What’s the story?
A mere seven years after his departure to Schalke FC from Real Madrid, Raul Gonzalez is set to return to the Bernabeu. The legendary Spanish striker will return to his boyhood club, albeit in a more advisory capacity.
The former Champions League winner had earlier incurred the wrath of fans after saying that he wouldn’t mind joining arch-rivals Barcelona. However, the 39-year-old striker has always expressed a desire to return to Madrid in a non-playing capacity.
In an interview, Raul said, “The first thing is to return to my house, Real Madrid, when the time is right. But that's football, and you can never say that you won't do this or that.” He further added, “I spent 17 years at Real Madrid and nobody can doubt that I'm a 'Madridista'. My conscience is clear. But it's a different thing when I talk about and analyse football, as I've done for Barcelona for a few years. It's fair to acknowledge when they have done well.”
The heart of the matter
The former Los Blancos striker will become Florentino Perez’s advisor from July 1st but he will be meeting with both the board and Perez during the first week of April to finalise his deal. The La Liga ambassador for the United States, Raul will have to resign from that position in order to head back to the Spanish capital.
This will the be the first time in seven years that the former Spanish striker will return to the Bernabeu, having left in 2010 to join Schalke, following which he had spells at Qatar and the New York Cosmos in the MLS.
This wasn’t the first time that either the club or Perez approached Raul with an offer to work in an advisory role, but the Spaniard declined the earlier offers because he didn’t feel that the time was right for his return. However, things have now changed and spells in Germany, Qatar and the United States have changed the former La Liga winner’s mind.
In case you didn’t know...
The position was previously occupied by current manager Zinedine Zidane after the Frenchman returned to the Bernabeu following his retirement as a player. With the allegations against Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid President, Madrid have decided to bring another former legend to the club to help with the issues.
What’s next?
The six-time La Liga winner will be an advisor to Los Blancos president Florentino Perez, but only after the 1st of July. Until the end of the current season, the Spaniard will continue as the La Liga ambassador in the United States and also as a commentator for beIN Sport.
Author’s Take
The return of Raul changes things for Perez and it eliminates one of the most visible threats to his rule, which could end soon with the Presidential elections for Real Madrid being held in the summer.
However, despite all the various allegations against the current Los Blancos president, there’s a good chance that Perez will go unchallenged and remain in his place of power.
