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Marcos Llorente has to think about his future. The young player (24 years old) has to leave again Real Madrid because Zinedine Zidane has already told him that he won’t be an important part of the new project. After two years with Los Blancos, the midfielder will pack the suitcase again, but this time he has many offers to consider.

Some major Spanish teams are chasing the midfielder. Especially Atlético de Madrid and Sevilla are following his steps, but Llorente´s idea is leaving Spain and try new experiences. Besides, he has always considered a Real Madrid fan, so it will be tough to play for the rivals and neighbours. His high salary scares some teams, but he´s confident to find a new destination.

According to the Spanish newspaper As, Llorente wants to try in the Premier League. He has offers from Bundesliga, especially Eintracht Frankfurt, but he wants to play in the most competitive league in the world. Besides, his good moments with Los Blancos this season makes him a good target for some important English teams.

This is not the first time Llorente leaves Real Madrid. The midfielder played on loan two seasons ago with Alavés, playing a key role in the good season of the Basque Country when they were promoted to La Liga First Division. After that, Los Blancos brought him back, but he didn’t have many chances to show his quality.

The only coach who made him play was Santiago Hernán Solari. This has been his best moment with Los Blancos, especially in the FIFA Club World Cup, where he even scored one decisive goal. The arrival of Zidane wasn’t good news for him, and now the manager told Bale, Ceballos and Llorente that they won’t be part of the squad next season.

The question now is whether Llorente will be sold with a re-buy clause or given on loan. The most likely option is to be sold with a clause, but he needs to renew his contract first, because it expires in 2021.

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Zinedine Zidane has started to have meetings with the players to tell them his idea about the future. According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, the coach has already told Gareth Bale to let him know that he doesn’t want the Welshman in the future team of the next season. This conversation also took place with Dani Ceballos and Marcos Llorente. One by one, the footballers will be having face-to-face meetings with the manager about the future.

The relationship between Zidane and Gareth Bale is non-existent. The former Tottenham Hotspur player was left out of the list in the last La Liga game at Santiago Bernabeu against Villarreal and they don’t speak to each other. This relationship was already broken one year ago, when Bale said after giving Real Madrid their 13th Champions League title that he would leave the club if things didn’t change. Things actually changed, because Zidane and Cristiano left the club, so Bale remained as the star of the team.

However, Zidane’s comeback wasn’t good news for Bale nor his terrible season as the club star. The supporters are pointing him as one of the persons to be blamed for this poor season and he’s been whistled every time he’s on the pitch. Now, the most complicated part would be finding a new club, because Bale has a really high salary and his agents said that the Welshman won’t left the Spanish capital unless a good offer arrived.

Something similar happened with Dani Ceballos and Marcos Llorente. Both had few opportunities with Zidane on command, but things changes this season. Ceballos enjoyed many minutes with Julen Lopetegui, although he disappeared little by little from the line-ups. All the contrary happened with Marcos Llorente. The stopper didn’t have any chances with Lopetegui, but Casemiro’s injury left him space in the line-up and he took the opportunity and played some good games with Solari on the bench. He was even able to score an important goal in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Now all of them have to work to find a new club for the future if they want to continue with their career developments. It will not be easy for Bale, but Llorente and Ceballos will have many interested teams.

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Finally, Real Madrid supporters had a pleasant afternoon enjoying their team playing at home. Los Blancos beat (3-2) Villarreal at Santiago Bernabéu in a very good game with many chances and pace, exactly everything that we missed in the games abroad against Rayo Vallecano, Getafe or Leganés. Mariano Díaz, with a brace, took credit to remain in the squad next season, although perhaps it’s too late.

Zidane keeps giving trust to Fede Valverde, who was one of the best players in the midfield. Also, Brahim Díaz started the match and played some good minutes, one of the best news in this end of the season. Among the youngsters, the supporters could see again Vinicius Junior, who was missed in many games. The Brazilian was this different player in the sunny afternoon with his dribbles and creating chances.

The match started with the supporters and the footballers remembering Iker Casillas and sending the captain all the strength to recover after his heart attack. We only had to wait 2 minutes to see the first goal, with Mariano Díaz beating Andrés after a good assist from Brahim. However, Villarreal, who are still fighting to avoid relegation, equalized the game soon after thanks to Gerard and another mistake by Casemiro. The Brazilian is one of the players that need to react or he can be replaced soon.

