Real Madrid President Florentino Perez tends to be a marmite figure within Spanish football. While he does have his detractors even within Real Madrid, it appears he remains popular with the players.
“We have invited Florentino Pérez to our wedding and we hope he can come,” Thibaut Courtois explained, ahead of his upcoming nuptuals with Mishel Gerzig. The Israeli model and the Belgian star got to know each other through Instagram during the pandemic, and now live together in Madrid.
Sepaking more generally on his relations with the head honcho, Courtois told Marca that he got on well with the President.
“I get along well. He’s the boss. He wants us to win. I like his style, he’s very close. He doesn’t miss a game, something I hadn’t seen before in any director. He demands a lot from you, but he’s a great president.”
“He has achieved everything. It’s not like we send each other WhatsApps (laughs), but we talk before and after the games. In the box, he always comes over to chat with Mishel, with the families of the other players.”
While Perez perhaps projects a slightly intimidating figure in the media, clearly he has both a mind for business, and as a result, an ability to form good relationships.
Overall, inviting your boss to your wedding is not so far out of the ordinary, but within football, it is less so. Courtois picked up an injury on international duty with Belgium this week, but is expected to return to training on Wednesday, after a diagnosis revealed it was a mild issue.
Image via Marco Canoniero
