Real Madrid News
Manchester City leading race for key Real Madrid target, Man United also interested
According to ESPN journalist Rodrigo Faez, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are currently leading the race to sign arguably the most in-demand midfielder, Jude Bellingham.
The news comes hours after it was confirmed that Premier League side Liverpool have pulled out of the race to sign the youngster. Jurgen Klopp’s team was heavily lined with the England midfielder but considering the cost of the operation, which is expected to go beyond €100 million, they decided to invest the money elsewhere.
As a result, Manchester City and Real Madrid remain the only viable destinations, although it must be remembered that Borussia Dortmund still have not given up on the midfielder.
This report, however, contradicts claims from German publication BILD, who reported earlier today that Bellingham was uninterested in joining Manchester City, Chelsea, or PSG, which put Real Madrid in the lead.
Meanwhile, as reported by Faez, Dortmund continue to hope that the midfielder can stay, at least for another year.
At the same time, the likes of Erling Haaland, who moved from Dortmund to Man City last summer, and Jack Grealish, Bellingham’s national teammate, are said to be playing important roles in convincing the midfielder.
As far as Real Madrid are concerned, Faez has told Madrid Xtra that their chief of scout, Juni Calafat, is the one who is pushing the Los Blancos to sign Bellingham. In fact, he regularly travels to German to hold talks.
At the same time, if the team fails to land Bellingham, the possibility of signing a midfielder will only depend on the market opportunity and whether they get another player.
For the moment, everyone expects Bellingham’s transfer to cost at least €150 million and if City are to complete this deal, they are expected to do so before the team depart for their preseason tour.
Everything is perfectly aligned for Manchester City, including their near-perfect relationship with Dortmund. During Haaland’s move to the Etihad, Dortmund really appreciated City’s attitude and all this comes as a big problem for Real Madrid.
At the same time, the report adds that Manchester City’s local rivals, Manchester United, also remain interested in Bellingham, although their priority at the moment is to sign a new striker. But the Englishman remains on the agenda at Old Trafford as well.
Media reports claim that apart from Bellingham, Madrid do not really have a strong alternative so if they end up losing out to City, it will be interesting to see who they rope in, in the summer.
Real Madrid News
Rayo Vallecano manager names the one Real Madrid figure he would remove from the team
Rayo Vallecano face a daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on a wounded Real Madrid this weekend.
Life after Inigo Perez has not been kind to the Vallecas-based club, who have already had to travel to Camp Nou and now face a trip to the home of their city giants.
Speaking ahead of the game (h/t Madrid Xtra), Rayo Vallecano manager Benat San Jose was asked which Real Madrid player he would like to remove from the team before this weekend’s game.
Surprisingly, his choice was not Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior or Thibaut Courtois.
“Mourinho”
Asked which Madrid player he would take out of the upcoming contest, Benat jokingly chose the man sitting on the opposition bench.
“Which Real Madrid player I’d remove from the match against them? Mourinho,” Benat said with a laugh.
The answer might have been delivered jokingly, but the Rayo coach immediately made clear just how highly he rates the Portuguese manager.
“He’s one of the best managers in history,” he added.
It is significant praise ahead of Saturday’s meeting at the Bernabeu.
Madrid’s squad contains enough individual quality to give any opposition coach several obvious answers, but Benat instead highlighted the influence Mourinho can have over the entire team.
That has become particularly relevant since the Portuguese coach returned to Madrid. His early work has focused on making a talented group function with greater collective discipline.
Courtois and Madrid’s attack also praised
Benat did not stop with the manager.
“They also have one of the best GKs in history and one of the best attackers in history,” he said.
Benat will definitely have seen how Thibaut Courtois played against Inter Milan in midweek and will hope that version does not turn up again this weekend.
Even when teams manage to create opportunities against Madrid, they still have to beat one of the defining goalkeepers of his generation.
At the opposite end, Madrid possess attacking quality capable of turning a match on its head.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham can all decide matches single-handedly.
Madrid have a point to prove
Madrid are coming off a disappointing loss to Real Betis in La Liga last weekend and will come into this game with a point to prove.
They will want to ensure that the loss to the Andalusian club was a one-off and that they return to winning ways against Rayo.
Their title rivals, Barça, have been flying high in the league, scoring goals and picking opponents apart for fun.
Madrid need to ensure that they do not hand too much early incentive to Barça, and it remains to be seen how Los Blancos fare against Rayo Vallecano.
