Real Madrid News
Real Madrid duo emerge as January targets for Premier League club – report
With the January transfer window on the horizon, Real Madrid duo Mariano Diaz and Nacho Fernandez have emerged as targets for Premier League club Wolves, reports SPORT.
The English club recently appointed former Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui as their manager and the Spaniard has quickly gotten to work as he looks to restructure his squad and salvage Wolves’ drowning campaign.
To that end, he has identified the centre-forward position as an area that needs to be strengthened. It has led to links with Mariano Diaz, who is no longer in favour at Real Madrid.
The 29-year-old has played just 25 minutes of football across all competitions under Carlo Ancelotti this term even though Karim Benzema has been missing out due to injuries.
With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Real Madrid could be open to the possibility of selling him in the winter and make some cash from his transfer.
Lopetegui was in charge at Real Madrid when they had re-signed Mariano from Lyon in 2018. He was also linked with a move to Sevilla when the Spaniard was in charge at the Andalusian outfit. Now, a reunion could materialise at Wolves.
Apart from Mariano, Lopetegui and Wolves also have their sights set on Nacho. Like the striker, the veteran defender is also in the final year of his contract and talks over a renewal have stalled as he is not entirely pleased with his game-time situation.
The 32-year-old has started just four matches in all competitions this term and finds himself behind Eder Militao, David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger in the pecking order. And Lopetegui would be open to offering Nacho an escape route in the winter.
Ancelotti has previously insisted that he does not plan on making any changes to the squad, but the club would let go of any player if they sought an exit. Whether Mariano or Nacho decide to move on and reunite with Lopetegui at Wolves will be interesting to see.
Real Madrid News
Real Madrid locker room angry with Barcelona midfielder’s ‘unsportsmanlike’ behaviour – report
While the evident frustration among the Real Madrid players was quite visible following the recent 1-2 defeat against Barcelona, the feeling of vexation was not really limited on the field.
Journalist Mario Cortegana, while writing for The Athletic, has confirmed that once the players got into the dressing room, the environment had an air of anger and frustration.
Players from each team had a go at each other right till the end, especially the likes of Dani Carvajal and Arnau Tenas, who had to be separated by several members from both teams.
Interestingly, before the aforementioned incident, Barcelona midfielder Gavi was already causing some trouble on the field. The youngster did not shy away from putting his body on the line throughout the game and it annoyed Madrid players to the extreme.
First, he pushed Carvajal in one incident and after that, he entangled himself in an off-the-ball clash with Dani Ceballos. The Madrid midfielder first had a collision with Robert Lewandowski and as the game moved on, Gavi made note of the incident.
During the run of play, Gavi pushed Ceballos with his shoulder and it did not settle well with the Madrid players and manager Carlo Ancelotti. The players and the manager were disturbed by Gavi’s behaviour and considered it ‘unsportsmanlike’.
On the other hand, there was frustration involving refereeing decisions as well. It must be remembered that in the 82nd minute, Marco Asensio found the back of the net to send the Madrid fans into a frenzy.
The celebration, however, was cut short as VAR disallowed the goal for an extremely tight offside. “We are sad, frustrated,” a dressing room source told The Athletic. “What happened? A guy looking at a TV in Madrid has decided La Liga.”
Ancelotti, on his part, said: “The disallowed goal? I don’t know, I really don’t know. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. I’m leaving with this doubt. If the VAR is sure.”
“I leave this match very proud. I don’t think we deserved to lose today,” he added.
