Perez to return as Real president

Florentino Perez will be sworn in as Real Madrid president on Monday after no other candidate stood against him.

Several challengers pulled out or were not able to lodge a bank guarantee of 57.4m euros (£51m) required by the club to take over from Vicente Boluda.

Perez, 62, previously held the position between 2000 and 2006.

In that time they won the Primera Liga twice and the Champions League and earned the nickname Galacticos because of the wealth of star players.

Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo and David Beckham were among the biggest names at the club during Perez's reign.

And the Spanish construction magnate has already indicated he wants to assemble another team of lavishly gifted players.

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Perez officially presented his candidacy on Thursday under the slogan "the dream is back" and said the team he would help build would be world beaters.

"We will build a spectacular team with top-notch players. We have set up a strong and stable sporting project, which will be able to call upon footballers who will turn each Real Madrid match into a fascinating rendezvous," he said.

Perez has not mentioned any names regarding top signings but the Spanish media has reported that Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, currently at Villarreal, is set to become coach in place of Juande Ramos and that AC Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaka is the number one player target.

Real have also been strongly linked to Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo, Liverpool's Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso and Bayern Munich's French winger Franck Ribery.

Real's arch rivals Barcelona won the Champions League, the Spanish title and the Spanish Cup this season under debutant coach Josep Guardiola.

But in an interview published on Sunday in daily newspaper El Pais, Perez revealed Barcelona's success this season "motivates me even more" and he added that Real "needs a revolution".

Real ended the season on Sunday with a 2-1 defeat by Osasuna.

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