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Andre Gomes is a player at the centre of another transfer market tussle between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The Valencia centre-midfielder, recently crowned a European Championship winner with Portugal, is wanted at both the Bernabéu and Camp Nou, where each club are preparing to make a move for his signature. For now, Valencia are pure observers to the ensuing battle, comfortable in the knowledge that interest in the 22-year old will only serve to increase his market value, which is estimated at around €65 million.

Real Madrid are plotting their offensive, but it’s unlikely they’d bid the €65 million that Valencia want. Zinedine Zidane will have given the thumbs up to the possible arrival of André Gomes though – a player who the club thinks can significantly strengthen their squad (Los Blancos are still fearing the consequences of a FIFA investigation). Likewise, Barça coach Luis Enrique sees in Gomes a midfielder who can provide cover along with new signing Denis Suárez.

Valencia, it must be said, do not have any intention of letting go of Gomes and deem the Portuguese as a key piece in Pako Ayesarán’s new project. But with the player’s agent Jorge Mendes having such a good relationship with Real, you never know.

Madrid and Barça are not the only big clubs in Europe that are interested either. On Sunday Valencia rejected offers from both Chelsea and Juventus of around €40 million. Valencia don’t want to sell their Portuguese midfielder for less than €65m, but both Zidane and Enrique see the player as someone who can significantly bolster their personnel.

Valencia star Andre Gomes has been turning his heads with his good performances with Valencia last season and it was reported that Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United were favourites to sign the talented Portuguese youngster. However, recent reports have emerged claiming that both Barcelona and Real Madrid are interested in securing the midfielder’s services.

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The 15 players who had been summoned by Zidane to start Real Madrid’s summer stage arrived punctually, at 10am in Valdebebas to undergo medical revisions. One of them, Fábio Coentrão, who is recovering from a long-term injury, turned up with a doctor’s note before leaving Real Madrid City to return to his home town Vila do Conde to continue his rehabilitation.

In all, Zidane will be taking 25 players along for the summer stage, including 11 players from the lower categories, amongst whom whi two sons – Castilla midfielder Enzo and Under-19s goalkeeper Luca, who will graduate to the reserves this season. Five goalkeepers make the trip – the three firts team keepers and Luca and Álex; a higher number than usual but justifiable seeing that Keylor is still limping a little after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon last month.

One new face who will be making the journey is Marco Asensio, who signed a contract extension yesterday and who Zidane wants as part of his squad for the new campaign – especially i f James Rodríguez ends up being offloaded. The other new face, although a very familiar one is Álvaro Morata, who will be travelling on the 20th to join the group.

The squad hardly trained at all yesterday. All were treated to a rigourous medical examonation which included having measurements taken (height and weight), blood and urine analysis as well as other tests. Following this morning’s session, the players will lunch in Valdebebas before being taken to Barajas airport from where they will depart for Montreal at 15:30 hours; the flight will last eight hours.

Real Madrid will set off for Montreal this afternoon after passing medical revisions yesterday. Zidane has included both of his sons, Enzo and Luca in the squad.

Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Casilla, Rubén Yáñez, Álex Craninx and Luca.
Defenders: Varane, Danilo, Carvajal, Marcelo, Nacho, Lienhart, Tejero and Achraf.
Midfielders: Casemiro, Isco, Kovacic, Llorente, Asensio, Ødegaard, Enzo and Febas.
Forwards: Benzema, Jesé, Mayoral and Mariano.

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Danilo has revealed that the “crazy” behaviour of Real Madrid centre-back Pepe during matches is surprising – as the Portuguese international defender is so relaxed and “zen” off the pitch.

The 33-year-old gained his hot-head reputation earlier in his career, thanks to incidents such as kicking Javi Casquero of Getafe on the head in 2009 and stamping on Barcelona star Lionel Messi’s hand in 2012. His bad behaviour wasn’t just reserved for club football either, with a headbutt on Germany’s Thomas Muller also leading to Pepe being sent off for Portugal in their opening game of the 2014 World Cup.

