Speaking in an exclusive interview with Marca, Getafe president Angel Torres shared his thoughts on his tenure at the Primera Division club.
You’ve had 14 coaches in 18 years, who stands out the most?
I’ve had some great coaches: Quique Sanchez Flores, Michel, Michael Laudrup, Bernd Schuster, but only two or three bad ones. But I’ve spent the longest and got on the best with current boss Jose Bordalas.
You say that you’ve been wrong with two or three coaches?
Yes, I was wrong with Fran Escriba because I held on to him for too long and I should’ve sacked him sooner. There was another case with Victor Munoz, who had the entire squad against him and he asked us to go on a training camp to Mallorca and I told him no, that it was over.
You’ve also met plenty of presidents from other clubs in the directors’ box. Who is your best friend?
I always say that football has given me two great friends: Miguel Angel Gil Marin and Manuel Garcia Quilon. But I also have a magnificent relationship with Enrique Cerezo, Vega Arango and Joan Laporta, who I hope returns to Barcelona.
What about Florentino Perez?
We get on well, although I have a very good relationship with Jose Angel Sanchez too.
You’ve never hidden from the fact that you’re a Real Madrid season ticket holder.
And I still am. I have three season tickets but I haven’t been to the Santiago Bernabeu since the centenary year.
It was often said that Getafe was the destination for Real Madrid academy players, but that’s not the reality.
There’s a big difference in price between the Real Madrid youngsters and the rest. You go to sign Marc Cucurella and he earns €1m and you go to sign Brahim Diaz and it’s €4.5m. We can’t pay that.
You’ve never missed a game home or away with Getafe, so which is your favourite stadium to visit?
Bayern Munich’s was spectacular and I also liked Benfica’s and Tottenham’s old one, where we won 2-1 with Braulio’s backheel. Now we’re seeing comfortable, spectacular stadiums and that’s where football is heading.
If you could sign a former player again, who would you sign?
I would sign Fabio Celestini, we haven’t found another central midfielder like him in 10 years.
What is Getafe’s current financial situation?
You can’t compete with €40m from TV money. If you want to keep growing, you need to make more use of your stadium. We had a budget of €82m this season and we were expecting to make around €105m in revenue. Now we won’t get there.
If La Liga does return, you’ll be close to your budget and you won’t have applied for an ERTE (temporary redundancy scheme).
We have to start back up as soon as possible. Getafe and Sevilla have to finish the league before July 25 because then we both have the Europa League. We play Inter on August 2. We haven’t applied for an ERTE and we’re in a healthy position.
What is there left for you to do at Getafe football-wise?
All I’m missing is winning a trophy or qualifying for the Champions League. If I achieve that, I’ll stay for another year to enjoy the Champions League and then I’ll leave.
If you had to choose one game out of the 796 you’ve been club president for, which one would you choose?
Tenerife, without a doubt. Getting promoted to the top flight was the best. But I won’t forget the 4-0 against Barcelona or the day we played Bayern Munich.
