REAL Valladolid’s visit to Real Madrid on Saturday should be a nice occasion for club president Ronaldo Nazario, although his team might find it more difficult to enjoy themselves completely.
The 12 months since Ronaldo spent €30 million of his own money to become majority owner of the Castillian club have seen steady if unspectacular progress on and off the pitch – and 2019/20 has begun with coach Sergio Fernandez talking about another season of “suffering” with “survival” again the main concern.
Feel-good vibes from the Brazilian’s arrival last September, along with a post-promotion bounce, saw the team have their best Primera Division start in 50 years. But they struggled through for much of the remainder of the campaign, only sealed survival on the penultimate weekend.
Expectations are now pretty realistic for what the Ronaldo regime means for the club. The biggest steps have taken place off the pitch, where the World Cup winner and his advisors have focused on upgrading a set-up which had sent six of the previous eight seasons in the second tier.
So far Ronaldo has shown lots of enthusiasm over his new club. He's definitely not one of those owners who comes in, buys a club and then disappears. But someone who made his homework and is putting a lot of work in it. He says he wants to make Real Valladolid into a global club pic.twitter.com/WCTj2EgoBv
— Alexandra Jonson (@AlexandraJonson) August 15, 2019
The Brazilian clearly has global plans, which do not always fit with the local view of how things have always been done. There has been a public row with the city authorities over how to go about modernising their crumbling 26,000 capacity Estadio Jose Zorrilla. Work has also begun on a new training ground, and the club have opened an international-facing office on Madrid’s swanky Calle Serrano.
Ronaldo is a hands on owner working closely with sporting director sporting director, Miguel Angel Gomez and coach Sergio Fernandez – who were both in place before he arrived. Although he does not seem aware that his own personal fame and status makes it not a great idea to personally get involved in transfer negotiations or tactics discussions.
While his image as player was of a happy go lucky type, Ronaldo apparently was meanwhile closely watching the marketing executive and business advisors that surrounded him through all his clubs and the Brazil national team. After retirement he was heavily involved in commercial activities around World Cup 2014 at home, and lived for three years in London where he rubbed shoulders with top international executives.
At the time of the purchase, there were rumours in the Spanish media that the World Cup 2002 winner was merely a frontman for rich Spanish businessmen. But those close to Ronaldo always denied this and stress how he had been planning a long time to get his own club and run it the way he wanted.
This has not meant a huge investment in new players. The purchase was finalised after the 2018 summer market had closed, and just €7 million in total was spent in January, with 19-year-old Ecuadorian striker Stiven Plaza being the standout arrival.
That La Liga’s strict budget rules are so limiting their transfer activity is a sign that neither Ronaldo nor any rich friends have been pouring in their own money and only €1 million has been spent this summer so far.
‼️ Lunin is already in Valladolid to complete his loan move to Real Valladolid. 3rd player loaned from Real to Ronaldo's club. pic.twitter.com/ltsfGrfe1n
— Infinite Madrid (@InfiniteMadrid) August 13, 2019
There have been regular reports that Ronaldo would leverage his close relationship with Madrid Florentino Perez to bring some exciting youngsters from Vinicius Junior or Takefusa Kubo to Valladolid. Instead the arrivals from the Bernabeu have been ex-Castilla winger Jorge de Frutos and defender Javi Sanchez, and young Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.
The highest profile arrivals are loan deals with Everton for Sandro Ramirez and Manchester City for ex-Girona right-back Pedro Porro. The club are still hoping for further additions before the Spanish window shuts on September 2, especially as the team’s best defender Fernando Calero has been sold to Espanyol for €8 million.
Recent weeks have also seen Valladolid's previous owner and long term president Carlos Suarez finally sever his links with the club, and defend his successor’s record. “I'm still convinced [Ronaldo’s arrival] will be something positive,” Suarez said. “He told me we were going to suffer again this season. I replied that if you did not want to suffer you should have bought Manchester City.”
Saturday’s game against Madrid should provide another emotional rollercoaster, if last year’s experience is repeated. A big Blanquivioletas travelling contingent at the Bernabeu last October watched Sergio’s side have the better of long spells of the game, before late Madrid substitute Vinicius’ cross was deflected to the net for the decisive goal. The reverse fixture in March saw Valladolid miss a penalty and have two goals ruled out by VAR, all at 0-0, before losing 4-1 in the end in what was Santi Solari’s last game as Madrid coach.
Valladolid had a good start to their La Liga season last weekend, winning 2-1 at Real Betis, helped by Betis playing most of the game with 10 men. But Madrid’s 3-1 at Celta Vigo was also impressive, especially with last year’s under-achievers including Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos and Marcelo having good games.
