Kaká to Real Madrid for €65m! [Update: Now Ronaldo!]

Former Ballon D’Or winner and all round nice guy, Brazilian¬†Kak√° (real name: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite)¬†has made a¬†‚Ǩ65m move from AC Milan to Real Madrid. ¬†It is the second biggest transfer in soccer history, just narrowly behind former Juventus star¬†Zin√©dine Zidane‘s move to Real Madrid in 2001 (‚Ǩ76m).

The obvious question Рhow the hell can Real Madrid afford to keep splurging on such expensive players?  In recent years it has bought players such as Zizou, David Beckham, Fabio Cannavaro, Robinho, Ronaldo, Rudd van Nistelrooj Рand either retired them, sold them for much less or lost them on a free transfer.  Like most professional Australian sporting clubs, Real Madrid is owned by its members, so has no sugar daddy or major investor to sink funds into the organisation.  The answer; it is a financial powerhouse.

Real has annual revenues of approximately €275m (the biggest earning club in the world), and earns annual profits of approximately €55m.  Accounting firm BBDO reckons Real Madrid is the most valuable sporting brand in Europe, with a brand value of €1,063,000,000.

All that and they still haven’t won any silverware of note in years…!

The Economist has put together a lovely chart based on Deloitte‘s analysis of European soccer / football, that looks at the sustainability of teams based on wages as a share of total revenues. ¬†Interesting stuff…

But it’s not all money and glamour in the world of European soccer. ¬†The formerly mighty English Premier League club, Newcastle United, is up for sale. ¬†In an absolutely cringe-worthy and embarrassing sign of desparation, the club has created an email address (admin@nufc.co.uk) so that interested parties can contact them and make a bid for the famous club. ¬†Drop ‘em a line and let us know how you go.

[UPDATE 11/06/09]: Real Madrid have now just bought Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo (another Ballon D’Or winner) for a staggering ‚Ǩ94m (¬£80m) – the player is yet to agree terms with Real, but surely it couldn’t be too hard – reports are saying he’ll be paid ‚Ǩ400,000 per week – the same amount that Kak√° is getting.