The Athletic wrote an article about Real Madrid's contract renewal strategy. The article stated that Real Madrid will deliberately not officially announce the contract renewal. The club believes that if an official announcement is made, it may affect other negotiations.
TA said that Real Madrid is not only one of the most successful clubs in the world, but also one of the most mysterious. This club often has a distinctive style of doing things. One example is the way it announces its contract renewal.
On social media, "official announcement" has become shorthand for major news involving Real Madrid. Sometimes contract extensions are announced in this way shortly after they are agreed, but Real Madrid usually waits a long time to officially announce it, even more than a year for some players. In some cases, they don't even want to.
For example, Ferland Mendy will renew his contract with Real Madrid for at least two seasons in 2024, but if you only pay attention to the club's information, his contract will end after this summer's Club World Cup. Close friends of the defender said anonymously that they were surprised that the news of the contract extension was not officially announced.
After consulting a number of sources involved in the transaction, TA tried to explain why Real Madrid took this approach. The position of the Real Madrid Board of Directors is clear: any media information or official announcements related to signings or extensions, even if they appear to be positive, may have a negative impact on the club's business, and they believe that these announcements may affect negotiations for other players or the performance of players.
For example, Real Madrid announced the contract extension of an outstanding central defender. Club executives believe that this may affect the contract renewal of other players or the cost of signing a new central defender. If negotiations with the other centre-backs in the squad have not yet begun, the player's morale may suffer and his performance may suffer. Real Madrid executives believe that the contract announcement "will be released only when the club believes it is in its own interests based on various factors."
In the summer of 2022, Real Madrid renewed their contracts with Vinicius (until 2027), Rodrygo (until 2028) and Militao (until 2028), but they were not officially announced until October, November 2023 and January 2024. It was a decision taken by the club, but there was no objection from the players and their respective agents, who were happy with the new contracts.
In 2024, the contract renewals of Modric and Vazquez were officially announced on July 17 and 18 respectively, and the contracts of these two players have expired on June 30. This was due to scheduling issues, as both the player and Florentino were on holiday at the time, and officially both players started pre-season as free agents.
This summer, Real Madrid completed contract extensions with Courtois (until 2027), Dias (unknown renewal date) and Raul Asensio (until 2031), which have not yet been officially announced. Balancing the club's finances is one of the reasons, and decision-makers also hope that new signings will get more attention. As for Raul Asensio, he is embroiled in legal troubles and the club wants to keep a low profile, with the player insisting he is innocent.
Real Madrid’s policy is a bit strange, but people involved in the contract renewal said that this is either an agreement reached by both parties, or the players are willing to comply with the club’s wishes.
source:Free 7M cn