Real Madrid News
Real Madrid, Barcelona interested in 23-year-old Manchester United star – report
According to Mundo Deportivo, Real Madrid continue to hold an interest in Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot for the summer. Their arch-rivals, Barcelona, are also keeping tabs on the Portuguese international’s situation.
The 23-year-old right-back will be entering the final year of his contract at Manchester United this summer. Recent reports had suggested that he was on his way to sign a new five-year deal with the Premier League giants.
However, the aforementioned report states that talks over an extension with the Red Devils have slowed down of late amidst rising interest in the player from across Europe, with Real Madrid and Barcelona among his admirers.
It has been claimed that Los Blancos are not looking to sign a new right-back in the summer. But it seems like they are holding a concrete interest in Dalot, who could be available for a bargain in the summer if he does not sign a new contract.
The fact that Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez are well into their thirties and the latter has had injury problems could compel the Spanish heavyweights to invest in a new right-back with an eye on the future.
Dalot could be an option, although Barcelona are also monitoring his situation keenly. But, the Blaugrana’s financial situation would make it difficult for them to secure his services.
Meanwhile, alerted by the rising interest, Manchester United have contacted Dalot’s camp to speed up negotiations and secure his long-term future at Old Trafford.
The defender has admitted to enjoying his time with the 20-time English champions. However, it is hard for any player to turn down Real Madrid when they come calling.
So, it will be interesting to see how the situation develops in the coming months and whether Dalot renews with United or if Real Madrid are successful in luring him to the Santiago Bernabeu.
In what could be a real deal breaker for Real Madrid ahead of their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg clash against Barcelona, it has been revealed that as many as three Barça will be absent from the game while another key player remains a major doubt.
The list includes the likes of Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Andreas Christensen. The trio is certain to miss the game through respective injuries while a certain Frenkie de Jong is more or less ruled out, as per Javi Miguel.
It must be remembered that Barcelona are heading into the second leg with a 1-0 advantage. But the absence of the aforementioned players means Madrid can work on exploiting the frailties.
Despite the absence of such big names, Barcelona did pretty well against Elche in their previous outing, coming out 4-0 victorious, with the goals coming from Robert Lewandowski, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
With options lacking in midfield, Xavi decided to use the likes of Sergi Roberto and Eric Garcia along with Gavi in the heart of the lineup. In any way, they do have Sergio Busquets and Franck Kessie as backups if needed.
The defence, on the other hand, was perfectly guarded by Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde.
One can expect Xavi to once again interchange Araujo with Kounde on the right since the Uruguayan has been rather successful in minimizing the threat of Vinicius Jr.
As far as Madrid are concerned, they are sweating over the fitness of three key defenders, namely, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho, and Ferland Mendy. Between these three, the Frenchman is out for about a month while Rudiger and Nacho are expected to be back before the Clasico.
If there are no casualties against Real Valladolid, Madrid will have a perfect midfield and attack, with only Mariano Diaz missing.
