Los Blancos surprisingly waved goodbye to Karim Benzema a year before the end of his contract this summer, as the Ballon d’Or winner was seduced by the riches of Al-Ittihad.
In response, Carlo Ancelotti gave the green light to a loan deal for Espanyol striker and ex-Newcastle United man Joselu, who has a respectable five goals and two assists to show from his first 11 appearances for the club.
A change of shape has often seen Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo play in tandem up front, but the latter – a winger by trade – has admitted that he is struggling to adapt to his coach’s new demands.
Thankfully for the Brazilian, Jude Bellingham – who is normally deployed as the most advanced midfielder in Ancelotti’s shape – has been on fire since joining from Borussia Dortmund, scoring a remarkable 13 goals from as many matches.
The England international – who is the favourite to win this year’s Golden Boy award – moved onto 10 La Liga goals for the season with a brace in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Barcelona in El Clasico, cancelling out Ilkay Gundogan’s opener with a long-range rocket and injury-time winner.
Bellingham sits three goals clear of Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann at the top of the La Liga scoring charts, but despite his exceptional feats, Real are preparing to spend big on a new striker in 2024.
According to Spanish outlet El Chiringuito – via 90min – Real Madrid chiefs are not giving up hope of luring both Mbappe and Haaland to the Bernabeu, albeit not at the same time.
Real’s interest in Paris Saint-Germain striker Mbappe has been well-documented for years, as the La Liga giants tried to lure him away from the French capital with a last-minute £171.7m bid on deadline day in the summer 2021 window.
All the signs pointed towards Mbappe joining Real on a free transfer in 2022, but he snubbed Los Blancos to pen a new two-year contract with PSG, which expires at the end of the current campaign.
Mbappe’s contract with the French champions includes a one-year extension option, but the 24-year-old created a storm over the summer after it was revealed that he had no intention of triggering that clause.
As such, Real Madrid desperately tried to sell Mbappe and accepted a world-record bid from Al-Hilal worth around £259m, but the ex-Monaco starlet has affirmed on many occasions that he wishes to see out his contract at the Parc des Princes.
Mbappe was exiled from the first team over his transfer stance before being re-integrated, but as things stand, the World Cup winner will be free to join Real Madrid for nothing ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Meanwhile, Haaland penned a five-year deal upon his arrival at Manchester City last summer, but those terms included a £150m release clause which would have allowed him to depart for that fee in 2024.
However, Pep Guardiola’s contract extension has rendered that option null and void, and it is unknown whether any other clauses exist in Haaland’s deal or could be included in any future renewals.
