From "Figo no, Redondo yes" to the pulses of Ramos, Varane or Benzema, the traumatic departures that proved Real Madrid right: "It's cold outside"

“It's just that far from Madrid it's a little cold”. In the Valdebebas Sports City they embrace the football cliché that is used to summarize the drop in performance of a series of players when they leave a team. It is not an expression that only works for Real Madrid, but in recent years the white team has starred in it like no one else.. Involved in a reconstruction process since the three consecutive Champions Leagues, Chamartín's team has known how to continue winning (League, Cup, Champions League, Club World Cup, Super Cups…) while the players who were falling by the wayside suffered in their destinations. Even agreeing to let star footballers leave who have not performed in other locker rooms.. There are the cases of Varane, Casemiro, Ramos, Benzema, Cristiano…. Sportingly, everyone has lost, although economically they have won.

During his 20 seasons at the helm of Real Madrid (the current one is number 21), Florentino Pérez and the technical direction of the white team, first with Jorge Valdano and later with José Ángel Sánchez, have faced several traumatic departures for Real Madrid fans.. But reality, in terms of Madrid's own titles or the trophies or legacy won by players outside of Chamartín, has ended up proving them right in almost all of their decisions.

The first time Florentino opened the door to a Madrid star was just two weeks after becoming president.. Pérez, with Luis Figo under his arm, sold Fernando Redondo to Milan for 18 million euros (3,000 million pesetas). The Argentine, who had repeated in the pre-season that he wanted to stay, went to Italy earning approximately the same salary that Figo was going to earn at the Bernabéu, and his departure even caused demonstrations at the gates of the stadium: “No Figo, “Redondo si!”, sang the 200 people who crowded into the Castellana in July 2000, the same month in which Madrid sold Anelka to PSG for 5,000 million pesetas.

Redondo played 16 games in the four seasons he spent in Milan, always hampered by injuries, and Figo was a vital man in the two Leagues in 2001 and 2003 and the Champions League in 2002.. It was Florentino's first victory in the offices, but not the last. Although there were also defeats.

Makelélé's trauma

Historically, there is a sale that is assumed to be painful sportingly in Chamartín: that of Claude Makelélé. Defensive axis of the Galacticos, his departure to Chelsea for 20 million and the arrival of Beckham tactically destabilized the team, being the beginning of the end of Madrid's golden era. At Stamford Bridge, Makélélé was essential for Mourinho, winning two Premier Leagues and reaching the Champions League final.

In his second stage, Florentino knew that to deal with the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Benzema he had to get rid of Robben and Sneijder. And the Dutch have been the only ones who have not been “cold” away from Chamartín, winning the Champions League and reaching the World Cup final with their country. However, the list leaves many victories and few defeats in the fights that the stars wanted to have with the Madrid management.

Mesut Özil left in 2013, a few months before La Décima, for 47 million to be the star of Arsenal. He played 184 games and won 4 FA Cups, but did not win in the Premier or Europe. That summer, Higuaín, in a constant sports fight with Benzema, went to Naples for 40 million. He was Calcio's top scorer in 2016 and ended up winning Serie A with Juventus, but like Özil, he missed the 4 Champions Leagues. And Kaká, who also left in 2013, spent time in Milan without playing before going to Orlando.

After La Décima, Xabi Alonso and Di María changed clubs, which became the highest sale in Madrid history: 75 million. The Argentine played a year at United before being transferred again, in that case to PSG, where he played 7 seasons. In France he won 5 leagues and lost a Champions League, until the World Cup in Qatar gave him his greatest gift. Alonso, for his part, played three years at Bayern, won 3 Bundesliga titles and retired without winning the Champions League again.. All while Madrid won three European Cups.

The reconstruction after Cristiano

Cristiano Ronaldo's 'goodbye' in 2018 began a small reconstruction. In the fight with the Portuguese, Florentino accepted the offer of 117 million from Juventus and let his biggest star leave. It seemed like the world was opening up on the Bernabéu floor. But again, reality made the manager the winner.. Cristiano won two leagues in Italy but ended up in Manchester, exiled by Ten Hag, and became an icon of Saudi football. His pocket has grown, but who knows what he would have earned in Chamartín.

The dominoes have continued, without stopping, in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. In 2019, Madrid opened the door to Kovacic (to Chelsea for 45 million), Marcos Llorente (to Atlético for 30) and Keylor Navas (to PSG for 15). In 2020 it was the turn of Achraf (to Inter for 43), Reguilón (to Tottenham for 30) and James Rodríguez (to Everton, free). In 2021 it was Sergio Ramos (free to PSG), Varane (to United for 40) and Odegaard (to Arsenal for 35). In 2022 Casemiro (to United for 70), Gareth Bale (free to Los Angeles), Isco (free to Sevilla) and Marcelo (free to Olympiacos). And last summer, to finish, Benzema (free to the Saudi Al-Ittihad) and Asensio (free to PSG) left, after they found more money abroad than what a Madrid that in 2022 lifted its Fourteenth European Cup could promise them. , Florentino's sixth as president.

Of that entire list, only one has won the Champions League away from the Bernabéu, Kovacic with Chelsea (Marcelo has won the Libertadores with Fluminense), and the best placed to do so this year are the Croatian, now at City; Achraf, at PSG; and Odegaard, who also fights for the Premier as captain of Arsenal. Three of a long list of stars who one day left Chamartín out of desire for glory or money. Varane and Casemiro suffer, between injuries and lack of chemistry with the coach, the hardships of a disastrous United, 8th in the Premier and out of the Champions League round of 16. Asensio is not a starter at PSG, Isco has regained his smile at Villamarín after being without a team for many months, Ramos has returned to Spain, to a Sevilla that is fighting for relegation and Benzema, with physical problems, is being criticized in Arabia , where his team is seventh, far from Cristiano, leader of the league.