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Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has hit out at the Old Trafford side over their management of David de Gea’s contract situation.

The goalkeeper has been linked with Real Madrid all summer long but the Red Devils want a world record transfer fee for a keeper in order to allow him his wish to return to the Spanish capital.

But with just one year left on his deal, Real are unwilling to pay over the odds, knowing that they can get him on a Bosman transfer next summer. De Gea is believed to be ready to return to Spain and would want to discuss a move to Real in January – when he is free to talk to other clubs – should he not move this summer.

And speaking on Sky Sports, Neville, who played his whole career at Old Trafford, said the keeper should not have been allowed to run down his deal.

“This has been badly managed by Manchester United, make no mistake about that, to allow a player of his quality not to extend a couple of years ago. He had those couple of dodgy seasons at the start when he was a young, inexperienced goalkeeper adapting to a new country, but under David Moyes he showed real promise,” he commented.

And he added: “The question has to be asked why wasn’t [his contract] extended in that period? To allow his contract to get to this situation is poor management. And now United are paying for it.”

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Real Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi is set to join Liverpool in a 20 million euro move to replace the outgoing Lucas Leiva, according to reports.

Media in the UK, including Metro and the Sunday Express, claim Los Blancos have decided to part company with Illarramendi after he failed to make the grade having arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu two years ago.

He was seen as the ideal replacement for the aging Xabi Alonso, but hasn’t had the impact many thought he would do. Although he made 41 appearances in total last season, most of them were from the bench.

This season, Illarramendi faces even more competition for a place in the midfield at the 10-time Champions League winners following the return of Brazilian Casemiro and the arrival of Lucas Vasquez and promotion of Alvaro Medran.

Liverpool have been linked with a move for the former Real Sociedad man all summer long and are believed to be willing to match Real’s asking price. Should the two clubs agree on the fee, it is thought there would be few issues for the player to sign, particularly as he would get regular first team football. Indeed, many commentators suggest he would be a direct replacement for Brazilian Lucas, who has spent nine years at Anfield but is set to leave before the end of the transfer window.

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Sevilla midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak is on Real Madrid radar, according to the latest reports from Spanish sports newspaper As.

Los Blancos are reportedly willing to reinforce their midfield, and given that William Carvalho’s price is too high, they have turned their attention to Krychowiak.

The Poland international completed a superb season at Sevilla, playing 48 games, scoring four goals and proving he is one of the most solid holding midfielders in Europe. He led the Andalusian side to their second consecutive Europa League title and impressed last week in the European Supercup against Barcelona.

The fact that his buy-out clause is only 30 million euros has aroused the interest of many European giants, including Arsenal and Manchester United.

Sevilla are not willing to let one of their key players leave just before the start of the season, but Real could convince them if they include Asier Illarramendi in the deal. The Basque midfielder has a very good reputation in Spain despite his two disappointing seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Krychowiak has recently fired his agent Cezary Kucharski and hired sports management company Stellar Group, where Gareth Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett works. This could facilitate his transfer to Real Madrid.

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Former Real Madrid Castilla manager Alberto Toril has praised Los Blancos decision to bring back youngster Denis Cheryshev and Lucas Vazquez, whom he coached years ago in the reserves team.

In an interview with Spanish sports newspaper As, Toril claimed “Cheryshev gives the team something it lacks in the wings, and both him and Lucas Vazquez will help a lot in that aspect of the game.”

“Cheryshev has benefit from his experience in La Liga. He has learned to solve difficult situations at maximum level, he has improved his pace… He has grown, and now he is more complete and reliable. He has proven he is ready to be part of the firs squad and that he can provide minutes of quality,” he added.

Toril believes keeping Cheryshev and Vazquez in the squad is a good decision: “At the end what you need is a good and deep squad. That is what makes you win titles. That came clear last season, when there were no rotations as players started to get injured. Now, Madrid’s squad is more competitive.”

Speaking of Lucas Vazquez, Toril explained “it took him more effort to stand out, but we always saw special things in him at Valdebebas. Some players mature a bit later, and he has managed to go to a big club like Espanyol and earn a move back to Madrid. Like Cheryshev, he is a winger that can contribute with his quality.”

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The latest Real Madrid transfer rumours include Betis having requested Lucas Vazquez’ loan, Sporting asking 45 million euros for William Carvalho and Martin Odegaard staying at the Santiago Bernabeu this season.

Radio Sevilla has claimed Betis have formally requested Real Madrid to send winger Lucas Vazquez on a one-year loan. The Spaniard moved back to Madrid from Espanyol this summer and Rafa Benitez is very please with his performances in the pre-season.

Vazquez will not have many minutes of play at Real since he’s got Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Jese Rodriguez ahead of him in the rotation, so many La Liga clubs are hoping Los Merengues decide to loan him. However, Benitez wants to keep him, and it is highly unlikely he will leave.

Carvalho too expensive
Madrid-based sports newspaper As has revealed Los Blancos target William Carvalho would cost 45 million euros. Portuguese side Sporting are asking for that ammount. Thus, Real will probably leave the race to sign the midfielder, since Florentino Perez believes that is an excesive price.

Los Merengues wanted to bring Carvalho next season to reinforce their midfield, since neither Asier Illarramendi nor Lucas Silva seem to have convinced Benitez.

Odegaard to stay at Real Madrid Castilla
Meanwhile, Real directors have finally convinced Norwegian pearl Martin Odegaard to stay at Los Blancos reserve team for one more season instead of leaving on loan.

Odegaard wanted to play at a first division club, but Los Blancos believed he wouldn’t get enough minutes of play if he left. Having Zinedine Zidane as a manager at Castilla, Odegaard will keep learning and improving his game at Real at least one more season.

