Real Madrid interim president and re-election candidate Florentino Pérez, in an interview with AS, once again tied his campaign pitch to concrete transfer targets: if he remains in charge at the Bernabéu, Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konaté will wear white next season. At the same time, whether Nico Pas — who has made his name at Como — returns via a buyback clause of around €9 million was deliberately left for the new coaching staff to decide.
From campaign slogan to a "world-class back line"
In the interview, Pérez repeated the stance he has aired since his first election: as long as he is president of Real Madrid, the world's best players should play here. Looking ahead to the 2026-27 season, he vowed to strengthen across the board, "raising the squad to a new level with top-tier players." It was in this context that he framed Konaté's arrival as all but a done deal.
"I can assure you: if I remain Real Madrid president, Konaté — one of the world's top centre-backs today — will play for Real Madrid from next season onward." Pérez added that if he stays in office, Konaté "will not be the only top-class defender to arrive." For a club in the middle of a presidential election cycle, the statement was both a show of transfer ambition aimed at member-voters and an early attempt to lock in the headline name drawing attention amid an ageing back line and intensifying competition.
Nico Pas: buyback option and who calls the shots
Compared with Konaté’s assured tone, what was said about Nico Paz in the same interview clearly left more room for manoeuvre. Born in Tenerife, this Argentine attacking focal point who came through Real Madrid’s academy has spent the past two seasons in Italy with Como, a run of form that has put him on the radar of Europe’s elite clubs. Pérez acknowledged: “Nico Paz is one of the outstanding players to emerge from our academy, and he is now a top-level European player—many clubs are fighting for him.”
He also referenced the buyback mechanism: “As you know, we hold the option to bring him back this year.” Reports pegged the transfer fee in the €9 million range, but Pérez offered no firm “he will return” timeline, instead leaving the final call to the coaching staff—“we will decide together with the head coach and the technical team.” That means that even if Pérez wins re-election, whether Nico Paz pulls on a Real Madrid shirt still depends on whether incoming boss José Mourinho and his assistants believe he can fit into the rebuilding plan; Mourinho himself has already appeared in Pérez’s campaign social media announcements, planting the president–manager–technical team triangle squarely in the open before the summer transfer window even kicks off.
Como’s season and the Bernabéu’s “two timelines”
Linking Nico Paz’s name to Como is not empty campaign rhetoric. The club’s fixture records show Como won 1-0 at home in Round 37 of the 2025 season and lost 1-4 in Round 38; even amid the ups and downs of the Serie A calendar, Perez still called it “an outstanding season” for the player—a sign that the value of buyback talks lies not in any single result, but in whether he can find a role in the tactical discipline and high-pressing system Mourinho emphasizes. Como play at home at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, which holds 13,602; at Real Madrid, the Bernabéu seats 85,454, and with an election year stacked on top of a competitive one, the club needs “confirmed superstar arrivals” to offset the uncertainty that “youth academy talents who might return” can bring.
Real Madrid’s recent results sketch a different competitive timeline: a 1-0 away win in Round 37 of the 2025 season, followed by a 4-2 home victory in Round 38. In some matches, the numbers showed outright attacking dominance—26 shots, 10 on target, 65% possession, 92% pass completion in a single game—while in others they still won with just 36% of the ball. Defensive solidity and midfield depth remain the bedrock of a title push, which also explains why Perez made a “world-class defender” a verifiable pledge during the campaign rather than talking only about star power up front.
How to Read This “Election-Style Announcement”
For members and supporters, Perez’s remarks at least drew two clear lines: Konaté is framed as a hard target—“deliverable if re-election succeeds”; Nico Paz is a soft one—“options on the table, coach’s call.” The former tests the club’s negotiating leverage with the player, his current club, and the wage structure; the latter tests Mourinho’s read on front-line creators and wide-area dynamism, and where a €9 million buyback sits in the overall budget. Putting both in the same interview keeps the Galácticos narrative alive while avoiding the risk of alienating Como or the player’s agency too early on the Nico Paz question.
Three developments worth watching in the near term: whether the presidential election delivers the outcome Pérez wants; whether Konaté’s camp produces any public movement that echoes the “joining next season” storyline; and whether Mourinho’s staff offer a clearer read on Nico Paz before the summer transfer window opens. If re-election is confirmed, Real Madrid are likely to move first on the back line, then shape any buyback of their prized academy graduate around the head coach’s wishes—consistent with Pérez’s insistence that every position must be filled with elite players, but also a sign that this summer will not play out along a single narrative thread.
