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There are only two weeks left in the summer transfer window. In these last days, Florentino Pérez should find a new good player for the midfield. Real Madrid have failed to make any big signing this summer and players like N’Golo Kanté or Paul Pogba have finally joined a Premier League team.

Álvaro Morata, coming from Juventus, is the only new player who joined the club this summer. And Morata is not really new, as he played in the team three years ago before signing for Juventus.

However, Los Blancos have not given up and they are still looking for players to reinforce the squad. According to the media, Moussa Sissoko is one of the options, as he is still playing for Newcastle United, in the Championship, the English second division.

The options are not limited. According to the newspaper Sport, Joao Mario has been offered to Real Madrid. The Portuguese midfield won the Euro in France with his national team and he was about to sign a new deal with Inter Milan but the clubs are still in talks.

The Italian team offered €45M to Sporting Lisbon, who has rejected the offer. Sporting boss, Bruno de Carvalho, said in July: “We do not sell our best players”. Having this in consideration, and after sacking Roberto Mancini from Inter Milan, the Italian side is having difficulties to close the deal with the Portuguese player.

Joao Mario plays as a midfielder and he did a great job in the Euro, helping his team to secure the first big trophy in their history. Joao Mario is only 23 years old and he played 33 games last year with Sporting Lisbon, scoring 6 goals and helping his team to finish second in the Portuguese league.

Joao Mario could be a good option for Real Madrid if Sissoko finally cannot join the team. With Casemiro as the only defensive midfielder, the squad would need another reinforcement in this position in a very long season.

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Alvaro Morata

Monday 15th of August in Madrid. The capital is empty because today is bank holiday in Spain and everybody is enjoying the beach. However, it’s a big day at Santiago Bernabéu stadium for Álvaro Morata. The forward has been unveiled at the stadium several days after his signing was made official.

The Madrid born striker was very happy and he said several times he came back to bring glory to his club. Two years ago he left Madrid for Juventus, where he played a final of Champions League scoring a very important goal at Bernabeu, meaning to knock out his beloved team: “I’ll give everything to score a goal in the semifinal of the Champions League”, he remembered.

It’s not going to be easy for Morata. He knows he has to fight with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale for a place in the team: “I’d like to play every Sunday and I’m going to fight. I talked with Zidane and he gave me the confidence. BBC is from another world. If I only thought about me, I’d be playing tennis or chess”, Morata said about the possibilities of playing in the team.

Morata was raised at the club and for him was a very especial day: “Today is a very happy day. I’m back home, it’s been two long years and I had to wait a lot but I need to be mature. I’m going to give my life for Real Madrid”, the forward said.

The striker was unveiled in the Bernabéu stadium with Florentino Pérez as the host. The president wanted to give all the support to the player: “We’re going to have one of the best strikers in the world, who knows the club since he was a child. He has become one of the best. He’s coming back home, thanks to his talent and sacrifice”, Pérez said. On Tuesday it will time for Asensio, who will be unveiled at Bernabéu.

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Odegaard next club has been a secret during the summer. The club and the player knew that the Norwegian shouldn’t stay another year in Real Madrid and he has to leave on loan. There were a lot of clubs interested in the winger but it was a mystery his final decision.

According to the Norwegian newspaper VG and some French press, the youngster will play next year in the Ligue One. The club that has won the race is Rennes, middle team in the French League where Odegaard could enjoy a lot of minutes without suffering a great pressure.

The transfer will be made official this week. The player will be given on loan to Rennes who will not have any buy clause so Odegaard will come back at the end of the season to Real Madrid.

Zinedine Zidane thinks that the French League is a better competition for the development of Martin Odegaard and the coach has given his advice to the young player who had several offers from European big clubs. Zidane visited Rennes in 2014 when he was learning to become a manager, so he knows well Odegaard’s new club.

The Norwegian player had very good offers from the Bundesliga. Actually, it looked like the winger will play the next season in Germany because Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg had put a lot of interest in signing the Norwegian player. Liverpool showed also interest but it was a really big club for Odegaard at the moment.

Odegaard played last year in Castilla, the second team of Real Madrid. The team failed to be promoted to the second division in Spain so Odegaard didn’t want to play again in the Third Division in Spain. That is the main reason why Real Madrid and the player have been in talks the whole summer to find a new club.

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One of the stories of the summer is whether Real Madrid is selling James Rodríguez or not. After a second disappointed season at Real Madrid a lot of supporters think that the Colombian should leave the club and cash some money to sign new players. We want to give some reasons of why selling James would be a big mistake.

James Rodríguez joined Real Madrid only two years ago from Mónaco after a €80M transfer fee record. The Colombian playmaker shined in the Brazil World Cup with his national team scoring the best goal of the tournament and leading his group into the knock out stage.

The midfielder arrived to Real Madrid as a star and he played a really good debut season under Ancelotti’s management. In his first season, he played 29 games in La Liga, all in the initial line up, and scored 13 goals. In the Champions League he also appeared in 9 games, scoring one goal.

