Milan Skriniar's agent: "Real Madrid want to sign him"
According to Mithat Halis, the Slovenian central defender is on Real Madrid's list of priorities for next season - he is also on Barcelona's wants list.
Mithat Halis, one of the partners at Star&Friends agency which represents Inter Milan centre-back Milan Skriniar (24 años), has revealed in an interview with AS that Real Madrid are among several big clubs who have stated an interest in the player. Halis confirmed that Madrid's idea is to sign the 24-year-old Slovenia international this summer: "Real Madrid want to sign him, so do Barcelona; whoever can convince Inter to let him go will sign him this summer. Skriniar is a model professional. If Real Madrid want him, they could get him but there are other agents who have a vested interest in taking players where they want". The doubts over whether Raphaël Varane will continue at the Bernabéu, as revealed by L'Équipe this week, would oblige Madrid to forge ahead with the operation.
Halis explained the difficulties Madrid and other clubs would face in trying to land Skriniar: "Mino Raiola, who represents Ibrahimovic and Pogba, might try to mislead Skriniar, but the player is on the books at our company - we have a contract with him. Inter paid Sampdoria 28 million euros for Skriniar and six months later, Manchester City came in with an offer of 55 million. Now he is valued at around 100 million. Any deal would certainly be complicated by the interference of intermediaries".
Ozan Kabak not on Real Madrid's list of candidates
Mithat Halis, who has known Stuttgart's centre-back Ozan Kabak since he started out in the game, stated that now is not the right moment for the Turkish teenager to make the giant leap of joining a big club like Real Madrid: "Ozan Kabak is an exceptional talent, but he's not eady to join a top level club like Real Madrid. At the moment he is not on Madrid's list of candidates. He needs to get a few seasons under his belt and improve his game at Stuttgart before he goes anywhere else. There are a lot of steps he must go for before being in a position to join a side like Madrid".