Real Madrid News
Real Madrid’s pursuit of €60 million Chelsea attacker ‘off’ until price is reduced – report
Real Madrid’s priority heading into the summer transfer window will be to sign forwards to replace the departing quadrant of Karim Benzema, Marco Asensio, Mariano Diaz, and Eden Hazard.
They want to look for exciting young players, who can mark a long-term era at the club. At the same time, they want versatile profiles; players who can play across the frontline and facilitate the attack while also scoring themselves.
One of the names on their radar has been Chelsea’s Kai Havertz. The German is linked with an exit this summer as the Blues are looking to raise money through player sales so as to not get into trouble with the Financial Fair Play.
However, it seems that transfer has cooled down as of now, according to Fabrizio Romano, as Chelsea continue to price the player around €60 million, exclusive of bonuses. Madrid are not ready to pay more than €50 million for his services.
Real Madrid do rate Havertz highly, though, with Florentino Perez and Carlo Ancelotti huge fans of the player. They believe he can fit in at Madrid with ease, and consider him one of their ‘dream’ signings.
Havertz’s time at Chelsea has been rather underwhelming since his ±€90 million transfer from Bayer Leverkusen.
His output has decreased from 20 and 18 goal contributions in 2018/19 and 2019/20, respectively to seven, 11, and eight across the next three seasons in the Premier League.
However, he has largely been playing as a striker at Stamford Bridge, while Madrid reportedly consider him to be a player who can play between the lines, and not as a Benzema replacement.
For that role, they are considering the signing of Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur, who will cost them upwards of €100 million. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is not ready to part with the Englishman easily, and the transfer could take several weeks of convincing.
Bernardo Silva was one of Real Madrid’s headline signings last summer. The Portuguese midfielder arrived on a free transfer from Manchester City and appeared destined to become the creative successor to Toni Kroos and Luka Modric in the middle of the park.
Indeed, with the club having not signed a new central midfielder, many within Real Madrid saw the veteran star as a solution to the issue.
Manager Jose Mourinho made him a starter from the very beginning in pre-season, but not in his usual role on the right. Instead, he deployed his compatriot as a deep-lying playmaker in the midfield double pivot.
A change in circumstances
Silva failed to have the expected influence when operating in a deeper role in midfield in the chances he got.
Combined with the emergence of Arda Guler and Aurelien Tchouameni’s return to fitness, the Portuguese international has now lost his place in the starting line-up and dropped to the bench.
Bernardo’s situation became particularly striking against Villarreal this past Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu, when he did not play a single minute.
Limited opportunities under Mourinho
Bernardo has played six matches for Real Madrid, starting three and coming on as a substitute in another three.
He did not feature against Villarreal or Elche, while his only appearance in the last three matches was a little over 10 minutes against Atletico Madrid. He was not used regularly by the Portugal national team during the international break either.
Across Real Madrid’s eight La Liga fixtures, Silva has accumulated just 282 minutes of playing time.
The Champions League now presents another opportunity for the former Manchester City captain, who has yet to make his European debut for Real Madrid this season.
He missed the match against Inter Milan because he was still serving a suspension carried over from his time at the Etihad Stadium last season.
It remains to be seen whether Mourinho will give him an opportunity against AS Roma in the coming week.
For now, the midfielder’s reduced playing time suggests that the Portuguese coach has lost some of his faith in a player who arrived with high expectations after leaving Manchester City.
