Real Madrid appear doomed to failure in their pursuit of one Liverpool star, thanks in no small part to an €800m debt that the club have recently taken on.
The Daily Mail report Zinedine Zidane’s long-standing interest in lightning-quick attacker, Sadio Mane, but the Santiago Bernabeu upgrade, coming on the back of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, means that Los Blancos can no longer afford him.
A €575m loan was taken out last year by Real, per the Daily Mail, but this could rise to nearer €800m once interest is taken into account.
The loan is repayable over 30 years and whilst it could’ve been expected that naming rights will have covered much of that outlay, COVID-19 has appeared to put paid to that for now.
Zidane will therefore have to make do with the strikers he has in situ.
Karim Benzema has been in sensational form during 2019/20 and particularly since the return of La Liga after the lockdown, whilst Eden Hazard, Rodrygo Goes and Vinicius Jr. all need a little more time to settle.
With Mo Salah already committing his long-term future to Liverpool, per BeIN Sports official Twitter account and cited by the Daily Express, the news that Mane won’t be heading to Madrid anytime soon is sure to be a real boost for Jurgen Klopp and Co.