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Real Madrid legend Manolo Sanchís has hit back at Gerard Pique after the Barcelona defender encouraged his team mates to wind up Madrid after winning the European Super Cup.

The Catalan side defeated Sevilla 5-4 in Tblisi to lift the trophy and while much of the attention on the evening was on the imminent sale of Pedro – who hit the winner – it later emerged that Pique had made some disparaging remarks while celebrating.

As the players walked around the field with the cup, video and audio footage showed the defender saying to his team mates: “Lets go lads, let’s celebrate it. F*** those from Madrid, let them see us celebrate.”

And taking to social media, Sanchis, who played 710 games for Madrid in a 15 year career, responded to Pique’s taunts.

He wrote on Twitter: “Just shows what a big club Real Madrid is when the occupy the thoughts of their rivals even when they are celebrating a victory.”

Pique has made it something of a habit to try and wind up Madrid fans when Barcelona win. At the end of last season, he thanked singer Kevin Roldan for his part in Barca’s ttle win. The artist had performed at Cristiano Ronaldo’s much criticised 30th birthday bash just hours after Los Blancos had lost 4-0 to Atletico in La Liga – a defeat seen as the moment the pendulum swung in Barcelona’s favour in the title race.

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Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed goalkeeper David de Gea doesn’t want to play for the club as the transfer saga continues.

De Gea has been linked with Real Madrid all summer long, but United want a world record fee for a goalkeeper, while Real aren’t willing to pay over the odds for a player they know they can sign on a free transfer in less than 12 months time.

The 24-year-old went on the pre-season tour with the Red Devils to the USA and has been named in their Champions League squad for the qualifiers against Club Brugge. But Dutchman van Gaal has said the goalkeeper won’t feature again for the Old Trafford side this weekend as he has told coaches he wants to leave.

Speaking at a press conference, van Gaal stated: “We talked with him and he fully agreed with our decision. I have one assistant coach and another assistant coach so we speak about that kind of thing together. We have a goalkeeping coach, Frans Hoek, and I’m not doing everything alone.

“Frans Hoek… he has a meeting with David de Gea and he asked him: ‘Do you want to play?’ [De Gea said “No”]. Then I have to take the decision. It is a process. We had been observing him in preparation, he was not so good, he was not the same David de Gea as before.”

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Barcelona boss Luis Enrique believes his Brazilian forward Neymar should be on the three-man shortlist for the UEFA Best Player in Europe award ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The governing body for football in Europe announced the final three for the award are the Los Blancos forward along with Barcelona pair Leo Messi and Luis Suarez. The winner will be announced on August 27 – the same day the draw is made for the group stage of this season’s Champions League.

Ronaldo hit 61 goals for his club last season – a career best. He is just 11 short of overhauling club legend Raul as Real’s leading scorer. Messi and Suarez, meanwhile, helped the Catalan side to the treble last season.

And speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Enrique questioned where Neymar was as he felt the Brazilian was as equally deserving in the place on the shortlist as his other two forwards.

“Who decided that Neymar isn’t one of the candidates for the Uefa trophy? I think it should be Neymar, Messi and Suarez, without a doubt,” he stated.

He went on to say that he feels his team is the best in Europe and they are aiming for the sextuple this season.

“The pre-season schedule was set up so we can be the best we can be. We have to be competitive from the start of the season and still be the team to beat. I would also say the same in Europe.

“The sextuple is a goal we have in mind and one that motivates us but we are focused on is winning the fifth title first – the sixth is still far away.”

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Keylor Navas should be the starting goalkeeper for Real Madrid according to more than half of the Madridista fanbase.

A new poll carried out by sports paper AS showed that 56% (24,454 votes) believe the Costa Rican should start ahead of Kiko Casilla, who recived 19, 477 votes – or 43%. The other 1% (490 votes) were for Ruben Yanez.

The goalkeeping situation at the the club has been in the press all summer following the departure of Iker Casillas which seemed to pave the way for the arrival of David de Gea from Manchester United.

With the Red Devils demanding a world record fee and Real unwilling to pay that knowing they can sign him on a free next summer, it looks like Navas will stay at the club rather than have to look for his football elsewhere.

The 28-year-old has impress in pre-season, conceding just twice in six games. One of those was a penalty against Manchester City, while he was also beaten by Robert Lewandowksi when Los Blancos player Bayern Munich.

Navas arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu last summer having impressed at Levante. He was named as the best keeper in La Liga in the 2013/14 campaign and went on to have an outstanding World Cup with his country.

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Real Madrid have shown an interest in signing Napoli left-back Faouzi Ghoulam, French journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi has revealed on Radio CRC.

The Algeria international is one of he most sought-after full-backs in Europe, as Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Arsenal are also interested in signing him.

Los Blancos know it is highly likely that Fabio Coentrao will leave the club before the end of the summer and they are seeking for a replacement.

Wolfsburg’s Ricardo Rodriguez is the first option, but Ghoulam is also a candidate who has impressed Rafa Benitez, who was his manager at Napoli last season.

Benitez has given the club good reports about the 24-year-old. However, they are considering at least four players for that position, as Mattia de Sciglio and Baba Rahman are also in the list.

Yet, should Coentrao leave, Madrid might not sign anyone at all, as Benitez is very pleased with Denis Cheryshev performances in the pre-season and he could choose to keep him in the squad and use him as a left-back despite the fact he is actually a winger.

Real directors met with Cheryshev earlier this week and told him they want him to stay this season despite both the club and the player had previously agreed he would leave on loan.

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