Galácticos are expensive, world-famous Real Madrid football players recruited during the “galácticos” policy pursued during Florentino Pérez’s first era in early 2000.
Real Madrid is one of the most successful teams not only in Spain but in entire Europe.
The club has earned the respect of the entire European football community, having been named the FIFA Club of the 20th Century in 2000, and the Best European Club of the 20th Century in 2017.
The team’s success is a result of the right decisions made by its leadership and, of course, the talent and skill of its players.
Enthusiasts of soccer betting online knows where to place their wager whenever the players of Los Blancos step on the turf.
This has been the case for more than two decades thanks to a signing policy introduced by Santiago Bernabéu in the 1950s and revived in 2000 by current president Florentino Pérez: “Galácticos”.
To ensure the club’s continued success, Pérez seems to plan to revive it once again.
Galácticos?
“Galácticos” is often used by football enthusiasts in a general sense, in reference to a select list of high-profile football players.
The term became popular during Pérez’s presidency thanks to his signing policy employed in the early 2000s.
The practice, in turn, is much older: Santiago Bernabéu was the first to use it to push Real Madrid into the mainstream.
What does “galácticos” mean in this context? Well, it’s the practice of signing multiple star footballers in a relatively short time to quickly improve the team’s performance.
Bernabéu did it with players like Francisco Gento, Alfredo Di Stéfano, and Hungarian football legend Ferenc Puskás, the first true international football star.
This has helped Real rise to fame and become the dominant force in La Liga (with 12 titles) and the European Cup (with 6 titles) in a short time.
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When he became president at the club, Pérez decided to revive this practice, aiming to sign at least one “galáctico” (high-profile) player each year.
In the first “galáctico” era, Real signed football stars like Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, and Figo, spending a great deal on each of them.
After initial success, the team started to decline, ultimately being knocked out of the Champions League in 2006.
The second “galáctico” era began in 2009 and saw Real sign stars like Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Özil, Gareth Bale, and James Rodríguez – this time, the team rose to prominence, collecting titles and winning tournaments at every occasion they could.
The second “galáctico” era ended in 2018 after Real won its third Champions League season in a row.
The new Galácticos
Reportedly, Real is planning to revive the “galácticos” policy once again.
One of the first high-profile targets the team attempted to sign this year was Frenchman Kylian Mbappé – the Spanish team was ready to spend a record-breaking €220 million on him if he would’ve agreed to leave PSG early.
As the negotiations fell through, Real will reportedly sign a pre-contract with Mbappé early next year, so when his contract expires at PSG, he will go directly to Madrid.
The other potential “galáctico” Real is reportedly planning to sign is also a high-profile player with an uncertain future at his current club: Paul Pogba.
He did recently say he enjoys his time at Manchester United but he still doesn’t have a contract to bind him to Old Trafford once the current one expires next year.
Erling Haaland, the other reported target for Real next summer, still has a few years on his contract but the club is confident they can lure him to their side.
If all goes well, the three newcomers, along with current football stars like Eden Hazard and Karim Benzema, will be the new “galácticos” who will help Real shine once again.
