Florentino Perez is known for his galactico signings and especially more so, if the season does not go as planned. Real Madrid are having a season to forget having crashed out of Copa del Rey to Barcelona and the UEFA Champions League to Ajax Amsterdam within a span of 6 days. Not only he’s looking out for a new coach for the team, he’s also planning a squad overhaul and has already apparently chosen his targets to pursue once the summer transfer window opens.
Top of the list are Paris Saint Germain stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. The players in question are also open to a move out of Paris who have failed to make any significant achievements in Europe despite spending over a billion dollars at the club since Nasser Al Khelaifi took over in 2011.
PSG’s underwhelming record in Europe’s premier club competition has continued, as they became the first ever team to be eliminated after coming into the second leg with a lead of two or more away goals, following their 1-3 defeat to Manchester United this week at the Parc de Princes. Neymar missed out on both the legs due to injury. Kylian Mbappe showed a spirited performance at Old Trafford in their 2-0 victory but failed to replicate it as the French champions crashed out of the competition making life for Thomas Tuchel a bit difficult at the present.
Neymar has been a long term target of Real Madrid with Los Blancos vying for his signature even before he joined Barcelona. In a recent interview with Globosport TV, the former Barcelona superstar said (h/t The Sun), “If I want to play for Madrid? They are one of the biggest clubs in the world. Any player linked with Real Madrid would feel attracted to play there.
“I feel happy in Paris, I am very well here, but in the future, nobody knows. A footballer’s life is very fast. Things happen at unexpected moments, nobody knows what will happen tomorrow.”.
Mbappe has also been a target for Real Madrid before he switched to PSG from his Monaco days and there were attempts to sign the French starlet last summer as well. According to a report from Spanish newspaper AS, the striker duo are apparently very frustrated in Paris due to lack of European success and they are likely to push for a move next summer.
However, signing a player from Nasser Al Khelaifi’s squad would cost a fortune if at all he approves the move as they will look to recover more than what they spent on signing those players.
Hence, it is not at all going to be a cake-walk signing and Los Blancos will have to really fight hard to get it done, though it is the order of the day for them.
Real Madrid will be signing attackers next season and Florentino Perez will surely have to break the bank and perhaps set up new world record transfer fees in order sign these players from Paris if at all they are allowed to leave the club.