Real Madrid president Florentino Perez believes the club will soon be in a position to eclipse the financial might of Manchester United and become the most valuable brand label in world sport.
“Some years ago Manchester United were the best selling club in the world because of the simple fact that they had a marketing policy that was 10 years ahead of everyone else,” Perez told Spanish business daily Expansion on Monday.
“This is no longer the case because right now there is nothing to match the global impact of the Real Madrid brand. We are the number one not just in football but in all sport.
“This year we are going to earn 138 million euros just from marketing, which is equal to the total income from all sources four years ago.”
Perez believes the upturn in Madrid’s finances, vindicates his decision to attract big-name players to the club.
“We have shown that investing in the best players can be profitable,” he said.
“Just like other business sectors we have tried to develop a good product that sells.”
Perez spent close to 200 million euros to bring Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham to the Bernabeu.
