Only Florentino Perez, and possibly Zinedine Zidane, truly know what Real Madrid’s plans for the summer transfer window were before the global coronavirus pandemic struck. The crisis changed the footballing landscape across Europe and Real Madrid have seemingly been hit harder than most, with Los Blancos’ crippling wage bill putting them in a difficult position.
The noises out of the Santiago Bernabeu are that Real Madrid will not be making any serious moves in the transfer market this summer. Quite simply, the club doesn’t have the money to be shopping from the top shelf, with Perez counting the cost of the game’s shutdown for much of the year.
Even if some of the deadwood is shifted from the club, with the likes of James Rodriguez, Luka Jovic and Mariano Diaz up for sale, the expectation is that Real Madrid will use the money to help balance the books, with the redevelopment of the Santiago Bernabeu taking a lot of resources at this moment in time.
Zidane will still have the quality to evolve his team, though, before the start of the 2020/21 season. Real Madrid have a number of exceptionally talented young players out on loan, with Martin Odegaard the first to be recalled by his parent club this summer. After much speculation over his future, the Norwegian bid farewell to Real Sociedad this week after a season on loan there.
It was at Real Sociedad where Odegaard truly marked himself as one of the very best midfielders in La Liga, proving to Zidane that he is ready to play an important role for Real Madrid next season. Many see Odegaard as the natural successor to Luke Modric, and with good reason.
Then there’s Dani Ceballos who has rediscovered some of his best form on loan at Arsenal. Until recently, it seemed that the midfielder would be sold this summer, but now there are suggestions Ceballos could be recalled to his parent club for next season. The former Real Betis man might finally be given a chance to show what he can do for Los Blancos.
Real Madrid also had Achraf Hakimi on the books before they sold him to Inter, with Takefusa Kubo sent on loan to Villarreal for next season. Zidane might not get the new signings he would ideally want, but he will still have the players at his disposal to evolve his team for next season.
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