However, his second season at the club was quite poor. James Rodríguez suffered several injury problems and missed a lot of games. Besides, both Rafa Benítez and Zinedine Zidane didn’t trust the Colombian midfielder, who played bad in the minutes he enjoyed. In La Liga he only played 17 games in the starting team, scoring 7 goals. Whereas in his first season, James played 2290 minutes, in the second he played only 1515 minutes.

Despite the numbers, James Rodríguez is one of the best players in the market. If Real Madrid look for a replacement the club wouldn’t find it in Europe. With Pogba gone -and for a lot of money-, who could be better than the Colombian?

Despite not being chosen by Zidane in the European Supercup, James Rodríguez showed a good level in the extra time and the minutes he played. Besides, every time he plays for Colombia James is the best of the game, showing all his quality. Perhaps, if James had more confidence, he could performed much better at Real Madrid.

Some reports say that PSG might be offering around €70M for the Colombian midfielder. Taking in consideration that Real Madrid is facing a really long season, with the FIFA World Cup in December, the club will need top players in the squad. The competition is tough for James, with Isco, Modric, Kroos, Casemiro, Kovacic and Asensio fighting for three places in the midfield, but the Colombian has proved himself as one of the best in the world. Why cannot he show it again this season?

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Marco Asensio is the rising star in Real Madrid. Everybody is talking about him this summer and he has convinced both the coach and the supporters to secure a place in the first squad. Zinedine Zidane was very clear after the European Supercup: “Asensio will stay in the club”.

His first official game with Real Madrid was on Tuesday in the Supercup. He scored a brilliant goal from outside the box to open the result. Asensio played all the 120th minutes and he showed why he has Zidane’s trust and can become one of the best young players of Real Madrid. Actually, James Rodríguez stayed in the bench in the first title of the year while Asensio played all the minutes.

Marco Asensio Willemsem (21st July 1996) was born in Mallorca, Spain. His mother is Dutch, so he can speak fluently Spanish, Dutch, English and Catalan. He started early to play with his home town football team, Mallorca and made his debut in the season 2013-14, jumping from the second team in only one season.

After only two season in Mallorca, Asensio signed in 2015 for Real Madrid for a €3.5M transfer fee. In two seasons at Mallorca he played 56 games in La Liga Second Division scoring 7 goals.

The following year, Real Madrid decided to give on loan Asensio to Espanyol, where he played the last season in his debut in La Liga. He played 34 games, 33 in the initial line up, so he was a fix player for his managers. In this time, he scored 4 goals, all in Cornellà-El Prat.

His good season at Espanyol gave him the opportunity to come back to Real Madrid. Zidane brought him along with the team to the United States tour where he convinced the manager and the board. In his first appearance in an official game for Real Madrid he showed his skills with an amazing goal. Hopefully, the first goals of many at Los Blancos.

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Cristiano Ronaldo is about to start his eighth season as Real Madrid player. The Portuguese star arrive to the club in the summer of 2009 after a record transfer fee of €94M. In these years he has made history becoming the top scorer in the club and winning a lot of titles.

In these eight years Cristiano Ronaldo has won two Champions League, one Liga, two Copa del Rey, one Spanish Supercup, two European Supercup or one FIFA World Cup Trophy. Besides, the Portuguese has won three Ballon D’Or -maybe one more this year- and one Euro trophy with his national team this summer.

In Madrid Cristiano is used to break records. His worse season in La Liga was his first one, scoring “only” 26 goals. After that, Cristiano scored 40, 46, 34, 31, 48 and 35 goals in the last season in La Liga. Despite these amazing numbers, Cristiano has only won one La Liga trophy and would like to repeat the numbers this season to help the team winning again the title.

In Europe, he has been several times the Champions League top scorer. These are his numbers: 7 goals in his first season, 7, 10, 12 goals in 2014, when Real Madrid won the trophy against Atlético. Two seasons ago he scored 10 goals and this year he closed his appearances in the Champions League with 16 goals.

This year, Cristiano Ronaldo is enjoying more holidays after winning the Euro with Portugal in July. Zidane knows the Portuguese is really important in the squad and he missed the European Supercup to recover from the injury suffered in the final against France. With more days of relax, Cristiano Ronaldo should be back to start La Liga along with his team mates and to continue breaking records in Real Madrid.

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Zinedine Zidane had a great problem to face in the European Supercup. Most of the stars couldn’t play the game because they were either injured or with lack of training sessions. Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos or Pepe didn’t travel to Norway. Besides, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema stayed in the bench because both weren’t ready to play.

Zidane gave the opportunity to the youngsters and most of the team came from Castilla -the second Real Madrid team. Zidane was the coach of some of these players in the second team, so he knows very well their skills and performance.

Therefore, most of the players who won the European Supercup were Spanish, something rare in the recent history of the club. Casilla, Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Isco, Asensio, Lucas Vázquez or Álvaro Morata played from the beginning in the team. Actually, all of them took a picture in the pitch with the trophy showing the Spanish power in the European Supercup.

