Financial Fair play? Financial Fair Shplay.
A disappointing first half to this season saw Real Madrid all but surrender their La Liga title back to Barcelona before we’d even reached Christmas, as the Catalans raced ahead and still remain unbeaten in the league.
Madrid – and Ronaldo – eventually found their form, have reached the Champions League semi-finals and look most likely to win the trophy for the third consecutive season, such is their ability to step up in huge European games.
But club President Florentino Perez is still dissatisfied with Madrid’s dismal title defence this year and will look to rectify that next season the only way he knows how – by spending a lot of money on new players.
Spanish newspaper Diario Gol are reporting that Perez is preparing to spend around €600m in the summer and raid the Premier League’s best clubs for their best players: Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah and David De Gea.
As Ronaldo completes his transformation from winger into striker, a new left winger wouldn’t go amiss and given Chelsea look set to miss out on Champions League football, Hazard could be tempted by the glamour of becoming a Galactico.
Madrid’s pursuit of De Gea is no secret and has been going on for years now. It may be up to the player to force the move, as Manchester United will not want to sell, but after Keylor Navas’ howler against Juventus, they will do everything they can to end the saga and bring him to the Bernabeu.
Regarding Salah, it would be a shame for the Premier League to lose such an exciting player – surely Player of the Season – after only one year (ignoring his disappointing spell at Chelsea a few years prior). However, with Gareth Bale seemingly on his way out, the Egyptian is an obvious like-for-like replacement. Madrid will face a battle in trying to sign him, though, given his importance to Jurgen Klopp’s team.