Despite the goal, Los Blancos were creating danger, especially with Brahim Díaz. Villarreal had a lot of quality in the offensive line but they committed many mistakes in defense. Vallejo was able to score before the half time in his very first goal with the white t-shirt. In the 4th minute of the second half, Mariano Díaz scored his brace opening a gap in the scoreboard. The result could be even bigger, but Los Blancos missed many chances. Vinicius, Isco and Asensio came in to reinforce the team, although only the Brazilian shone.

In the last minutes of the came, Jaume Costa scored the last goal of the game. At least, Real Madrid supporters did enjoy one of the last games of this terrible season and Zidane could see some interesting youngsters.

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Zinedine Zidane’s men are improving their performance in these last games of the season but they weren’t able to beat (0-0) Getafe at Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, a team who is fighting for the Champions League positions after a memorable season with a great coach like Pepe Bordalás. For sure, next year they will play in Europe again.

It is very hard to guess Zidane’s starting eleven in the end of the season. This time, the manager surprised us with Reguilón, Fede Valverde and Brahim. Also Isco and Gareth Bale started the match. It is pretty clear that the manager likes Valverde, who might stay in the team next season, but Llorente or Ceballos have no chances with the Frenchman.

Real Madrid started the game taking it very seriously. Same as the second half against Athletic Club, we could watch a stronger team, with the control of the game and defending better. Benzema could have found the net in the first minutes, but he misses his chance in front of David Soria.

However, the best player of the game was Brahim Díaz. The young player was supposed to leave the club in summer on loan, but he is showing skills enough to stay in the squad. The question is knowing if he can keep this level and if he will enjoy minutes at Real Madrid or will be best to send him to another club. Meanwhile, Bale played on the left, without any other remarks, and Isco played slightly better than other days. Still not enough.

Even if Brahim kept the control of the game and Los Blancos were better, Getafe could have won the match in the last minutes of the match. Real Madrid players were tired -Kroos and Asensio came in in the second half- and Getafe had their better chances in the last minutes of the clash. In that moment, Keylor Navas arouse with two great saves. The Costa Rican was supposed to be on the bench because Courtois was recovered, but Zidane has his trust on the ‘tico’, who is showing a great level.

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Whether it be football , horse racing , online casinos , the world is full of people who like to gamble and footballers of course are no different. Some footballers have a passion for playing poker or roulette or quite often having a bet on horse racing . Later we look at 5 famous gambling footballers but first it is important to explain what an online casino bonus is and why they are so popular.

Online Casino Bonuses

 

Casinos are happy to offer new players a welcome bonus in the hope that the player will bet regularly and the Casino can make some money in the long run . There are many variations on the type of Casino bonus that can be offered but one of the most popular is free spins . You will see various types of free spins in advertisements for example , /50-free-spins/ is a very popular offer and generally limited to a specific slot machine and the winnings from this Offer will have to be wagered a number of times before the cash can be withdrawn.

Footballers from around the world love to gamble and some of the most famous or infamous are as follows :

Gigi Buffon

One of the greatest goalkeepers of all time the Italian has had an illustrious career spending most of his club career at Juventus . Known to have a liking for poker Gigi was also an ambassador for a leading online poker site.

Dominic Matteo

The former Liverpool and Leeds star admitted to running up more than £1M in gambling debts in his autobiography and was sadly declared bankrupt in 2015 . Matteo had a passion for sports betting rather than online casino and recalled having a winning £200 000 bet on a horse race !

Paul Merson

The famous ex Arsenal forward now a pundit for Sky Sports in the UK is reported to have lost up to £7M on gambling during a colourful career which included 21 caps for England . Merson was hooked mostly on sports betting also.

Joey Barton

Now manager at Division 1 side Fleetwood Town Barton has played at some top clubs including Newcastle , Everton and Rangers . Whilst playing for Burnley in the Premier League Barton was banned from playing for 18 months after admitting having placed as many as 1260 bets on football in the 10 years up to 2016 .

