Florentino Perez Admits Real Madrid Can't Afford Major Signings This Summer

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has said the club are still feeling the full effects of the coronavirus crisis, and there will be no major incoming transfer business as a result.

Los Blancos have been a relentless winning machine post-lockdown, triumphing in ten matches in a row to romp to a 34th La Liga title - which was confirmed with a 2-1 victory over Villarreal on Thursday.

But despite their celebrated success, there is a bizarre and tumultuous summer ahead with spending set to be curtailed at almost all of Europe's major clubs.

Even Real, newly-crowned Spanish champions and seemingly financially infallible, are suffering after three months without football. The club confirmed back in April that all players, coaches and directors would take wage cuts between 10-20%.

When asked if we can expect any major signings at the Bernabeu in the weeks ahead, Perez said (via ESPN): "No. The situation is really bad.

"It's difficult to ask the players to take a pay cut to help deal with the situation and then make signings like that. That can wait. Madrid will sign the best again when the situation changes."

Central to their financial hit has been the closing of the Bernabeu to fans, which has cut off a significant revenue stream to the club.

"This year has been the most difficult for me," Perez went on. "We lost important income from the stadium. We had to talk to the players for them to do their bit. If they hadn't voluntarily lowered their salaries, the company would have suffered losses. It's an exceptional situation.

"We receive a lot of income from the stadium, we've had losses of 25% which is a lot of money. You notice it more with Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid than the other clubs because they cover their costs with television rights and we don't."