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Keylor Navas is training with the rest of the team at UCLA, preparing the new season with Antonio Pintus, the physical trainer. The team is working very hard to arrive at the start of the season ready to achieve all the goals. The Costa Rican goalkeeper will defend Real Madrid goal one season more, apparently, and he wants to continue winning titles for Los Blancos.

The Costa Rican goalkeeper is very happy to train with the rest of the team one season more: “We are preparing ourselves at 100% and we are very happy for training every day and give all our effort. We are in the good way”, Keylor said to Real Madrid TV.

Keylor Navas spoke about the work they’re doing these days at the University of California. “We are doing a tough work because it’s the time where we can work all the aspects: charge, speed, work with different weights, jumps, hurdles, technique with the ball, aerial game. We try to work everything so when the season starts we’re at 100%”, the Costa Rican player explained.

The goalkeeper informed that they will repeat the process after the Winter holidays: “In December, after the holidays, another work plan is done. We put more charge, so we can arrive at the end of the season like the last one, where we had a great physical conditions”.

After this work, the idea is lifting many trophies, as they did last year. Keylor Navas wanted to explain the key factor to be successful in the next season: “We have to have the same humbleness we had until now. The team has conditions to achieve more titles and we’re going to fight for that. But we need to have humbleness and knowing that little by little we can improve to arrive until the end and obtain all the titles”, Keylor commented.

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Danilo-Real Madrid-GI

Danilo is receiving many offers this summer and he’s an unexpected protagonist of the transfer market. We all think the Brazilian player wanted to continue at Real Madrid, but his future is far from the Spanish capital at the moment and closer to the Premier League.

The deal with Chelsea seemed very close to be sealed but Manchester City have entered in the fight for the defender, according to the British newspaper The Times. The signing of Kyler Walker last week, another right back, didn’t avoid the interest for the Real Madrid player. Actually, the ‘citizens’ are able to offer up to €35M, the price Real Madrid would like to receive for the defender.

Juventus moved quickly in the market and they were the first club to be interested in the right back after Dani Alves’ departure. However, the ‘Old Lady’ didn’t offer money Real Madrid wanted, so the bid was rejected. Some days later, Chelsea entered in the auction because Antonio Conte wants to sign another right back to replace Victor Moses.

Now, both Premier League giants will fight for Danilo, who is training with the rest of the team in Los Angeles. At the moment, the Brazilian player is focused on the team, but he knows that his next destination could be outside Madrid. The defender understands that Daniel Carvajal is the owner of the right back, so he has to find another club to enjoy more minutes and play the next Russian World Cup.

The problem is that Real Madrid have set a very high price on Danilo. Los Blancos paid around €30M to Porto two seasons ago and they want this money back. The issue is that the Brazilian player didn’t enjoy many minutes these seasons and his performances were quite poor, so his value in the market dropped. The good news are that Premier League teams have a lot of money to offer, so they might find the buyer in the British islands this summer.

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Álvaro Morata continues with his idea of leaving Real Madrid. The Manchester United deal couldn’t be sealed because Real Madrid demanded up to €90M for the forward, but now it’s Milan the team that wants to sign the Spaniard.

The striker had to travel with Real Madrid to California to start the pre-season but he doesn’t want to stay in the club one more year. He’s very disappointed after the last season, where he had to sit on the bench in all the important games of the season. For this reason, he’s looking for an exit this summer.

It looked like Manchester was his destination and even José Mourinho tried to convince him, but Real Madrid shut the door. Los Blancos asked for €90M and the Red Devils finally decided to sign Romelu Lukaku. Now Morata has other options on the table: Chelsea or Milan.

Milan tried to sign him at the beginning of the summer, but the Italian club didn’t show a high offer and the project wasn’t really appealing for Álvaro Morata. The ‘rossoneri’ won’t play the Champions League next season and some of the stars were about to leave the club, like Gigi Donnarumma. However, things changed in this two months.

Donnarumma is staying and the club has spent more than €200M in signings. For instance, last week they got Leonardo Bonucci, the defender from Juventus. The new Chinese owners are investing a lot of money in building a new successful squad and Álvaro Morata is the next target.

According to the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, “Morata is closer”. The Italian club would pay around €70M to Real Madrid and Morata would have a salary of €10M per year. The club would accept this offer to make the player happy.

