The Real Madrid Galacticos might just be back. After revamping the midfield last year with Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, the backline has already had its average age reduced with Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao replacing Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane.
Ferland Mendy is the younger version of Marcelo and the Brazilian stars of Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr - albeit not true Galactico style - have given fresh legs to the attack. The centre of the park is set for a big boost as well when Jude Bellingham signs for an expected monster sum.
He is the latest in a line of younger stars that are rocking the world game. It is still a big-name buy and indicates that Florentino Perez is on the charge. With this in mind even replacing 35-year-old Karim Benzema with Harry Kane would be a sizeable age drop. The Tottenham man is one of the main priorities left to fill the now-vacant starting spot for Los Blancos.
With just over 12 months left on his contract Madrid have the chance to hold their nerve and try to pick him up for free next summer. That could leave them at the mercy of Manchester United and Chelsea, though, who are both watching Kane with interest.
Dealing with Daniel Levy is the big challenge here but the Spurs chairman may have to pick between letting him go now for big-bucks or for free next year. That decision may well have just been made for Madrid, however. With Kylian Mbappe signalling his intentions to not remain beyond his 2024 contract expiry at PSG, the 14-time European champions are on alert.
They have long been after Mbappe and have dreams of combining him with Erling Haaland as one of the most incredible strike partnerships ever. Whether they can afford him and Bellingham is another question, what appears out of the equation is collecting both and Kane at the same time.
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Meanwhile, it could see an end to their interest in Kai Havertz. The 24-year-old was reportedly one of their targets for the summer but with Chelsea demanding above £60m for the German, there are other options also available. Whilst Chelsea see a future in which new manager Mauricio Pochettino gets the best out of Havertz, they are also open to the reality that he leaves having not cracked English football.
Havertz has only scored 19 goals in two league seasons, showing only glimpses of his true quality. His performances in Europe and when partnered with an ideal forward in a specific system have seen him flourish, however. It is this, and his age, that make him an attractive buy.
Madrid were amongst those interested in him during the summer of 2020 when Chelsea pushed ahead to sign him as the Covid-19 pandemic restricted most clubs to lesser spending. With the Blues now forced to consider offers for almost all of their stars due to financial needs and the demand of cutting the squad back heavily for Pochettino, Madrid's interest came at a good time.
Now Mbappe is seemingly on the market, it gives Chelsea a dilemma. On the one hand, they would like to sign Mbappe themselves, as unlikely as that sounds. They would also like an easier run at Kane. Should Madrid go out and spend large on PSG's prize asset then Kane would be available. Should they not then Mbappe might be.
However, both realities would see an end put to Havertz's departure and therefore block the incoming funds required to sanction such a big and unexpected transfer be it for Kane or Mbappe.
Whilst the future of each of the trio is uncertain, Chelsea are set to be sniffing around and at the centre of it no matter what.
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