Madrid clubs kick off elite football's investors search

Where Real Madrid leads, other clubs tend to follow both on and off the pitch. But for once it is its city neighbour, Atlético, who appears to be setting a trend.

- Matt Hughes

Atlético last week completed football's second-biggest sale to a private equity company, with Apollo Global Management buying 55% of the club in a deal that valued Spain's third biggest side at around €2.5bn.

Real is now expected to follow suit. The club's all-powerful president, Florentino Pérez, will present its 2024/25 financial accounts to members this Sunday, when he is expected to make a pitch to alter its 123-year-old ownership structure by opening it up to overseas investment.

Pérez has engaged Clifford Chance to examine the club's options, and a source told