However, Pepe’s reputation has improved in recent months, following some composed performances in the centre of defence for both club and country. Along with fellow countryman Cristiano Ronaldo, he lifted the Champions League with Madrid two months ago and was then part of a resolute Portugal side that superbly defended their way to Euro 2016 glory.

Despite this, Brazilian right-back Danilo has told Globo Esporte of his shock at the difference between the player that “rages” his way through games and the Pepe he knows away from the football pitch.

“When I see the challenges from Pepe during a game I say to myself, ‘Pepe is crazy, the guy is sick’,” Danilo joked.

“Because, day-to-day, he’s a ‘zen’ guy. He speaks quietly, is very calm and is a good guy.

“When I see him raging in the games, I think it can’t be the same person. When he plays, he is completely different and it is great for us.

Following a €30m move from Porto last summer, Danilo endured a challenging first season at the Santiago Bernabeu and he also revealed that Pepe had been there support him through the hard times last season.

“In the day-to-day he is an exceptional guy, always with his little girls around the club. And he helped me when I came from Porto.

“He was by my side in the most difficult moments – as he had lived through something similar. He is a sensational guy.”

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Real Madrid have announced the extension of Marco Asensio’s contract until the end of the 2021/22 season.

Following a stellar season on loan at Espanyol in which he scored four goals and gave 10 assists, Asensio is set to compete for a place in Zinedine Zidane’s first-team.The talented midfielder, who has not even made his competitive debut with Los Blancos, will have a higher salary and buy-out clause on a six-year contract.

As of now, the 20-year-old is scheduled to make the trip to Canada and the United States with the senior players for a pre-season tour.The ex-Mallorca upstart was spotted chatting with club president Florentino Perez at the Valdebebas training complex on Saturday. The bulk of the squad was due back at the Spanish capital on Saturday in order to undergo physical tests and have the maiden training session of the 2016/17 season before departing to North America.

Asensio has shown his intention to be an important part in the team of the Real Madrid and in the coaching staff they rely on their potential to be a future value. In this pre-season, coach Zinedine Zidane wants to keep him in the team and although it can leave this summer as assigned, the French coach has wanted to ensure his return.

There are many clubs who want to make the services of Marco Asensio, who was assigned last season at Espanyol. The player and the club white lead time talking about this issue that has finished with the extension of his contract and his future, inside or outside Real Madrid, depends on Zidane.

The player has no dorsal at the moment in the first team, but will travel with the rest of the team to Canada to carry out the pre-season and get the confidence of the coach.

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The current holders of the Champions League trophy got their 2016/17 campaign up and running today. Although short on manpower, those players that were not involved in the Copa America or Euro 2016 were present in Valdebebas to get the medical examinations and pre-testing completed ahead of the flight to Montreal where they will begin the first stage of their preseason under manager, Zinedine Zidane. Players like Karim Benzema and Isco stood out among the players at Zidane’s disposal to complete the first practice, after both missed Euro 2016.

Tomorrow the available squad will fly out to Canada, where they will stay until the 26 July at the luxurious Ritz Carlton hotel. Their preparations will include work-outs at the home of the MLS team, Montreal Impact, where Didier Drogba now struts his stuff.

The first warm-up game for Los Blancos will take place on the 28 July in Columbus (USA) against French giants PSG under their new leadership of Unai Emery. On 30 July Zidane’s men face Chelsea, at the Michigan Stadium followed by Bayern Munich on August 4 in New Jersey.

Following a well-deserved month-and-a-half off, Real Madrid are beginning the new season with medical tests at Valdebebas training complex.A reduced group of Los Blancos first team were available in the capital and went through the initial training session of the 2016/17 season. Zinedine Zidane is set to begin his first full season as coach, after he took over from Rafa Benitez in January 2016 when the ex-Liverpool boss was sacked, targeting a defence of their Champions League trophy and a reconquest of La Liga.

