Real Madrid News
Galatasaray dream of signing €50 million-rated Real Madrid midfielder in January – report
Throughout the summer transfer window, Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga was strongly linked with a departure.
After going through an ordinary season, the 23-year-old French international was touted for a departure, especially with Los Blancos pushing to sign a new midfielder.
The former Rennes wonderkid, however, refused to leave, despite attracting interest from clubs across Europe.
Moreover, the club’s failure to land a new midfielder meant that Jose Mourinho also decided to retain Camavinga’s services.
Galatasaray set to come knocking again
However, now, according to Fanatik in Turkey (h/t AS), Galatasaray are once again interested in signing Camavinga in the upcoming January transfer window.
Indeed, the Turkish heavyweights see the Real Madrid midfielder as a ‘dream’ signing for the winter and have made him their No. 1 priority.
This comes after Galatasaray failed with a move for the Frenchman during the summer, having been ready to make a lucrative €50 million offer.
This time around, however, the Turkish giants’ plan is to sign Camavinga on loan until the end of the season.
Camavinga wants to stay
But, much like the summer window, Galatasaray are likely to face rejection from Camavinga as he wants to stay put at Real Madrid.
Indeed, the 23-year-old midfielder has no intentions of changing clubs midway through the season and will not consider leaving Los Blancos in January.
So far this season, Camavinga has played only 240 minutes across six games for Real Madrid, with only two of those being from the start.
As things stand, he is behind Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni in the pecking order, while summer signing Bernardo Silva also seems to be ahead of him.
But, Mourinho continues to trust Camavinga, and the player has also earned a recall to the France national team setup in the ongoing international break under new manager Zinedine Zidane.
Given all these factors, the Frenchman has zero intention of considering the possibility of leaving Real Madrid in the winter transfer window.
*Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.
In a major update, AS reports that former Real Madrid midfielder and club legend Toni Kroos has taken his first step towards starting his coaching career.
The former Germany international has told the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) that he is interested in joining the coaching course reserved for professional footballers.
Real Madrid tried to bring Kroos back
It is no secret that Real Madrid considered bringing Toni Kroos back into the club’s structure after the end of the last season.
The club president, Florentino Perez, had wanted Kroos to have a daily presence at Valdebebas rather than making occasional appearances after his retirement.
Jose Angel Sanchez and Kroos spoke after Perez expressed his desire to see the German working at Valdebebas every day. However, they did not find the right moment, time or structure to give his return a clear form.
A comeback remains one of the possibilities most desired by Madrid supporters because of Kroos’ charisma and what he represents at the Santiago Bernabeu. Neither side wanted him to return simply for the sake of it, so the door remains open for the future.
The relationship between the two parties is excellent, and both know that the opportunity to work together again will eventually come.
Taking it step by step
For now, Kroos continues to run the academy he established in Boadilla, enjoying the opportunity to help develop younger players.
After two years away from the competitive side of football, however, he is beginning to look towards the dugout as a possible next step in his career.
Kroos currently holds coaching qualifications that allow him to work up to the third tier of Spanish football.
This is possible because professionals with at least seven years of proven experience and significant involvement at the elite level can gain direct access to accelerated coaching courses.
That means Kroos could coach a team in Primera Federacion, but the German wants to take things gradually.
Kroos has already informed the RFEF that he would be interested in joining the coaching course reserved for professional footballers during the 2027/28 season.
The course taking place this season is not available to elite former players, with UEFA limiting each campaign to 20 places.
With his current qualifications, Kroos could work as an assistant coach, but he cannot yet take charge as a head coach in either the top flight or the Segunda División.
But completing that programme would allow Kroos to obtain the UEFA A licence, which would enable him to coach teams at any level.
