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Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea have made an offer to bring Sami Khedira and Alvaro Morata to Stamford Bridge for 48 million euros, according to German website Sueddeutsche.

The Portuguese coach is looking for a central midfielder and his first choice would be the German international, although reports have told he could also be interested in signing Xabi Alonso.

Youngster Morata is also desired by a number of European clubs. Tottenham Hotspur want Real Madrid to include him as part of Gareth Bale’s deal, and now Chelsea has reportedly joined the fight.

However, with the season to start in just one week, none of the two players seem likely to leave. Carlo Ancelotti has already declared he counts on Khedira, while Morata is the only pure striker in the squad apart from Karim Benzema.

According to Sueddeutsche, Mourinho hopes that his good relationship with Florentino Perez helps him bring any of his former players to London.

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Florentino Perez, Real Madrid president

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has admitted the 100 million euros Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly asking for Gareth Bale is “a lot of money”.

Perez suggested that Los Blancos might be trying to lower the Welshman’s price, although he refused to give any details about the negotiations:

We don’t usually talk about players out of respect to the player, the club and their chairman, with whom I enjoy a good friendship after signing Luka Modric last season.

“I don’t talk about transfer fees either. However, of course, 100 million euros seems like a lot of money. But I shouldn’t and I cannot talk about players or money”.

Perez also spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract renewal: “We are all convinced he is going to end his career at Real Madrid”.

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Real Madrid’s French defender Raphael Varane is in talks with the club about signing a new long-term deal, it is understood.

The 20-year-old, who was signed from Lens two years ago, broke into the first team last season under former boss Jose Mourinho.

The youngster’s impressive form saw him overtake Pepe in the pecking order at the Santiago Bernabeu, but a knee injury saw him miss the run-in and the crucial period of the season when Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League and then went on to lose the Copa del Rey final.

According to French paper L’Equipe, Varane will put pen-to-paper on a deal lasting until 2019, and receive a significant pay increase.

His current contract still have four more years to run.

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Madrid sports newspapers put their focus on Real Madrid players “revenge” on Jose Mourinho after Los Blancos 3-1 victory over Chelsea.

“Ronaldo and Casillas took their revenge”, titles As. “The Portuguese scored two goals and the goalkeeper had a very good performance”, they add.

Marca highlights that Xabi Alonso and Fabio Coentrao were the only players who greeted Mourinho. “Part of the crowd jeered him”, they report.

Both newspapers also publish the latest news on Gareth Bale. As reports Florentino Perez declared “100 million euros are too much for anything”.

Meanwhile, Marca states Tottenham owner Daniel Levy is ready to pressure Real until the transfer market deadline in order to obtain higher profit from the Welshman.

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Liverpool, Chelsea and Juventus are interested in signing Real Madrid centre-half Xabi Alonso, according to reports.

The 31-year-old is entering the final year of his contract with Los Blancos and, although Real have offered him a one year extension, he is yet to sign it.

Sources have told the Basque midfielder could be set to pack his bags to finish his career in the Premier League, but Italian website Tuttosport states Juventus are willing to make a big offer to bring Alonso as Andrea Pirlo’s substitute.

However, the Daily Express claims that Liverpool and Chelsea are keen on fighting for Alonso’s signing.

Liverpool fans would love to see the centre-half back in Anfield, but the club would struggle to match any offer from Chelsea and Juventus. Furthermore, they can’t offer Champions League football.

Reports have told Jose Mourinho is also keen on bringing Alonso to England, since he is looking for a central midfielder. Alonso was one of the few players that shook hands with the Portuguese at Real Madrid’s victory over Chelsea. Plus, moving to London would be the most lucrative option for the Spaniard.

However, Alonso has admitted in several occasions he is happy at Santiago Bernabeu and Spanish press claims he is close to accepting Real’s contract extension offer.

