Real Madrid creates prestige, MU lowers itself

Perez is still a very gentleman in the football village.

However, Real Madrid have once again proven that money can only go so far. There is no doubt that the Spanish Royal team is a master at recruiting top stars with almost no transfer fees.

Real Madrid's Attitude

When Real signed Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool in June for €10m (£8.4m), the fee was only to speed up the deal so they could register him for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. In fact, if they had waited, they could have signed the defender for free in 2025.

This deal marks the fourth time in the last five years that Real have won the “free agent hunt”, after recruiting David Alaba (2021), Antonio Rudiger (2022), Kylian Mbappe (2024) and now Alexander-Arnold. Notably, they all came from fierce rivals in Bayern Munich, Chelsea, PSG and Liverpool.

Real Madrid patiently wait for Alexander-Arnold.

La Liga commentator Phil Kitromilides told BBC Sport that the 36-time Spanish champions were hard to resist: “It doesn’t matter where you come from, who you played for, who your team was when you were a kid. This is the pinnacle, the biggest thing you can do in your career. Take Trent for example – he plays for his boyhood club [Liverpool]. Trent wouldn’t leave for any other club than Real Madrid. That’s the attraction, the splendour of Real.”

What is interesting is not that Real signed him for free, but that most players are aware that the club may not be willing or able to pay the high transfer fee. But because they are so desperate to join, they are willing to let their current contracts expire.

In addition to their brilliance, Real Madrid also makes their players trust them because they never break their promises. Despite being “turned on” by Kylian Mbappe once in the 2022 transfer, they still rolled out the red carpet to welcome him to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2024. Real Madrid also patiently waited for Alexander-Arnold when they were determined not to buy another right-back in January, in the context of Dani Carvajal’s long-term injury.

In fact, Real paying Liverpool 10 million euros for Alexander-Arnold also shows their gentlemanly spirit, so that Liverpool will not feel resentful for losing a player for nothing, and the relationship between the two clubs will not be at the point of "drying the boat and draining the gutter".

Manchester United don't know how to shop?

Returning to Manchester United this summer. In addition to successfully recruiting a trio of strikers for 200 million pounds, the "Red Devils" also refreshed the squad by buying a quality goalkeeper. MU needs to buy a goalkeeper because Andre Onana is increasingly losing confidence and declining in form.

However, Manchester United played too conservatively when they “played both sides”. They negotiated with Royal Antwerp goalkeeper Senne Lammens and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Even the Old Trafford team has continuously reached personal agreements with both Martínez and Lammens. The "Red Devils" are so active that many people believe they will buy both goalkeepers at the same time.

Martinez learned a painful lesson.

Lammens, Martinez and both Royal Antwerp and Aston Villa were sure that Manchester United would sign him. Therefore, in the matches close to the transfer deadline, neither Lammens nor Martínez played to ensure that the medical examination would go smoothly.

But after agreeing on a price for Lammens and introducing the Belgian goalkeeper, Manchester United "went on their heels", leaving Martinez helpless at Aston Villa. It's not too much to say "alone", because Martinez will no longer be respected at Villa Park after expressing his intention to play for the "Red Devils" - as an indirect way of saying Aston Villa's level is not worthy of him. Many players will look at Martinez's case to learn a lesson when negotiating with Manchester United in the future.

No matter how many excuses the "Red Devils" have - such as having an excess goalkeeper in the squad, or Lammens's lower salary so it fits the financial situation - the undeniable truth is that they put their partners (both Martinez and Aston Villa) in danger. Later, when Real Madrid and Manchester United were both interested in the same player, we didn't need to think much to guess which club was given priority. That was the club with the temperament of a gentleman.

Source: https://znews.vn/real-madrid-tao-uy-tin-mu-tu-ha-minh-post1582286.html