Real Madrid News
Real Madrid flop has offers from Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A – report
Real Madrid forward Mariano Diaz has not played for the team since making a substitute appearance against Elche in a 4-0 win in February. Given that he is out of favour and out of contract in the summer, the striker is courting interest ahead of the summer window.
According to Spanish news outlet ABC (h/t Madrid Xtra), the 29-year-old currently has offers from German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1 and Italian Serie A.
The forward first joined Real Madrid in 2011. Progressing through the youth setup, he was promoted to the senior team in 2016 by former manager Zinedine Zidane, thanks to a back injury to Karim Benzema.
Only a year after his senior team debut, Mariano moved to Olympique Lyonnais for a fee reported to be around €8 million plus add-ons.
After a breakthrough season in France, where he scored 21 goals in 45 games across all competitions, he was re-signed by Real Madrid.
Across his two stints with Los Blancos, the 29-year-old has made just 81 appearances across four-and-a-half seasons while scoring 12 goals.
Between the 2019/20 and 2021/22 seasons, Diaz scored just three goals in 30 league games. The 2022/23 season started as everyone expected, with the 29-year-old reduced to being a squad player.
His first appearance came in September against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League where he played just five minutes. In fact, the longest he has played this season before getting injured was against Mallorca where he clocked 19 minutes in a 0-1 defeat in February this year.
Given the situation at hand, Real Madrid have no desire to renew his expiring contract and as things stand, he will be on the move in the summer on a Bosman deal.
Commenting on his future, Mariano’s agent had recently said: “He’s looking for a good team where he can be happy, which is not that he’s not happy in Madrid, but his contract runs out. A team where he can continue to be happy, regardless of whether he plays or not. There are many circumstances to consider.”
Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia has triggered a wave of massive establishment within the country so much so that the league has approached players like Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Sergio Ramos and even Karim Benzema.
Benzema’s departure from Real Madrid is imminent and if a report from Diaro AS is to be believed, the Frenchman contacted his former Madrid teammate, Ronaldo, to ask him for information about the Saudi league, living conditions and other teams.
All this because it is said that the legendary Frenchman has received a lucrative offer from the newly crowned Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad. As reported before, the star striker will earn more than €100 million per year across his two-year contract with the Saudi team.
At the moment, the Saudi government has approved all of Benzema’s requests and while it is said that he can join the team of his choice, Al Ittihad’s recent flirting had made them absolute favourites.
That said, the transfer may have taken a u-turn recently, as Benzema spoke about staying at Real Madrid for the foreseeable future.
“Speak to the fans? Speak about what? Why should I speak of the future if I’m in Madrid?”, Benzema said.
“It’s the internet speaking, and reality is not the internet.”
In a recent turn of events, Helder Costa openly spoke about Benzema’s arrival, saying that his team is ‘excited about the arrival of the Balon d’Or winner.’ As if that is not enough, a club fan also showed a Karim Benzema edit on the big screen during their title celebrations.
Meanwhile, since the transfer is not confirmed, Real Madrid continue to be uninformed of Benzema’s decision. And this remains a major problem for the team from the capital city as their summer transfer plan hinges on the continuity of the Frenchman.
At the moment, the team is said to be closing in on the signing of Joselu from Espanyol. However, it must be noted that the forward will only be arriving on a season-long loan as Madrid already have big plans for the summer of 2024, with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe both lined up.
