappe is unveiled by Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid (Getty Images)

The desperation and panic at that point was what drove the Super League, as much as greed. Madrid were at one point around €1bn in debt and couldn’t really see the route back to where they believed they belonged.

They’re now arguably beyond that. They’re not just competing again. Madrid are back in an imperial phase.

They have certainly gone beyond the more astute modern approach that started this route back. Much has been made about how Calafat introduced an intelligent recruitment strategy where Madrid signed five of their current starters as teenagers, in the hope they would grow.

This, they felt, was the only way to try and match wealthier superclubs in the market. It made the club more agile, at the same time as the hierarchy surprisingly agreed to some private equity deals in order to ease financial concerns. A €380m deal was done with Sixth Street for 30 per cent of new stadium operations.

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Real Madrid rebuilt the Bernabeu to supercharge the club into a new era (Getty Images)

Other major clubs have meanwhile raged about Madrid receiving “illegal state aid”, through unfair benefits from Spain’s tax laws due to their member ownership, as judged by the European Court of Justice. The same verdict was also delivered about Barcelona.

It has previously been reported that Perez told one politician that “Real Madrid is a Spanish brand standing above the government”.

They now have the kind of squad that usually stands above the rest of the game, too. It is absolutely stacked, superior to the strongest of the Galactico eras.

No compromises are necessary any more. Calafat's calculation has more than paid off. The teenagers like Vinicius Junior and Bellingham have quickly become the best players in the world. Even those less considered, like Federico Valverde, would be the envy of most clubs. Precocious talents like Endrick and Arda Guler may have to look elsewhere just for some football.

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Madrid’s squad building has future-proofed the club and allowed them to target free agents (Getty Images)

The key now is that group have been complemented by signings of the status that Madrid are more historically associated with: stars at the top of their game and peak of their careers. There is one difference to the past, mind. Madrid now only spend big on youth.

They otherwise refuse to pay huge transfer fees on those prime stars. They instead spend that part of the budget on wages and, crucially, signing-on fees. Alexander-Arnold will be the fourth major free transfer in four years, after David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger and of course Kylian Mbappe.

Madrid have made a considerable virtue of maximising the Bosman ruling, in a way no else has really done since its implementation. That has been achieved by leaning on their immense sway. In other words, that aura.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold has been convinced to join Madrid from Liverpool (Getty Images)

Virtually no other club could convince so many players to run a contract down and hold their nerve in contract negotiations with previous employers. In Mbappe’s case, it involved staring down the state of Qatar. That kind of persuasive power makes recruitment a lot easier.

Clubs who lose their stars rail about this strategy, especially the complementary media campaigns, but most would simply love to do it to the level that Madrid can do.

Perez often oversees this with the sense of satisfaction that this is simply the normal order. This is football as it should be. This is Madrid.

So, Arteta has had to focus on how this is still just a football team, even in the Champions League. They still have to conform to the same laws of physics and tactics as everyone else, which will leave gaps.

The Arsenal manager has pointed to how Madrid love to give the opposition the ball in the belief that they will make mistakes, through which they can transition.

This very approach often makes it seem and feel like they are on the ropes in almost every match, only to still get through and win. It isn’t anything metaphysical, though. It is logic. They just bank on having the players who can really capitalise on any error, no matter how infrequent they are.

The key for Arsenal will be getting their own maths absolutely precise. That isn’t easy, no matter how you rationalise it. This is Madrid, and they’re back in that imperial phase.