Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has shown the first signs he accepts his galactico policy is not working by announcing the arrival of Arrigo Sacchi as director of football.

The former Italy coach and architect of the Milan side that won the European Cup in 1989 and 1990 will be charged with rebuilding an ageing squad and restructuring the youth system.

Sacchi (58), will also recommend signings to the board, both of players and coaching staff. But he will not take training or have a hand in team selection, although he is expected to lay down a philosophy for the club and its coach to follow.

Sacchi's arrival represents a significant change of direction for Real, where power has resided solely in the hands of a president whose policy has been to sign the world's most marketable footballers and insist that they play every game.

But Madrid's failure to win a trophy last season and their difficult start to this campaign, plus the tumultuous resignation of the coach Jose Antonio Camacho, has forced a rethink.

Perez has clearly decided Madrid need a complete structural overhaul.

Coach Mariano Garcia Remon's role will, in theory, remain unchanged. Although he welcomed Sacchi's arrival and insisted he was not worried about the future, it has become increasingly clear he will leave after June 30, when his contract expires.

Sacchi will be busy immediately. Having reportedly backed Real's decision to buy the Brazilian Robinho, he now needs to contemplate the futures of Fernando Morientes and Roberto Carlos.

Liverpool say they have had a £3.5 million bid rejected, but Perez claimed Real had not received any offers.

Guardian Service