These days we can see Álvaro Morata training with the rest of the team, but he’s more serious than his team-mates. His idea of leaving the club hasn’t changed and he hopes to find a solution sooner than later.

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Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale is training with Real Madrid at UCLA, the University of California, only 200 metres away from José Mourinho and Manchester United. The rumours always link the Welshman with the Red Devils but he has not intention of leaving the Spanish capital.

Bale spoke with the Spanish newspaper MARCA about his situation at the club and the rumours about a transfer to Manchester United: “I don’t read anything about this. Obviously, I’m a British player and I’m always linked with a return home. It happened with Beckham and other English players who came to Spain. Nothing new. I’m happy playing at Real Madrid. Obviously the interest is the interest, but if there isn’t anything concrete, an offer, there is anything to discuss”.

It was a very difficult season for Bale because of the injury problems, but he never thought about leaving the club: “Everything was complicated because of the injury, but nothing else. I can still play football very well. When I’m at the maximum, I’ll give everything again. I signed a long contract with Real Madrid and I’m happy at this club. I’m sure it will be a great season. This is my plan, score goals here”.

Now, the Welshman is focused on training and preparing the new season: “Making a good pre-season and starting at the 100% with the team. When I came back last season from an injury I was at 50%. I tried to improve but my ankle didn’t allow me so. My goal is getting fit and continue playing with Real Madrid”.

Gareth Bale has more competitors in his position, so it won’t be easy to be always in the line-up: “It’s possible, but this is why I’m here, in the best team of the world, to win all the possible trophies. We all want to play and we all work hard to win the place, but we are not eleven players. Zidane wants to continue rotating and there will be options for everybody. I think the most important thing is thinking we all win. I think in the past seasons we went well in La Liga or the Champions, but in the last one we won both because of the rotations. It gave us freshness, it’s a great methodology because the players have time to recover. It’s good because now we all have to give something in football”.

One of the players who can be in the line-up is Marco Asensio, who also plays in the same position in the pitch. Bale was no surprise by his performances: “No, he’s doing great, in the games and in the training sessions. He had brilliant moment last season and he’s a great player. I hope he continues in the same line this year. It’s normal having good players at Real Madrid”.

Finally, he spoke about his feelings after winning the Champions League in his home town, Cardiff: “To be honest, six weeks before the final I worked hard to arrive fit, so being on the bench was very gratifying, because if I wouldn’t do this job, I wouldn’t be there. I worked hard, 12 hours a day, to be available in the final, so I could have the ankle well. Enjoying these minutes were very gratifying. Holding the cup in front of my family and friends was amazing”.

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Real Madrid officially announced the signing of Dani Ceballos on Friday for €16.5M. The midfielder signed a six-year contract with Los Blancos and will be unveiled on the 20th of July, one day before travelling to the United States to join the rest of the team. Now we have to ask ourselves, is it a good signing? Will he be successful at Real Madrid? Does he have space in the team?

Dani Ceballos is only 20 years old but he made his debut in La Liga in the season in 2014. However, in the last two season, when Betis were promoted, he played an important role in the team, especially in the last stage with Víctor Sánchez del Amo on the bench. He played 30 games last season, scoring 2 goals.

For this reason and after a superb U-21 European Championship, Real Madrid decided to sign him. At the beginning, it was thought that Los Blancos could give him on loan one year at Betis, so he gains experience, but Barcelona’s threat to steal the player convince Real Madrid bosses to bring to the Spanish capital as soon as possible.

However, we have our doubts that there is space for him. James Rodríguez left the club and join Bayern Munich, leaving some space in the midfield, but Dani Ceballos plays more as a midfielder, in Kroos or Modric positions. Taking in consideration that these players are still untouchable, he’ll have to fight with Kovacic, Marcos Llorente or even Isco for a spot in the line-up.

Mateo Kovacic is only 23 years old and he’s shown in these two seasons that he’s very reliable. He replaced Casemiro successfully and he can played in a more offensive role as well. Besides, Marcos Llorente came back after a great season on loan at Alavés and he’s expected to be Casemiro’s replacement. Therefore, Kovacic would fight directly with Ceballos for a place in the line-up.

