Florentino Perez today resigned as president of Real Madrid. Madrid, now the richest club in the world ahead of Manchester United, have not won any silverware since 2003.

"I believe that the club needs a change of direction and as a result I have decided to resign as president of Real Madrid," said the 58-year-old. Perez replaced Lorenzo Sans in 2000, and took Madrid to the Primera Liga trophy twice and won the Champions League on-top of that. 

Whilst at Real Madrid, Florentino Perez turned Madrid into a world class side, buying players such as; Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and England captain David Beckham. Perez also earned them their nickname "The Galacticos". 

His resignation comes after a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League league knock-out tie, and to add further insult to injury, Madrid then fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Real Mallorca on Sunday. Perez was re-elected in 2004 and now leaves less than two years into his current reign. 

However Real Madrid fans do have something to cheer about, in February they were named the richest club in the world ahead of former title holders Manchester United.