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Florentino Perez, Real Madrid president

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez took time out of his schedule yesterday to greet the Los Blancos players already back at training after their summer break and wish them well for the season ahead.

Los Blancos will compete in six trophies this season – the first time the club has taken part in so many tournaments and will need all the resources available if they are to add to the Champions League and Copa del Rey they won last season. In addition to those two, Real will play in La Liga, the European Super Copa, the Spanish Super Copa and the World Club Cup.

Just 10 first team players are back at training at the moment, with all of those who played in the World Cup given an extended break. They will start returning at various points in the next couple of weeks, starting with the likes of Xabi Alonso, Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos next week – as their nations did not make it past the first round in Brazil.

In addition to wishing the players well, Perez also took time out to welcome back new assistant manager Fernando Hierro to the fold. The former central defender, who spent 14 years at the club, returned last week to fill the void left by Zinedine Zidane, who has become manager of Real Madrid Castilla.

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Reports in the Spanish press have said Monaco are looking to take a player plus cash deal for attacking midfielder James Rodriguez.

The 22-year-old Colombian ended up as the top-scorer at the World Cup and his sensational displays in Brazil have sparked rumours that Los Blancos want to sign him.

Various reports had suggests the 10-time European Cup winners would be willing to pay a 75-million-euro fee for the attacking midfielder, but sports paper AS suggests Monaco are keen to take one of the fringe players in the Madrid squad the other way.

Possible makeweights who could head to France as part of any potential deal included Casemiro or Asier Illarramendi. According to AS, Monaco, who are owned by Russuan billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, enquired about the services of Pepe and Fabio Coentrao, but were rejected by Real officials.

Last weekend, Rodriguez revealed he has his heart set on a move to the Santiago Bernabeu and would sign for the club with his eyes close. Colombia legend Carlos Valderrama has also urged the Los Blancos to sign the star, while former Real Madrid midfielder David Beckham recently said in an interview that Rodriguez has all the attributes to succeed in La Liga.

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It’s now the worst kept secret in football. Toni Kroos is moving to Real Madrid. Although nothing is yet official, it has been known for some time now that the World Cup winner will be playing his football at the Santiago Bernabeu this season.

Marca and AS have written many column inches about the transfer in recent weeks, and once again, both opt for the Kroos deal as the main story on the front page. The both say the 24-year-old will be presented on Thursday afternoon. He is currently on holiday in Mallorca having been part of the World Cup celebrations in Berlin yesterday morning.

Bayern Munich have now publicly acknowledged Kroos is on his way to Spain after Karl Heinz Rummenigge, the CEO of the German club, admitted they were in talks with Madrid.
“I can basically say that both we and Toni are in talks with Real Madrid. I’ll put it this way: someone receives a contract extension on fair terms for both sides, that did not happen. And then it is exactly so, that someone cannot prevent a transfer after this World Cup. And it is now possible, that it will come around,” he said.

Elsewhere, Alvaro Morata’s transfer to Juventus has stalled after Antonio Conte left his position at the club. A deal is unlikely to go through until the Italian champions have a new manager, and there are some reports saying they want to speak to Zinedine Zidane, it would be surprising if he left having just taken over at Real Madrid Castilla.

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Carlo Ancelotti has been told by the Real Madrid hierarchy that he needs to sort out his goalkeeping situation by August 1, according to reports.

Club captain Iker Casillas has been linked with a move away from the 10-time European Cup winners having lost his place as the regular shot stopper 18 months ago when Jose Mourinho was still in charge. Among the clubs linked with the World Cup winner, Arsenal appear to be the front runners for his signature.

And after an impressive World Cup, both Kiko Casilla and Keylor Navas have been added to the shopping list at the Santiago Bernabeu, according to talk in the media.

And Spanish paper El Confidencial says Ancelotti has a deadline to meet. The article says: “Deadline August 1. That is the date Real Madrid have to solve all unknowns around the goal – Everyone knows that the problem exists and the future is aimed more at the impossible coexistence between Iker Casillas and Diego Lopez.”

The paper claims the stumbling block in Casillas leaving the club is his wages as few clubs could afford to match what he earns in the Spanish capital. The alternative is to sell Diego Lopez, meaning at least one top class goalkeeper will be leaving the club this summer.

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France and Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane is set to put Europe’s top clubs on alert as reports suggest he is seeking talks with Carlo Ancelotti over his role at the club.

According to reports in the Spanish press, Varane believes his chances of first team football at the Santiago Bernabeu this season will be limited as Ancelotti sticks with his favoured pairing of Sergio Ramos and Pepe.

And the young Frenchman is keen to be playing at the highest level on a regular basis having impressed at the club and at the World Cup in Brazil with Les Bleus earlier this month.

Varane was signed from Lens when Jose Mourinho was in charge of Los Blancos and he impressed in his opening season in the Spanish capital putting in some imperious displays at the back. He has since suffered a difficult time in Spain having be set back by two serious knee injuries.

The 21-year-old is now fully fit though and ready to step up a level. Should talks with Ancelotti not convince him he should stay, Varane will look to leave Los Blancos, reports suggest.

And Chelsea could head the queue for the player, with Portuguese boss Mourinho keen to be reunited with his former player.

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German World Cup star Toni Kroos has confirmed he will complete a switch to Real Madrid.

The 24-year-old midfielder played a key role as Joachm Loew’s men secured their fourth World Cup win with a 1-0 extra time victory over Argentina on Sunday night.

