Real Madrid are reportedly eager to axe Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Mariano Diaz this summer in order to shave off a significant portion of their wage bill.
As with most clubs across Europe this summer, it’s expected that spending could be limited due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
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From the lockdown which is set to end after over two months, to games having to be played behind closed doors for the foreseeable future, clubs have taken a major hit to their revenue.
In turn, perhaps in order to financially justify any big spending this summer, they will need to balance that with sales, and Real Madrid are said to have clear ideas over who they wish to move on.
According to AS, one of their ‘main objectives’ is to offload Bale, Rodriguez and Mariano, as that would take €54m off the wage bill, while it’s suggested that Alvaro Odriozola, Lucas Vazquez, Nacho and Sergio Reguilon are all options facing the axe too.
That in turn could help not only to balance the books, but to also set the Spanish giants up to conduct their own transfer activity and bring in reinforcements both in the short term and long term, but that is surely easier said than done.
It’s noted that Bale earns €29m-a-year gross alone with his current contract running until 2022, and so it has to be questioned as to how much interest there will be in the Welshman given clubs are surely going to struggle to pay him that kind of money.
Perhaps Rodriguez and Mariano have more of a market along with the quartet named above, and so time will tell just how many exits materialise this summer in order to give Real Madrid more financial flexibility to make their own signings with Eduardo Camavinga, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland specifically mentioned as targets between now and 2022 by AS.
Meanwhile, with the La Liga season set to restart next weekend, Zinedine Zidane and Co. will have more immediate concerns on their mind as they look to leapfrog rivals Barcelona at the top of the table as they currently trail them by two points with 11 games to go.