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#3 Selling Claude Makelele
Florentino Perez was the man who brought the concept of Galacticos to Real Madrid. Every summer, they would make a marquee signing and the beginning of the end of that era was marked by Claude Makele's departure to Chelsea.
French defensive midfielder Claude Makelele was one of the most important players in the star-studded Real Madrid side at the time. He was an absolute force all by himself but Florentino Perez refused to give him a contract extension in 2003.
Florentino Perez did not budge despite players like Raul, Zinedine Zidane and Fernando Morientes voicing their support for Makelele. Perez even criticized Makelele's ability before selling him to Chelsea.
One man's loss is another man's gain. With Makelele in the team, Real Madrid were a juggernaut of sorts. They won six trophies, including two La Liga titles and a Champions League. with Makelele on their team. Without him in the centre of the park, Real Madrid struggled while Chelsea won back-to-back Premier League titles after signing him.
#2 Choosing to pass up the opportunity to sign Samuel Eto'o
This was yet another poor judgment call from Florentino Perez that had serious repercussions. Until 2004, Real Madrid and Mallorca shared ownership rights over Samuel Eto'o's contract. Eto'o had been extremely successful at Mallorca and became the club's leading goalscorer over five seasons.
However, Perez was of the opinion that Samuel Eto'o wasn't good enough to succeed the likes of Ronaldo Nazario and Raul. So he decided to sit down and negotiate a deal with Mallorca and Barcelona and the Catalans happily welcomed Eto'o over.
Eto'o went on to become one of Barcelona's most important players over the next few years and played a huge part in them winning two UEFA Champions League titles and three La Liga titles.
#1 Florentino Perez championed the European Super League
Florentino Perez is/was supposed to be the new president of the European Super League. Perez's exclusive interview with El Chiringuito (via Managing Madrid) and the confidence with which he talked about the project goes to show a certain sense of disconnect between himself and the fans of the game.
It didn't even take 24 hours after his interview before teams started backing out of the European Super League like an emergency evacuation. Protests are happening everywhere against the greed of the European giants and all the Premier League clubs have already backed out of it.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are yet to back out but this will forever stay as a black mark on his career and is probably one of the most wayward and extremely disagreeable decisions he has ever made. And that's saying something. But we guess you know that by now.
