With the vast majority of Europe’s clubs preparing for a mad market dash before Friday’s La Liga transfer deadline, Real Madrid and Zinedine Zidane can sit comfortably and enjoy a quiet end to the window knowing they have the near perfect squad.
There was much talk earlier in the summer about how Los Blancos would bide their time before making a late move to sign Kylian Mbappe and this was indeed the plan until Paris Saint-Germain’s interference took the deal into the realm of fiscal irresponsibility.
Ideally Florentino Perez would have secured the signature of France’s brightest young star even if that would have pushed Gareth Bale closer to Old Trafford than ever before. In any event that has not happened and with Mbappe set for the French capital, the Spanish giants are certainly not looking to complete any business before Friday.
The need to sign Mbappe was never actually too great, of course it would have been a fantastic move for the future but it wasn’t necessary.
Marco Asensio’s quite wonderful start to the season has made this perfectly clear with the 21-year-old’s form already beginning to push Bale out of the team anyway.
Positive summer
Financially speaking it has been a positive summer for Real Madrid with early sales having brought in significant finance.
Alvaro Morata departed for Chelsea in a deal that will reach £70 million whilst Danilo left for Manchester City for just under £30 million. In addition to these two bigger deals, Diego Llorente, Mariano and Burgui all left for Real Sociedad, Lyon and Deportivo Alaves for a combined £17 million.
James Rodriguez’s wages were taken on by Bayern Munich with the German club also paying a £4.5 million loan fee to Los Blancos. The option to make this deal permanent stands at £31 million so in that sense the summer’s business could become even more profitable.
The net spend at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu this summer has been exceedingly low following the aforementioned sales. Only two players have arrived to play for the first-team with Theo Hernandez and Dani Ceballos both joining for respective fees of £28 million and £15 million.
At 19 and 21 both players represent moves which safeguard the future fortunes of Real Madrid whilst also strengthening the current options Zidane has at his disposal.
The French coach made clear that he was happy with the summer business done by his club and would like the window to close without any further business completed.
“This is exactly the squad I want and I don’t want anything to change before August 31st,” he explained.
Stability over drama
Perez is a president who is renowned for his penchant for the dramatic. The Spanish construction mogul has spearheaded two ‘Galactico’ eras but in Zidane, he has finally found a coach who can manage and improve players without the need for signings.
It is clear that Perez would like to make moves with Mbappe and David de Gea believed to be two of his most sought after players yet Zidane simply doesn’t want them enough. The Frenchman is very loyal to Keylor Navas and it is also suggested he was uneasy about disrupting both the salary structure and squad balance by signing Monaco’s young forward.
For as long as the former Juventus midfielder is winning matches then Perez will allow him to get on with things and have a say in the club’s market operations, and in actual fact it is providing the club with their greatest period of stability this millennium.
There isn’t a team or squad in world football which comes close to that assembled in the Spanish capital at this moment and performances on the pitch illustrate that.
Still looking strong
No club has retained the Champions League in the modern era yet Los Blancos managed it without too much difficulty last season and you would be hard pushed to pick a team who could beat them in that competition this term.
Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Valencia was an anomalous result given the number of absentees for the hosts in both defence and attack. Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane were all missing which forced Zidane to use a central defensive pairing of Nacho and Casemiro.
When these players return it is clear that Real Madrid are easily the best team on the continent and you can’t really pick a single position which needs improving, especially not at this stage in the window when fees and actual value are the furthest possible distance apart.
Things are settled, so there’s no reason for panic
Dropping points will undoubtedly bother the French coach but there is no need to panic, the club has lost players and recruited well and still remain the best team in Europe.
There is a settled dressing room at Real Madrid and the club can enjoy a transfer deadline day where they have no need or desire to be the headline story.
Written by Chris Winterburn
Follow Chris on Twitter @cmwinterburn
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