Phil Bardsley

 

The former Manchester United full back became embroiled in a famous incident whilst playing for north eastern club Sunderland . Bardsley was celebrating a rare win in a local casino and ended up being photographed lying on the floor covered in £50 notes . Sunderland manager at the time Paolo Di Canio was not impressed and immediately fired the Scottish defender !

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It’s hard to say that Real Madrid’s season has been anything other than an abject failure. After plummeting down to ninth following a string of bad results the club’s ambitions to take the La Liga trophy were already over by October.

To make matters worse Los Blancos succumbed to a superior Barcelona side not once but twice, bringing an end to their Copa del Rey campaign, and costing them three points in the league. It was an embarrassment experienced in front of a steely Santiago Bernabéu home crowd no less.

Crashing out at the Last 16 stages to an inexperienced but ultimately impressive young Ajax side fuelled by academy talent compounded the misery of many a Madridista. That final nail in the coffin served to show the difference in desire, attitude and composition of the two squads.

The club has gone through two managers in quick succession this season, ultimately turning back to its iconic leader Zinedine Zidane.

Despite Zidane stepping back in Real could be on their way to finishing with their lowest points total for some years. On top of that it could be the first time they’ve finished outside the top two in La Liga for two consecutive seasons since the mid-1970s.

It’s looking likely that Real will fulfil that feat, currently trailing to cross town rivals Atlético by four points with only five games left to play. During the course of the 1972/73 and 1973/74 Real finished fourth and eighth respectively, but that stat belies the true nature of what took place during those years of mixed fortunes.

That Real was in a process of rebuilding, just like its modern equivalent. The two consecutive seasons where they finished out of the top two in the league were sandwiched between three league winning seasons and two Copa del Rey victories.

To turn things around Real will need to look to the experience of their antecedents and summon their spirit in order to move forward.

Real have had the standout honour of being crowned Europe’s elite team with an incredible four Champions League victories in the space of five years. During that time Barcelona have built a solid side that has run away with seven La Liga titles in the last decade and could well likely win the treble this season.

If Zidane’s Real can refocus on becoming kings of their own backyard they stand the chance of building an enduring team that can challenge for years to come. In recent years Real have been the champions of the sprint, often pulling winning results out of nowhere in their never ending thirst for European success. That instability even within title winning campaigns has seen cracks appear that have brought the ceiling down on their season this time round.

History has shown that Los Blancos always bounce back to overcome adversity. The appointment of Zidane is a start. Something has enticed the Frenchman back into the hot seat, something that wasn’t offered last summer. It’s likely that promises of significant investment in order to rebuild is what swung it.

Real have already made gradual but bold investment with a number of young talents making their way into a squad to add to a number of experienced players who still have time on their side.

If Zidane gets even some of the funds he needs to bolster a squad that is ageing in key areas he will have all the ingredients he needs to build an era defining team.

It’s looking highly likely that Real will qualify once again for the Champions League this season. They currently sit in third place, respectively ten and twelve points adrift of 4th place Getafe and 5th place Valencia respectively.

Real stand a solid chance of bouncing back next season. To stake them on matchday or across a tournament make sure to visit a betting expert that consistently delivers the best betting offers on the market to make the best for your bets.

Adam Grimshaw
@adamgeorgie

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With Real Madrid suffering from lacklustre performance and results, the club has brought back the fan-favourite Zinedine Zidane to lead the team once again. But a new manager means new strategies, tactics, and therefore, changes in the composition of the team. Zidane has reportedly informed the club’s chiefs which of the players he intends to discard come Summer, but he still hasn’t given official statements to the press.

Therefore, it’s up to noticing the hints and sorting through the clues to figure out who will continue playing for Zidane’s former club and who will be left behind. Experts from websites like www.mightytips.com have been looking at Zidane’s choices in all the games since the man took charge to figure out who is likely to remain and who will be dumped soon. They’ve analyzed his starting lineups, his press conference speeches, player field times, and other factors to come to a conclusion. Let’s discuss some of the top contenders:

 

Gareth Bale

The Welsh-born forward is one of the frontrunners when it comes to leaving the team in Summer. The team’s new manager is evidently extremely dissatisfied with Bale’s performance. He was given just 9 minutes on field during the Leganes bout a few days ago.