It would be a mistake letting go Kovacic, even if the Croatian footballer receives many offers from Italy. Zinedine Zidane should rely on him and give him many minutes, so he can continue developing his skills at Real Madrid. For this reason, we aren’t sure if Ceballos would have the space to play with Los Blancos.

Four years ago, in 2013, we saw how Los Blancos signed Asier Illarramendi for €30M from Real Sociedad. Only two years later he left the club because of his poor performances. Hopefully we are wrong, but there are similarities between these two players. Do you think Dani Ceballos is a good signing? Will he succeed at Real Madrid?

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Toni Kroos is one of the best signings in the last years. He arrived in 2014 for only €25M and since his arrival he’s been an essential part of the team. This year was no exception and the German midfielder contributed a lot to the four titles conquered during the year. He’s a key part of Zinedine Zidane’s team and, hopefully, he’ll continue showing his skills in the upcoming season.

In this season, Toni Kroos played less games than in the precedent years. Following his policy about rotations, Zidane didn’t include the midfielder in many games in La Liga, giving him some rest to the last games of the season. It was a correct decision because he played great in the key games, for example against Bayern Munich or in the Champions League final.

Toni Kroos played only 29 games this season in La Liga, scoring three goals, two against Celta Vigo and the last one against Sevilla. Two of these goals arrived in the key games at the end of the season. The lower amount of games contrast with his first season in the Spanish capital, when he played 36 games in La Liga with Ancelotti on the bench. Besides, he was able to score a very important goal against Napoli in the Last 16 Round at the Champions League.

Luckily for him, he doesn’t suffer many injuries during the season. Last year he was out one month, in November, when he broke a toe. He missed some important games like the derby at Vicente Calderón, but Isco or Kovacic could play perfectly in the midfield.

Kroos and Modric are one of the best couple in the world for the midfield. Both are able to cover the widest part of the pitch, with a lot of physical effort and a great pace. Kroos can highlight both in defense and in the offensive part of the pitch, so he is a very complete player to have in the squad.

Toni Kroos is only 27 years old and we expect him to be a key part of the team in the following seasons. The German midfielder is very happy in the Spanish capital and hopefully he can live another successful season, keeping an eye to the World Cup. At least, he could rest this summer because Joachim Low didn’t include him in the list for playing the Confederations Cup in Russia.

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UCLA-GI

Real Madrid arrived on Tuesday evening to Los Angeles to start a very hard pre-season to achieve the new challenges for the next season 2017/18. Now it’s Antonio Pintus time, the physical coach, to prepare the players physically for the tough games they have to face.

Los Blancos will train two weeks at UCLA, the University of California, from the 12th of July until the 26th of July, playing a game in between against Manchester United at Santa Clara. They will fly back to LA to face Manchester City before moving out to Miami. But why Real Madrid chose United States to prepare the new season?

The thing is that Los Blancos have chosen 11 times in this century to go to the United States. The first one was in 2002, with Los Galácticos, calling all the attention, including Figo, Raúl or Zinedine Zidane. With Florentino Pérez as a president in this second stage, the team came there three times with José Mourinho, twice with Carlo Ancelotti and now with Zinedine Zidane.

The team will train in the North Athletic Field, very close to José Mourinho and his Manchester United, who also chose UCLA to prepare the season. Los Blancos will rest in the Beverly Hotel and will move to the training ground daily for the tough sessions. Last year, the went on a tour around Canadá, Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey. In the season 2014-15, they went to Australia and China, although they ended up in the States again.

Apart from the physical training, money is very important nowadays. Real Madrid have a huge market to explore at the States and this is the main reason of his trip to America. They are going to play again the International Champions Cup and El Clásico against FC Barcelona in Miami have raised the attention of the public and the media in America.

Before, they used to go to the Alps in Austria to escape from the heat and move to the calm and the cold to prepare the season. However, this is no longer possible and the attention of the media in the States are unavoidable. They will have many marketing promotions and the media could see their training sessions at UCLA. Another kind of pre-season for the most powerful club in the world.

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Real Madrid supporters can easily discussed if James Rodríguez deal with Bayern Munich was satisfactory for Los Blancos. The Colombian playmaker left on loan the club for the next two seasons, where Bayern will pay €5M to the Spanish club. After these two years they will decide whether to sign him or not. Obviously, the Bavarian club will pay his salary.

