Central midfield will be a major area of focus for Real Madrid over the next couple of seasons, beginning with this summer’s transfer window.
Real Madrid are hoping to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund. Personal terms have reportedly been agreed, with the final hurdle being a fee agreement with the Bundesliga side. However, that is not expected to be too much of a problem.
Bellingham would join a midfield featuring young and old players, and he will likely become one of the regular starters, with Toni Kroos or Luka Modric playing more of a squad role. Both veterans are out of contract this summer, but are reported to have signed one-year extensions.
Dani Ceballos is also out of contract at the end of the summer, and his future appears to be much less secure. He has impressed when called upon this season, but with Bellingham set to join, as well as rumours of interest in Gabri Veiga, it remains to be seen what comes of Ceballos over the next few weeks.
Real Madrid could add another midfielder alongside Bellingham this summer, in the instance that Ceballos does leave. It could be Marco Verratti, with RMC Sport (via Diario AS) reporting that the Italian is keen on a move to Los Blancos, with his future at Paris Saint-Germain looking increasingly unclear.
Simply put, Verratti would not be a good signing for Real Madrid, as much as the player himself seemingly wants to make the move. He is 30, which means that he is not suitable for the club’s transfer policy, which focuses on signing younger players to develop in the first team.
Even if Verratti is available on a cut-price deal, it wouldn’t make sense for Real Madrid to sign him. He wouldn’t start ahead of Bellingham, Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga or Aurelien Tchouameni.
Even as a squad player, Modric, Kroos and Ceballos are all just as good, if not better, and they are already at the club. As such, it would make very little sense to try to sign him.
It must be said that there is no confirmation that Real Madrid are interested in signing Verratti, and it’d be very surprising if reports surfaced that said otherwise.
This summer, Real Madrid do not need to strengthen in midfield alongside signing Bellingham. If they want to spend, signing a new right back or backup striker should be a much higher priority for Florentino Perez and Carlo Ancelotti.