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The latest Real Madrid transfer rumours point to Los Blancos pursuing young Croatian prodigy Alen Halilovic signing next season.

The 17-year-old’s contract expires on June 2014 and Los Merengues have been reported to be considering bringing the young playmaker to Santiago Bernabeu for free.

Halilovic is one of the most talented and promising under-18 in Europe and several Premier League sides have already shown an interest in signing him, such as Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan have also been linked to the Croatian.

Dinamo Zagreb are expected to offer Halilovic a high increase in order to secure his contract renewal.

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Wales manager Chris Coleman has backed Gareth Bale to be a success in La Liga should he complete a move to Real Madrid.

The former Real Sociedad boss said the Tottenham Hotspur winger would enjoy the slower pace of the Spanish league and added a move to Los Blancos would also be a help for Wales too as Bale would be fresher towards the end of the season.

Coleman has picked Bale in his squad for next week’s friendly against the Republic of Ireland – despite the fact that Spurs say the £100 million-rated attacker is injured.

Speaking to the press ahead of the match, Coleman said Bale would benefit from the slower pace of games in La Liga.

“I have worked in La Liga when I was at Real Sociedad and the tempo is much slower, the game is less physical,” he stated.

He added: “It means when it comes towards the second half of the season, when you get to the international double headers in February and March, players from that league are fresher. That could be a plus for us.

“Whatever Gareth does decide it will be what is best for him, and Tottenham will do the best for them.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo responded in the best way possible to former boss Jose Mourinho’s criticism of him by scoring a brace as Real Madrid defeated Chelsea 3-1 in the Guinness International Challenge Cup.

The former Los Blancos manager had earlier this week angered many with his comments about working with the ‘real Ronaldo, not Cristiano Ronaldo’ when referring to his time as an assistant at Barcelona.

But the Portuguese boss was silenced at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami as his new side succumbed to defeat.

Brazilian left back Marcelo gave Los Blancos the lead after 14 minutes with a sweet strike from the edge of the box. The London side were level inside two minutes though when Ramires responded.

From then on the match turned into the Ronaldo show, with the 28-year-old showing everyone just why he is considered by many to be the best player on the planet.

His first goal, on the half hour mark, was a trademark free kick, and he ensured Real would be crowned champions of the inaugural Guinness Cup when he converted Isco’s cross 12 minutes from time.

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Spanish sports newspaper As publishes today in its front page a poll in which 54 per cent of Real Madrid fans answered they would pay between 60 and 70 million euros for Gareth Bale.

Only 7.1 per cent would approve a 120 million offer, the amount Real is expected to offer. 19.3 per cent would reach 90 million, 6.2 per cent would go with no more than 100 million and only 1.3 would offer between 100 and 110 million.

The Madrid daily publishes Florentino Perez will meet Tottenham Hotspur owner Daniel Levy today in Miami to negotiate the transfer.

Marca claims Perez and Levy will meet twice, in order to close the transfer as soon as possible. “Real wants to close the deal now and unveil Bale next week”, they state.

The most sold Spanish newspaper also publishes an interview with former Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos, who said “Gareth will have no problem in adapting to Madrid”.

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Real Madrid have rejected Levante’s offer to sign youngster Denis Cheryshev on loan, according to Spanish sports newspaper Superdeporte.

Valencian club are willing to sign a left-winger and have asked Los Blancos directors about the Russian midfielder, but Real has told Levante Cheryshev is staying in their squad as Carlo Ancelotti is very happy with him.

The new Los Merengues manager thinks Cheryshev could be the perfect replacement for Marcelo in the left-back, supposing Fabio Coentrao leaves before the transfer deadline.

Cheryshev has recently signed a new four-year deal with Real Madrid and he was expected to leave on loan this season to a Bundesliga side.

However, the youngster’s good performance during the pre-season has convinced Ancelotti to keep him in this year’s squad at least until January, when Real could seek a way out for the Russian in case he is not playing regularly.

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