Terminator 4: Rise Of The Neo-Galactic Machines

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.....boom! bang! bash!

It's been a revolution straight out of the 1789 cupboard, an explosion that only an atom bomb can create, a drama that would enforce even the most fanatical of Sophocles-maniacs to drop his book and take notice.

In less than two weeks Florentino Perez has done what Ramon Calderon couldn't do in more than two years. Before Perez had announced his presidential candidature there were talks of elections being held on June 14. It's still June 12 (at the time of writing), Perez is the man of the moment and the Neo-Galacticos era has begun. In crazy fashion. With two Galacticos signings.

One is a Brazilian international playmaker who has won the World Cup and the Champions League. He has been AC Milan's arguably best player over the last five years and was the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year winner in 2007. Architect-in-chief of his side, he is a player of immense class and calibre, who destroyed Manchester United in the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2006-2007, a cultured player with a threatening speed on the ball, Brazilian-esque dribbling qualities, marvelous ball control and sharply chiseled vision.

Welcome Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite. Aka Kaka.

Another is a Portuguese international player who has won the Premier League thrice in succession and the Champions League once. He has been Manchester United's best player for the last two years and was the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year winner in 2008. A player of audacious talent, he is someone who can merge the traditional quality of a winger with that of a striker combined with the grace of a playmaker, without whom winning either the league or the Champions League in 2007-2008 would have been impossible and who in spite of suffering injuries at the start of 2008-2009 still played an instrumental role in charging United to the summit of England and to their second successive Champions League final.

Welcome Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro. Aka CR7.

Perez's previous reign in office at the 'White House' saw the arrival of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham, Raul and Robinho as well as the Thomas Gravesens and the Pablo Garcias. It was the Galacticos policy of signing one big name player every summer. Perez's Neo-Galacticos era is not that different; star players have already started to barge in and there will be more. Only this time so far it's been one big name player every week.

True, buying stars doesn't necessarily guarantee on-pitch success or Galactic football but it at least gives the hope. When Zidane and Figo started playing together, there were doubts on whether the two best players at the time could combine with each other. Those suspicions were flushed down the toilet as the Blancos marched onto their ninth Champions League triumph in 2002 and the Liga title the year after, playing a brand of football that only the current Barcelona side could eclipse.

For any football fan, watching Kaka and Ronaldo play in the same team is a dream. And Perez has turned that dream into a tangible reality. The cynics are already whispering how Kaka and Ronaldo won't be able to play together, thereby demonstrating their lack of perspective. Kaka is no Zizou and Ronaldo is no Figo and will possibly never be but if the two legends of world football could play together and play galactic football, then why can't this Brazilian and this Portuguese who in a few years' time could well become legends themselves, if they already are not?

A combined fee of €160 million for Kaka and Ronaldo seems and possibly is absurd but for those who moan that Madrid should get defenders are either jealous of Madrid's monetary superiority or haven't watched Madrid play. Just like Inter Milan in Italy, Real Madrid are crying for a playmaker in the middle of the park and although Wesley Sneijder is world class and Rafael van der Vaart is quality, neither of them has the same genius as Kaka does. Juande Ramos might not have revealed it but his attacking options were limited by Madrid having only one winger and that winger is the Glassman. Ronaldo's arrival adds that extra bit of spark and flamboyance to the Madrid line-up that the Bernabeu has not observed since the days of the Zidanes, Figos and Ronaldos.

Yes, there is no denying that central defenders are required but as Juande Ramos exhibited, if played to the defenders’ strengths and to a sound tactic, then even this truly susceptible Madrid backline can hold water. Pepe, in spite of his hot-headedness, is class, Ezequiel Garay has returned from his loan spell at Racing Santander and Sergio Ramos remains one of the three best right-backs in the world. The left-back slot, though, needs to be reinforced although Miguel Torres is top quality and Marcelo is a prodigy; and maybe Raul Albiol should be signed too. And as far as getting a new Claude Makelele is concerned, Madrid already have Lassana Diarra who in the second half of the last season proved that he has the potential and the mentality to play for arguably the biggest club in the world.

Madrid already seem to be in negotiations with some other top quality players and it is understood that a few more Galacticos will arrive. David Villa, Franck Ribery and David Silva all have been linked with moves to the Bernabeu and suddenly Madrid is the capital of European club football again. Suddenly everyone wants to be part of the history-making Neo-Galacticos era, suddenly Madrid are not a joke.

Suddenly the club that wouldn't sell Madrid a virus is selling them a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. For €93 million. A world record.

Subhankar Mondal