As reported by AS, Real Madrid coach Jose
Mourinho's summer transfer budget to form his ideal team will be in
the €100 million range.
"I want three or four defensive-minded players but I want for us to
improve in attack," said the Special One in a recent interview with
the Spanish tabloid. And thus, Los Blancos are preparing to put the
wheels in motion to make Mourinho's requests a reality.
The three defensive-minded players the Portuguese coach has his eye
on are Inter's Maicon (right-back), Lazio's Aleksandar Kolarov
(left-back) and a midfielder (either Roma's Daniele De Rossi
or Liverpool's Steven Gerrard).
Negotiations for the Brazilian right-back have taken a favourable
turn in that the player has publicly declared his desire to play at
Real Madrid, effectively shutting Manchester City out of a swoop,
but Inter are insisting on a fee of €35m, while Madrid seem
unwilling to shell out more than €25m.
The same is the case for Kolarov, who Lazio price at €20m but
Madrid are insisting on paying only €15m for him. For either De
Rossi or Gerrard, Los Blancos are at liberty to pay €30m.
The only offensive player Mourinho is willing to shell out on is
Benfica's Angel Di Maria and in that case the two teams
are at an impasse; Madrid are unwilling to increase their offer
past €30m, while Benfica continue to demand €40m for the star
Argentine. Should Di Maria's transfer fail, Valencia's David Silva
has also been strongly tied to the Bernabeu.
Madrid could be convinced to include players in their respective
deals in cash plus player options and Royston Drenthe, Ezequiel
Garay and Marcos Alonso are just some of the names that have been
mentioned in reports.
Los Blancos are reportedy in no rush to make the signings should
teams be unwilling to negotiate this early in the summer. In fact,
Florentino Perez and co. are intent on waiting until August if
needs be to see the price of some of the players come
down.