In fact, this is less speculation and more recounting of facts. The 29-year-old’s agent has already been informed by Real Madrid’s general manager Jose Angel Sanchez about the fact that Zidane has no plans for him in the next season. Zizu may not have announced the decision publicly as of yet, but all of the indications that Bale won’t be returning to play with Los Blancos are there to see.

 

Mariano Diaz

This footballer hailing from the Dominican Republic rejoined Real Madrid last Summer after being transferred from Lyon in exchange for 24 million Euros. However, the return of the prodigal son didn’t turn out all that exciting. He’s only seen 30 minutes of playtime all in all since Zidane took the club over. The striker didn’t even make the final squad in the club’s 2 latest matchups. It seems beyond apparent that Diaz is no longer welcome on Santiago Bernabeu and his fate will likely soon be sealed when Zidan announces his decisions.

 

Dani Ceballos

Another player who’s unlikely to continue playing in the black and white uniform is Dani Ceballos who joined Real Madrid 2 years ago when he was one of the most desirable young talents in Europe. Unlike the previous two, Zidane actually gave Ceballos a chance against Huesca, allowing the midfielder to play for the entire duration of the match. However, since then, Ceballos hasn’t been given much attention and the only time he was allowed on the field over the next five bouts was against Celta Vigo where he played for 30 minutes. Even though his fate might not be as certain as with Bale and Diaz, Ceballos is still a top contender in our list.

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Karim Benzema keeps the pace in this Real Madrid and signed a hat-trick against Athletic Club (3-0) to seal the victory in the second half, getting closer to Atlético de Madrid in the fight for the second spot of the table. The Basque Country team was an uncomfortable visitor but the defenders gave many opportunities in the second half and the Frenchman didn’t miss them.

The first half was a complete boring show. Zidane decided to keep Bale on the bench with Asensio and Lucas in the wings. Also Vallejo had his chance to play from the beginning with Varane as centre backs. However, these changes in the attacking line didn’t improve the image of the time, especially in the first half. Real Madrid didn’t shoot on target, whereas Athletic did it only once, and without any danger.

Things improved in the second half. Real Madrid was a compact and secure team this afternoon, although far from playing well or brilliant. Benzema found the net quite soon, in the second minute of this second half. It was the start of his new show, although the other two goals were thanks to Athletic players. Herrerín made a terrible mistake in a corner kick and Benzema head the ball easily. And in the last minutes of the game, the two centre backs gave the ball to Bale with the goalkeeper out of the box, so Benzema scored without goalie from far far away.

The result is too excessive given the game we saw today, but the team improved from the terrible match against Leganés. However, we can only highlight Benzema in this team, who has scored the last 8 goals of the team. Dani Ceballos, on the 1st of April against Huesca, was the last player to score for Real Madrid other than Benzema. Without any hesitation, the best player in this season.

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For the last decade, at least, football fans have been divided as to the current greatest footballer in the world. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the headlines, and the Ballon D’or was won by one of these two every year between 2008 and 2017. This highlights the dominance that these two players have had on world football. These two players have won pretty much everything available to them at club level with Cristiano Ronaldo the only player out of the two to be successful at international level. Even members of the public who are not interested in football will be able to point out Ronaldo and Messi in lineups, and speak of just how much money both of these players earn. Following a contract extension for Messi, he is now earning almost double that of his closest rival. Here, we break down the numbers between the two:

Lionel Messi was brought to Barcelona at the age of 14 after his hometown club in Argentina refused to help fund the growth hormone treatment that Messi required. Having family in Barcelona helped to arrange a trail for the youngster, although the Catalonia club were initially hesitant to sign someone so young as this was not the norm back then. The belief shown in the Argentine by First team director Charly Rexach was almost immediately repaid as soon as the hormone treatment was completed as Messi formed a huge part of the so called “Baby Dream Team” youth side for Barcelona alongside other players such as Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique.

Since making his way to the Barcelona first team at age 16, he has gone on to score 595 goals in 678 games in all competitions, scoring over 20 goals a season every season since 2008-2009. In his 20 years with the club, he has signed 3 contract extensions, improving his wage at every step. According to research by Betting Sites UK, his latest extension netted him a wage of nearly $10 million a month before tax, and not including his external sponsorships. This makes the Argentine the highest paid footballer ever, and he has the stats and trophies to back up the claims of being one of the greatest footballers ever. The fact that he cost the club nothing in terms of transfer fees, could show that he was a bargain to the club, but also goes some way as to why the club is willing to pay him so much.

