Madrid - There is room for everyone: Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Franck Ribery, David Villa, Arsene Wenger or Jose Mourinho. Nobody escapes the whirlwind of transfer rumours in Spanish media on the week that Florentino Perez is set to announce his bid to return to the Real Madrid presidency. There has long been talk of his plans for a comeback, but the Spanish real estate businessman finally said Monday that he would officially launch his candidacy Thursday, at a luxury hotel in Madrid.
The announcement of the announcement was enough to generate a mountain of "news" that is driving fans crazy, even if nothing is yet known of the new sports-related plans of the former Real Madrid president.
The sports daily Marca's front page reported Tuesday on an alleged agreement with Kaka, who would reportedly be accompanied by two other stars in his Real Madrid adventure. The options for the Brazilian's prominent team-mates are no less than Cristiano Ronaldo, Ribery and Villa.
Another Madrid sports daily, As, focused on coaches and mentioned Wenger as the favourite and Mourinho as a second-best option. The plan seems odd, because the two men have very different profiles.
But speculation is free, and it is also rife.
Real Madrid has lost all realistic chances of lifting a trophy this season, and the sports press in the Spanish capital has found a treasure in Florentino Perez, still a sort of dream-maker at his former club.
"If Florentino were to sign all the players that are being talked about, no other team in Europe would stand a chance. They could give him the Champions League right now," joked Gines Carvajal, the agent for players like Real Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez as well as current - and most likely outgoing - Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos.
In his first stint as Real Madrid president 2000-06, Perez made a name for himself for building a "galactic" team with high-profile signings like Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo or David Beckham.
But times have changed. The ongoing financial and economic crisis has hit everyone, and not even Real Madrid seems to be in a position to indulge in the excesses that signing so many superstars once required.
In the meantime, many teams around Europe await Perez's first move. A high-profile, expensive signing would inject fresh funds into the market and probably trigger a sort of domino effect in transfers.
For now, however, there is only rumour.
