The Real Deal?

They say that money can't buy you love. That's true. But can money buy the Champions League?

Well, over the next 10 months, we're going to find out, as that's what Real Madrid are looking to do this season.

The Galactico Era Mark II started off when Real - under the presidency of Florentino Perez - managed to do what Manchester City had failed to do and tempted Kaka away from AC Milan. Funny how it was going to take City the best part of £100m to get him in, but £56m from Madrid was enough to get a deal done.

And then the big one. It had been talked about for years, but finally Madrid got their mitts on Cristiano Ronaldo. £80m was the fee for the Manchester United man, and who can blame them for cashing in at that price? We'll soon find out if the man from Portugal was irreplaceable for United, but when that sort of cash is being bandied about, then it's time to sell.

What might have been interesting would have been to see whether United would have used a chunk of that cash to try and snare Kaka, but they did soon identify that they wanted to spend some of it on Lyon's Karim Benzema... But Madrid had other ideas and got in first.

Raul Albiol completes the first wave of signings of the second Perez era, but there are sure to be more to follow.

It would be interesting to know if the feeling of Real trying to buy success is akin to the reaction your average fan gives Manchester City, but what has to be remembered is that when all the previous Galacticos were in situe at the Bernabeu, they didn't win the title. Or the Champions League.

They're going to be a hell of a team to watch next year, and the attacking talent just flows throughout the side... It just remains to be seen whether they will be able to make themselves a winning team.