After the big picture shown by the team at the end of last season, the Club rely on the union of staff and coaching staff to make happy to the fans that has today begun to dream of lifting all the trophies like La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League number twelve.

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Marco Asensio

Marco Asensio will stay at Real Madrid this season. Zidane has asked the club not to listen to any offers which come in requesting to loan the winger because he feels that he is sufficiently prepared to be a fully-fledged member of the first team squad. However, the transfer window will remain open for the next six weeks and Madrid still have not made a definitive decision; they would prefer Asensio to win his place in the pre-season and for that reason they have not assigned him a squad number, yet.

A lot of clubs, in Spain and abroad, are keen to take Asensio on loan after watching him impress last season with Espanyol and after making his senior debut with Spain. Madrid want him to stay and have instigated talks with a view of offering an improved contract as well as a two-year extension (taking his current contract from 2020 to 2022).

The player is speanding the final days of his holidays with his friends in Mallorca, Spain. He has made the most of his time off to disconnect from football but keep himself in shape by playing tennis, one of his big passions. His intention is to convince Zidane that he can be a key member of the squad and the team and finally make his Bernabéu debut.

The French coach believes that the player has already reached the maturity necessary to be on the first team and so, except that Asensio be lulled and not struggle the most in the first workouts, its final position will be the award a dorsal to the young talent. If finally the young player fails to keep Real Madrid, Espanyol would be happy to retrieve it and already has shown interest in becoming a framework Asensio and the young striker Jesé Rodríguez Ruiz.

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Álvaro Morata will have the status and dividends he wants at Real Madrid after the club recovered him from Juventus for 30 million euros. As far as AS understands, the player’s agents have come to an agreement with Madrid to revise the contract that was arranged beforehand in the event that Morata’s buy-back clause was triggered. The 23-year-old will sign a new, five-year contract in the next few days and boost his salary to six million euros after tax and social security. The agreement is in place and only a few minor flecks have yet to be sorted – for example the contract could extended to six years instead of five. Morata will sign the new contract even if Florentino Pérez, who will be out of town from Sunday, is not around as José Ángel Sánchez will be in charge of such matters.

After returning to Madrid from Juventus, the striker had three years left to run on his contract (he signed a five-year deal with Juve but only completed two) and was expecting to earn 4.5 million euros. But his agents were holding all the aces in negotiations, presenting two concrete offers from English sides – Chelsea and Arsenal which would have boosted Madrid’s account by 70 million euros with Morata taking home a handsome 6.5M euro pay packet.

Florentino wasn’t prepared to risk selling Morata then watch him burst onto the international scene like he did while he was at Juve (and even left Madrid out of the Champions League in 2014-15). Also Madrid have now guaranteed that they will have a tried-and-tested young striker for the next few years at least while the club is awaiting the verdict of Benzema’s court case as well as being unable to sign for a two-window period as a consequence of the FIFA transfer ban.

Real Madrid are planning to present Morata “with full honours and all the trimmings” in the VIP lounge at the Bernabéu and the player’s agents and family are delighted with the idea. The date for the presentation has yet to be confirmed.

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Dimitri Payet has decided that his future is in England. The French end has said his club, West Ham United, that he has no intention of moving on to another team. “I’m 100%,” said Payet, as reported by the British newspaper Daily Mirror.

Before the so-called interest from Real Madrid in signing to Payet, the London club had asked him to make a decision as soon as possible. “I am in love of West Ham. We have made a great season and the only thing I can say to the Hammers (fans of the English team), is that I’m 100% “, said French.

In this way, West Ham can be quieter. They had already announced that if teams such as the Madrid or Barca wanted to sign Payet, they should pay for the French end 120 million euros. However, after statements by the player, seems to be over the issue and there will be no ‘Payet case’ in what is left of the summer.

