Real Madrid News
Real Madrid willing to shell out €130 million for Liverpool midfield transfer target
Real Madrid have their eyes set on one of England’s biggest assets ahead of the hectic summer transfer window. Unsurprisingly, a ton of teams are also keeping tabs on him in the hopes of signing him in the summer.
The player in question, of course, is Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham.
Rumoured to be on his way out of Bundesliga, Bellingham is on the radar of several teams, including Manchester City, Chelsea, among others. Most notably, though, Liverpool seem to be fixated on signing him in the summer.
He will not come in cheap, though, especially after Dortmund had to sell Erling Haaland for under €70 million due to his release clause.
Madrid are more than ready to pay whatever they need to bring the teenager to the Spanish capital, though. According to recent reports from MARCA, Florentino Perez are co. are ready to shell out €100 million plus €30 million in variables to sign Bellingham.
A lot depends on Bellingham, who will have multiple tempting offers from all the clubs looking to sign him. And while one would assume the balance tilts in favour of defending Champions League winners Real Madrid, the midfielder might want to return to his home country for the foreseeable future.
Moreover, it has been reported that Los Blancos will not trigger Luka Modric’s extension until they get a concrete reply from Bellingham.
The Croatian has been one of the key pillars for Madrid for years on end, was one of the best players in the UCL last season and in the World Cup. However, at 37, he does not have a lot of fuel left in his engine.
Toni Kroos is also nearing an extension with Madrid, with the club also willing to offer a renewal to Dani Ceballos for his recent impressive form.
Eduardo Camavinga’s future has been put into question recently, as well, with Arsenal said to have tabled a loan offer for the Frenchman in the winter.
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.
