The elimination European at the hands of Manchester City has once again sowed doubts about the Real Madrid, in which even Zinédine Zidane himself had a hard time ensuring his stay on the Whites’ bench next season. More or less because of the elimination itself, more or less assumed by the whole club as inevitable before the trip to England given the terrible result of the first leg, the most painful thing for Real Madrid was the way it occurred (a mixture of childhood errors and lack of character) and Zidane’s demonstrated inability to handle available resources.
In just 22 days, since the Alirón was sung in the League to Friday night at the Etihad, the French coach has gone from hero and aspiring to best coach in the history of whites to suspect. Some relatively frequent ups and downs in the relationship between Zidane and Madrid.
The defeat returned the team to the worst moments of the season, in autumn, when on October 22 a Kroos goal in Istanbul against Galatasaray saved the coach’s head. As then, everything now seems questioned: the squad looks aged (with the main players over 30 years old, such as Ramos, Kroos, Modric, Benzema or Marcelo) and with the latest star signing (Hazard, about to turn 30 years old ) revealing himself as a complete failure, a player punished by injuries and already in the final corner of his career. With young people without finishing breaking up (the case of Asensio, Vinícius, Rodrygo or Militão). Or with signings that are already looking for an exit, in the case of Luka Jovic.
Hot potatoes
Madrid will try to sell Bale and James anyway, but the Welshman is reluctant to leave the team
But above all, what ignites Real Madrid is the hot potato that two of the players who win the most have become and who throughout the season have been a great hindrance due to their lack of commitment: Gareth Bale (14, 5 million clean token) and James (7.5 million).
In the case of the Welshman, who has two more seasons left on his contract, the situation seems like a dead end. The player wants to stay (he is happy living in Madrid and does not mind not playing). He would only agree to leave the club with an offer in which they pay him what he charges in Spain, which today is a utopia. One solution could be to undersell him and continue paying him part of the token, but Madrid are not very much for the work because they understand that it would be to reward someone who does not deserve it.
In the case of James, with one more year on his contract, the exit seems easier and he does not lack good offers from Italian football.
Exit operation
The club will put Mariano, Nacho, Vázquez and Jovic on the market and will listen to offers for Isco
In any case, and after having won the League, Madrid does not believe they have the same urgencies as last summer. Resignation reigns in the club. More worrying than elimination is that the next league cannot be played with the public, which would considerably deplete the club’s coffers. The loss of income from this League final is estimated between 100 and 200 million euros.
That the club is not very good of cash It speaks of the fact that Achraf had to be sold for 40 million to Inter, a player who had a good lineup and who presented himself as the ideal replacement for Carvajal. Right now, more than thinking about signings, the club is concerned with the exit operation. Bale and James are the big game pieces, but the club would welcome other exits (apart from that of the loan Areola, who returns to PSG). These are footballers like Mariano, Jovic, Lucas Vázquez or Nacho. Isco would also be in the market if there was a good offer. When it comes to transfers, Florentino Pérez has only one obsession: Mbappé. And a date: summer 2021. Meanwhile what worries him most is to go ahead with the remodeling of his Bernabeu.
