Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane vacated his position at the Bernabeu days after he won his third consecutive Champions League title and rumours have it that the Frenchman stepped down because of disagreements with Florentino Perez over player transfers.
Perez wanted to offload a couple of the senior pros from his team and in turn, bring in new recruits while Zidane was adamant on holding onto his squad.
Whatever the differences might have been but we all can agree that bringing in a new goalkeeper during the summer was Real Madrid’s top priority.
And it still is btw.
According to Spanish based publication AS, Real Madrid have prepared a list of eligible keepers who might replace Keylor Navas next campaign.
The first name on the list is Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois who has only a year left in his contract with the Blues and is yet to sign an extension.
Previously the Belgian had harboured feelings of returning back to Madrid in order to be with his children and this has boosted Real’s hope of bringing him on board.
The second name on the list is Jan Oblak from Atletico Madrid.
The Slovenian International is currently one of the best keepers in Europe and going after him makes absolute sense.
But there are two major roadblocks which might prevent this deal from going through.
Firstly Oblak’s release clause at Atletico stands at a whopping £87 million which in no way is a small transfer fee for a goalkeeper.
Secondly, the last thing Atletico would want to do is to sell their biggest asset to their city rivals.
The third keeper that Real Madrid are tracking is AS Roma keeper Alisson Becker.
Reports suggest that Becker will cost in the same price bracket as Oblak but if such a huge amount is tabled then the Serie A side should happily take it and parts ways with their current No 1.
Real Madrid’s interest in Alisson will undoubtedly come as a setback for Liverpool who are reportedly looking at Alisson as a replacement for Loris Karius.
We should keep in mind that Liverpool have money to spare on transfers after they bagged a huge amount from the sale of Coutinho to Barcelona in January but whether they want to go out and splurge on a goalkeeper remains to be seen.
But the biggest difference in this report from AS is that for the first time in months has a major publication claimed that Real Madrid are no longer interested in going after Manchester United keeper David De Gea.
De Gea is currently one of the best – if not the best, goalkeepers in the world and Manchester United have firmly stated that the Spaniard is not for sale.
It finally seems that Real Madrid have listened and instead of wasting time on De Gea are going after other alternatives.