Los Blancos paid €80M to Monaco only three years ago for James Rodríguez, so there are a lot of people questioning his departure and the deal with Bayern Munich, a rival in the Champions League. Is this a good operation? Was James Rodríguez successful at Real Madrid?

The truth is that James Rodríguez is the third most expensive purchase in Real Madrid history, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. His first season was superb, scoring 17 goals and giving 18 assist with Carlo Ancelotti, although the club didn’t win any big title.

His protagonism went down with Rafa Benítez and he disappeared with Zinedine Zidane. In his second season he scored 8 goals and gave 10 assists, whereas in the last one he saw 11 times the net and gave 13 assists. He won two Champions League, although he didn’t play any minute in both finals.

With these numbers, we can’t say that James Rodríguez was a blow for Los Blancos, but we can expect something else for a €80M footballer. He was accused of partying in the dangerous Madrid night life and he was also chased by the police for exceeding the speed limits. These problems outside the pitch could have affected him on the ground.

However, when he was at his top, James showed he could make the difference. The Colombian playmaker scored great crackers in these three years and he still has a great potential. For this reason, this sale to a European rival could and should be questionable for Florentino Pérez.

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In a very successful season for Real Madrid, we can all agree that Luka Modric was one of the key points to win the four titles conquered. However, he had again some muscular problems that prevented him to play better and he showed poor performances during the season. Overall, we can say that Modric is still one of the best midfielders of the world.

In our analysis of the season just ended, it’s now turn for Luka Modric. The Croatian midfielder is already 31 years old and we can feel that he’s one of the oldest players of the squad. He has still a great level and no one can doubt about his quality, but this year he played less games and he showed some problems during February and March. However, he was able to arrive at a great level in the most important time of the year.

Talking about the numbers, Modric played 25 games this season in La Liga, seven less than the previous year. Besides, he only scored one goal in La Liga and no goals in the Champions League. However, he was present in all seven games in the knock-out stage of the European competition, being one of the best players of the team.

Zinedine Zidane knows about Modric physical problems, so he’s given the Croatian midfielder a lot of rest during the season. Matteo Kovacic can replace him successfully, but also Isco Alarcón or James Rodríguez could play in his position. Now, even Dani Ceballos, recently signed by Los Blancos, can replace him with guarantees.

Last year he suffered from a knee injury in October and then he had hamstring in January, two injuries that kept him away of the pitches. We expect him to be again one of the most important players of the squad and particularly important in the big games. But we should be use to see him resting much more, as his position requires a lot of physical effort and he’s getting old.

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Gerard Piqué and FC Barcelona are back to work with Ernesto Valverde as the new boss. The Blaugranas are looking forward to starting a new season trying to beat Real Madrid, the great champions last season. Piqué was asked about Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid in his tour in Japan and he answered some interesting things.

First of all, Piqué was asked about the Golden Ball and who deserved this. No one doubts that the trophy will go to Cristiano Ronaldo, who did a great Champions League scoring in all important games: “Cristiano Ronaldo won the Champions League and La Liga, so he’s the favourite. Messi is considered the best player of the history and then there are other options. We’ll see”, the captain admitted.

Piqué also spoke about the great rivalry between these two giants: “The rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona is great. Ramos defends Real Madrid and I do with Barcelona, so when we face each other we try to defend our colours. When we go with the national team, we fight together”, the defender explained about his relationship with Sergio Ramos.

Piqué also criticized a lot their behaviour in the last season: “We haven’t met the expectations. We wanted to win all the trophies possible, but sometimes you cannot do it. We have to make an extra effort this season, new players came in and we are hopeful. We cannot know what happened last season. We cannot name a coach or a player. It’s a mixture of everything. Sometimes it’s about training more or less, the luck, the injuries… different circumstances along a year”, Piqué said in the interview.

We are about to start a new season and we’ll see more Clásicos than ever. Just in the pre-season tour in the United States, Real Madrid and Barcelona will meet on the 29th of July at Miami. Then, both clubs will play the Spanish Supercup the 13th of August at Camp Nou and 16th of August at Santiago Bernabéu. Then, obviously, we’ll have to wait to see their clashes in La Liga and, perhaps, in Copa del Rey and Champions League.

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