Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said yesterday that Real Madrid's record bid of £80 million for Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is "excessive".
New Real Madrid president Florentino Perez spent around $94 million on Brazilian forward Kaka before his offer for the Portuguese player, and has said that he wants four or five more top players to join the club in addition.
"I don't know if I am the most suitable person to be talking about signings by Real Madrid but these amounts seem excessive to me," Zapatero said in an interview with television broadcaster Cuatro. "In principle, I don't like it."
The huge transfer fees have shocked significant parts of the Spanish population, particularly when unemployment is rising towards 20 per cent and many football clubs are saddled with huge debts.
Zapatero added however that: "We cannot always complain in an economy with a free market when there is something we don't like, and there are a lot of things that I don't like. It would be bad for the government to step in and say to a bank, this credit yes and this credit no. It has to be the private sector that takes the risk."
The Prime Minister’s economy minister Elena Salgado has urged the banks who are loaning Perez the money to fund his spending spree to extend credit to companies struggling to negotiate favourable loans.