Unlike Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo has played in multiple countries, and has continued his success in each country. Having won trophies in Portugal, England and Spain, Ronaldo is now plying his trade in Italy and is set to win the league with Juventus at the first time of asking. During the time that both players were in Spain, it became a personal battle as to who would win the trophies, rather than the clubs themselves. During this period Ronaldo scored a total of 450 goals in 438 games for Real Madrid and won 15 trophies for the Spanish club. During this same time, Messi scored a total of 472 goals in 476 games and won 32 trophies. Ronaldo has cost a total of over $200 million in transfer fees through his career, which could go some way to explain why he is not as well paid as his biggest rival. After paying these high fees, clubs will be pressured to adhere to Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules by reducing his salary accordingly, with the Portuguese star earning a reported $5 million a month at Juventus.

Infographic source: https://www.betting-sites.uk.com/soccer-earnings/

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Zinedine Zidane

The return of Zinedine Zidane as Real manager has no doubt been a welcome relief to many Madridistas. It solves the succession question and installs a winner with a proven track record.

The Frenchman is also someone who understands the club inside out, but more importantly knows how to maneuver the political machinery that so often sees other managers come unstuck.

As yet it’s still unclear precisely what lay behind the reasoning for Zidane’s departure, or in fact his turnaround in deciding to return. By many it’s thought to be that Florentino Perez has promised Zidane the necessary funds he needs to rebuild a Real squad that is nearing the end of its cycle.

What is also unclear is how Perez’s grandiose plans to renovate the Bernabéu, a deal which was announced just last week, will impinge on how Real can operate in the transfer market this summer.

Domestic form has been questionable for some time, but has been offset by recurring success in the Champions League.

Ageing experience

The problem isn’t in the age of the squad itself, which throughout its ranks boasts some amazing talent at all ages. The first problem for Zidane to solve is how to manage the fact that many of Real’s senior players on the pitch are on the wrong side of 30.

In every area of the pitch there is a key starting player who is coming to the end of his career. Luka Modric, who has been the engine of this latest successful Real team is 33. Further forward, long time serving Karim Benzema isn’t getting any younger at 31.

Vice captain Marcelo who operates a position where you arguably have to be the fittest on the pitch as a wing back, is also turning 31 next month. Even more worryingly captain Sergio Ramos, the beating heart on the pitch, is on his way into his mid-30s.

It will be interesting to see how many of these core players are present as regulars on the team sheet next season. If you fancy Real to take a trophy in the next campaign and you’re looking for the market’s most attractive deposit bonus visit betting experts BetBlazers.com.

Trusting in youth

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Real have amassed a considerable array of young talent in their squad. Sourced from both within the academy and externally over the last season, Zidane has youngsters he should seek to blood in over the coming months.

Perhaps the most high profile of the young arrivals was Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior, who arrived from Flamengo for a hefty €45 million last season. Then there’s central midfielder Brahim Diaz, the Spaniard was swiped from under the nose of Pep Guardiola and Manchester City in January.

Defensive operators 23 year old Alvaro Odriozola and Sergio Reguilon at 22 look to be the wing backs of the future, and have shown promise over Santiago Solari’s ill-fated reign.

All these players show promise but are perhaps not quite ready to cement themselves into the core of the team just yet.

Tried and test

The responsibility then falls to those in between these two groups of players. The likes of Isco, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez, Raphael Varane and Dani Carvajal are all experienced members of the Real Madrid setup, having won Champions Leagues and Club World Cups since their arrival in the Spanish capital.

It is these players that will form the backbone of Zidane’s new look Real Madrid machine. They will be vital if Zidane is to phase out key, but ageing players in all areas of the pitch, while at the same time, hoping to transfer experience to Madrid’s youth.

However Real decide to spend the funds they have available Zidane knows that you can’t buy a full team in one transfer window, even two or three. Zidane will have to manage the age gap well and he’ll rely on younger but experienced players to do it.

Adam Grimshaw
@adamgeorgie

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