Real Madrid are reportedly readying some major spending in the transfer market as they eye the likes of Chelsea forward Eden Hazard and Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino.
According to Diario Gol, the Spanish giants have a number of targets in that area of the pitch, but those two are among the main names they’re looking at as they seek to spend around £265million in total on revamping their attack.
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Links with Chelsea’s Hazard make sense given the Belgium international’s precarious contract situation, with his current deal due to expire at the end of next season.
This significantly weakens Chelsea’s negotiating position, as it did when they ended up selling Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid last summer.
The 28-year-old attacker also seems an ideal replacement for Los Blancos to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo after his move to Juventus.
As for Firmino, the Brazil international has been another of the Premier League’s finest players in recent times and could be a fine upgrade on the over-the-hill Karim Benzema at the Bernabeu.
Liverpool, however, will surely do all they can to prevent the player’s exit as they finally look to be building a team that can compete for major honours and won’t want to continue their recent habit of having star names poached by Europe’s elite.
The Reds lost Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona last season and have also seen the likes of Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano snapped up in the last decade.
Real have a habit of getting the players they want, and embarked on a similar spending spree to rebuild their squad when they signed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Xabi Alonso all in one summer back in 2009.