Real Madrid: Lopetegui's wait for a goalscorer goes on
After a slew of unveilings high on mouth but low on trousers, a disconcerting quiet has fallen over Real Madrid once more. The fans continue to wonder who will fill the 'galáctico' void left by Cristiano Ronaldo, and the answer continues to be: no-one. Neymar and Kylian Mbappé are off limits for Real president Florentino Pérez. His deference to the emir of Qatar has led him to brusquely deny any reports of negotiations. And other than those two, there are no more superstars out there, save, of course, for Leo Messi, who doesn't count. With no such signing on the cards, the fans do at least expect a top-quality goalscorer, or a big name elsewhere in the attack, to come in; but other than Thibaut Courtois, who's a first-rate keeper but would basically be fixing something that ain't broken, nothing looks to be in the offing.
Hazard too expensive, search for marksman proving fruitless
Because it turns out that Eden Hazard, one of the World Cup's stand-out performers, is being priced out of the market: Chelsea want 200m euros. And in what sounds rather like sour grapes, Real are now letting it be known that Julen Lopetegui didn't want him anyway; he'd rather place his faith in Isco and Marco Asensio - who, as he showed in his stint as Spain boss, are players he likes - and is also ready to give more game time to Dani Ceballos, who Zinedine Zidane wasn't keen on. As for signing a striker: Spurs are about to move into a new stadium and are in no mood to let Harry Kane go; Robert Lewandowski wants to come, but Bayern won't listen to offers; and Edinson Cavani is not shying away from Real's interest, either, but is another one who's at PSG, so Pérez appears reluctant to go there.
With every name linked, we're further from aim of replacing Cristiano
All of which means there's a sense of unease among Real's fans. Having got so used to Pérez's triumphant summer unveilings, nobody is resigning themselves to nothing happening just yet. There's even talk of Valencia's Rodrigo Moreno, another player admired by Lopetegui; however, with each name linked to Real, we're drifting further and further from the initial aim: to offset losing Cristiano, who took 50 goals a season with him when he left, not to mention his immense impact on the marketing side of things. The notion that Pérez let him go because he already had someone else (i.e. Neymar or Mbappé) lined up looks flimsier by the day. The summer is far from over, but as things stand Lopetegui has been left making plans to firm up the defence. That's never a bad idea, but it hardly sets pulses racing.