Speculation has surrounded the future of Kroos for weeks after he failed to agree a new deal with Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga champions had been keen to tie him down to a new contract at the Allianz Arena, but the player feels he needs a fresh challenge and revealed playing in the famous white shirt is a dream come true.

Before and during the tournament, Kroos was asked by journalists about his club future, but he always insisted he would reveal his decision after the tournament was over.

And amidst the celebrations at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janiero, Kroos confirmed what many have already said – that he will be playing at the Santiago Bernabeu next season.

Speaking to UOL, said he had achieved two goals – winning the World Cup, and securing a move to the 10-time European Cup winners.

“We’ve finished the World Cup in the best way possible. Now I’m going to Madrid, so that’s two dreams achieved,” Kroos said.

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Real Madrid Castilla’s new boss Zinedine Zidane has said he would be disappointed if he sees any of his players headbutt an opponent but would stand by them.

The man who made perhaps the most famous headbutt in football when he was sent off in the World Cup final against Italy in 2006 for driving his forehead into the chest of Marco Materazzi told L’Equipe there is normally an underlying reason for such behaviour.

After his own incident with Materezzi, in what was his last game of professional football, Zidane revealed he had been verbally abused by the Italian defender. And he believes he should have received more sympathy than he got at the time.

The manager of Madrid’s second string said: “If I was the coach and one of my players did that? Honestly, I would be disappointed but I would not come down hard on him. I would try to understand what happened and I would support my player.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Zidane also spoke about the Champions League final in May, and revealed the Los Blancos players had practiced penalties in the week before just in case it came down to spotkicks.

He added that some of the players sought him out for advice and asked him about his famous penalty in the 2006 World Cup final, when he outrageously chipped the ball down the middle past Gianluigi Buffon in the opening minutes of the game.

“[Real Madrid] practiced penalties the whole week before the Champions League final against Atletico [in May] and players asked me about the 2006 World Cup final and about this penalty,” he stated.

“There are still people today that tell me that I was crazy. But Buffon knew me. I played with him for five seasons at Juventus and he knew the exact spot in which I like to put my penalties. What would have been crazy is to shoot like I used to. I told myself, ‘That’s the thing you need to do. There are still 83 minutes left if you miss.”

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Premier League side Arsenal are closing in on a deal to sign Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira, according to reports in the Spanish press.

In an article in Sport newspaper, it was claimed the FA Cup winners have agreed a 28 million euro deal for the German, who became just the 10th player in history to win the Champions League and World Cup in the same season after his team mates defeated Argentina in the World Cup final in Brazil.

The 26-year-old had featured in for his side en route to the final but missed out on the showpiece event with a calf injury picked up just an hour before kick-off.

According to the report, Khedira will sign a four-year deal at the Emirates Stadium and join up with fellow World Cup winners Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski and Per Mertesacker.

Sport claimed Khedira, a signing from Stuggart when Jose Mourinho was in charge, doesn’t feel valued by the club and is not interested in signing an extension to his deal at the Santiago Bernabeu, which has just a year to run.

In his time in the Spanish capital, Khedira has scored six goals in 91 league appearances, but missed much of last season due to a serious knee injury picked up with his national side against Italy. He made his comeback at the end of the campaign and took his place in the side that beat Atletico de Madrid in the Champions League final in Lisbon.

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With one month to go before the first official match of the 2014-15 season, Real Madrid have started training today. Carlo Ancelotti has lead his first session with Fernando Hierro as an assistant coach.

Ten Los Blancos – all those who didn’t participate in the World Cup- players have returned from holidays to start the pre-season at Valdebebas training ground in Madrid and to pass the medical tests.

The players who left Brazil in the group stage will join the group for traveling to the United States, where Real will play the International Champions Cup. Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric will be ready for the tournament that kicks off on July 27th.

Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane, who were eliminated in the quarter-finals, will start their pre-season on August 1st in Madrid, and they will miss the US Tour, since the team will return to Spain on August 5th.

The remaining players will get back to training that day, one week before the European Supercup against Sevilla. Angel di Maria, Sami Khedira, Marcelo and presuably Toni Kroos will complete the squad that day.

Other players might arrive during the transfer market, but the club’s intention is to have the squad closed before August 5th, so Ancelotti can have at least one week with the whole group working together before the first game of the 2014-15 season.

* Get all Real Madrid news on our Twitter account @realmadridnewsw

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Real Madrid are working hard to find a replacement for Alvaro Morata, who will leave the club in the next few weeks. According to Italian website Tuttomercatoweb, Los Blancos have added Belgian striker Divock Origi to their list.

The 19-year-old has been linked to a number of European clubs following his great performance in the World Cup. In fact, Liverpool are reportedly set to make a 38-million-euro bid to bring the Belgian international from Lille.

Los Blancos are willing to bring a talented player to feature alongside Karim Benzema at the front of the attack, but they won’t spend a huge amount in a man who will mainly seat on the bench.

Origi’s market price was 12 million euros one month ago, but Lille are seeking to take advantage of his brilliant World Cup to get a very beneficial deal.

Yet, Los Blancos are looking for a pure number 9, and Origi, despite having played up front with Belgium, usually features in the second line of attack.

With Lille, he made 30 appearances last season, scoring six goals. He’s had a brilliant career with Belgium youth teams, scoring six goals in 31 games.

* Get all Real Madrid news by following us on Twitter.

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