One example of how they earned a place in the squad is Daniel Carvajal. He’s from Madrid, played as a youngster in the club but left the club to sign for Bayer Leverkusen. Carvajal did a great season in Germany and Real Madrid executed the clause. Despite having Danilo as a competitor, the Spaniard has shown he’s better than his team mate and has won a place in the initial team.

It’s going to be very complicated to see all these Spanish players again in La Liga. When Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo or Bale come back to the team, Morata, Lucas Vázquez or Asensio will leave space for them. Same applies for Casilla when Keylor Navas is recovered from his surgery. However, these are really good news for Zidane, who can choose among a great number of players when his stars are out.

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This Tuesday, Real Madrid was about to lose the European Supercup. It was the 90th minute and the team pressured and tried hard but the goal didn’t arrive. After opening the result with Asensio’s great goal, Sevilla took advantage thanks to Vázquez and Konoplyanka’s unfair penalty. Luckily, Real Madrid have Sergio Ramos.

As Zinedine Zidane said in the press conference after the game, he told the defender to go up and try to score the equalizing goal. And it arrived. It was again the 93rd minute, like in Lisbon, when the goal arrived. Real Madrid and Sevilla went to the extra time and Carvajal scored the final goal.

This wasn’t the first goal in a final for Sergio Ramos. Actually, it’s the fourth time that Sergio Ramos scores in a final, a great statistic for a defender.

Everything started in Lisbon, in 2014. Real Madrid was losing the Champions League final against Atlético de Madrid because of the Godín goal after Casillas error. In the minute 93rd, Modric kicked a corner and Sergio Ramos scored with an amazing header. Real Madrid was able to win the Champions League in the extra time.

The very same year, Sergio Ramos was also the hero in the FIFA World Cup final against Independiente. The game was very close, almost without chances but the Andalusian player scored the opener and eased the title for Real Madrid.

In 2016, the same story. Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid repeated final in Milan. In the first half, after a really good start for Los Blancos, Sergio Ramos scored the opener. After, Ferreira Carrasco forced the extra time but Real Madrid won the 11th Champions League in penalties.

The fourth goal arrived this Tuesday in the European Supercup. Sergio Ramos has a gift, he is always in the right place in the right moment, helping Real Madrid to lift trophies.

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Some people say that the European Supercup is a minor title. Real Madrid players have not celebrated the trophy as a minor one and they had a big party in the Lerkendal Stadium of Trondheim, Norway, on Tuesday.

The club has made public a video where they show the joy of the players. Carvajal screaming to the camera after scoring the last goal, Sergio Ramos with the champagne in the dressing room or how the players had photos with the trophy are some of the images you can see in the video.

In the first video, the club shows the joy in the pitch after the final whistle. Carvajal is especially touch after being the protagonist of the game. “We are very happy. I hope this is going to be the first title of the season. We are trying to win everything”, Carvajal says to the camera man.

In the second video, we can see some private images of Real Madrid players. They were taking pictures with the trophy or celebrating inside the dressing room. The players even interrupted Zidane’s press conference to spread water on the French coach.

Real Madrid can enjoy another trophy only two months after lifting the Champions League in Milan. Now, in December, the players will have the opportunity to win the FIFA World Cup trophy in Japan. However, the goal should be winning La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey.

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Real Madrid transfer market looks very quite this summer but the club is working 24 hours to solve all the problems in the last days of the market. Zidane is still waiting for some acquisitions but, in the meantime, the club is putting in place all the players who have no space in the squad in different clubs.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done. For instance, Los Blancos want to give on loan Mariano, the forward who has surprised everybody in the pre-season tour around United States.

Mariano Díaz played last year in Castilla -the second team of Real Madrid- and scored 30 goals in 40 appearances with the team. The Dominican Republic international was born in Spain in 1993 and he has been linked with Real Madrid since 2011. First, he played in the third team, after in the second and this year he made his debut with the first team under Zidane’s management.

The Dominican player showed his skills against big rivals in the US Tour but it’s going ot be very difficult for him to secure a spot in the first squad. Mariano is ready to fight for this position but the club thinks that it would be better for his career to find a club where he can enjoy more minutes.

At the moment, most of the clubs of La Liga have shown interest on hiring Mariano. Leganés, Alavés, Osasuna, Las Palmas… Mariano can choose among several teams but recently Villarreal has overtaken all these clubs.

Roberto Soldado suffered this week a major injury and the Spaniard will miss the first six months of the season. Therefore, the club needs to find another striker. While the Ecuatorian player Roberto Caicedo is also targeted, the name of Mariano has appeared in several media.

Villarreal is playing the Champions League preview this season and, if they are able to knock out Monaco, the Spanis team will play in the group stage. For this reason, Villarreal could be the perfect destiny for Mariano, if he finally can enjoy some minutes in one of the top clubs of La Liga.

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