Dimitri Payet has told West Ham he is “100% staying” at the club. The France playmaker enjoyed an outstanding debut season after being signed from Marseille for £10.7m. He scored 12 goals and assisted 13 more, leading to the 29-year-old being named the club’s player of the year.

Payet went on to shine at Euro 2016, scoring three times as France reached the final, where they lost 1-0 to Portugal. That led to speculation he would leave this summer. His performances led to various links with top clubs across Europe, with the club’s co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan rating him in the £50m-£100m bracket earlier in the week.

His comments echo those of Sullivan earlier this week – he said: “He’s under contract. There might be six weeks of silliness when he bangs the table. But if you believe what he says, he wants to stay.

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Real Madrid legend Raul has insisted that there is life for Real Madrid after Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Euro 2016-winning Portuguese captain has become synonymous with Madrid since his record-breaking £80m move from Premier League side Manchester United back in 2009. His performances and goals have helped Los Blancos to many titles – including two Champions League titles, the last of which coming after a penalty shootout win over city rivals Atletico two months ago.

On his way to helping Real to win their 11th European Cup last season, Ronaldo was also able to break Raul’s goal-scoring record. The Spanish forward had scored 323 goals in 741 games for the club in his 16-year spell, but Ronaldo needed just six years and a mere 311 matches to surpass that total in October 2015.

Some have suggested that Zinedine Zidane’s side have become too reliant on the 31-year-old, but Raul – who is now retired, after spells at Schalke 04, Al Sadd and New York Cosmos – is confident that the good times will continue at the Santiago Bernabeu even after Ronaldo has departed.

Raul told AS: “There is definitely life after Ronaldo.

“What Cristiano has been doing is huge, but Madrid have a great team with players who can still offer more. The important things is that they keep working as a unit.”

Not since his first season in Spain has Ronaldo failed to find the back of the net at least 50 times for Madrid. He featured alongside Raul in that first 12 months at Real and the Spaniard insists that the pair were able to strike up an understanding and a mutual respect that remains to this day.

Raul added: “Cristiano has been the top scorer for the last seven seasons or so. Nobody expected him to perform like this, he has an incredible desire to meet his objectives and keep working.

“I have a good relationship with him. And there is a mutual admiration.

“It’s a shame that we played together for just one year, but it was an important year and we had a connection.”

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Managerial legend Sir Alex Ferguson has dubbed Cristiano Ronaldo the “special player” of his generation, after helping Real Madrid to win the Champions League and then inspiring Portugal to Euro 2016 glory this summer.

The former Manchester United manager signed Ronaldo back in 2003 from Sporting Lisbon. The pair went on to win three Premier League titles during their six years working together at Old Trafford, before the Portuguese winger signed for Madrid for a then-world record fee of £80m.

Ferguson – who ended his 27-year spell as Red Devils’ manager in 2013 – was in the crowd at the Stade de France and could only watch as Ronaldo was taken off on a stretcher in the 25th minute following Dimitri Payet’s robust challenge. However, he was able to pick out Ronaldo after the match and congratulated the Portuguese captain for leading his country to their first major international success with their extra-time victory over tournament hosts France.

And Ferguson has been quick to praise the Madrid man in the media following his European triumphs for both club and country.

Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Ferguson said: “He has an incredible desire for football, Cristiano is looking forward to each workout.

“He always wants to be better, to win. He especially loves these big games.

“During my time at Manchester United, Cristiano was the player who developed the most, through much hard work. He constantly worked on his shooting technique, with the right, left, his heading ability (and) his bounce.”

The 74-year-old didn’t stop their in his praise for his former player though – as he went on record to say that he believes Ronaldo to be better than Barcelona rival Lionel Messi at this moment in time.

Ferguson added: “His performance improvement is incredible and what is remarkable (is) today’s football is so athletic, so fast. Usually top players can only play for about five or six years at the highest level, then it’s over.

“Cristiano has been doing this for over 10 years. That makes him so exceptional.

“Every generation has its special footballer. Cristiano is currently.”

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