MADRID — From Alfredo Di Stéfano to Hugo Sánchez to Raúl González. From Ronaldo to Cristiano Ronaldo to Karim Benzema.
It appears there has all the time been a world-class scorer related to Real Madrid all through the membership’s storied soccer historical past.
It will not be the case this season, although, as Madrid is about to start the marketing campaign with out a high-profile striker in its squad.
Benzema, the staff’s greatest participant the previous few seasons and final yr’s Ballon d’Or winner, made the profitable transfer to Saudi Arabian soccer and the Spanish powerhouse has but to exchange him with somebody of the identical prominence.
With lower than per week earlier than the season kicks off, Madrid‘s squad included solely 4 forwards, with just one true striker amongst them.
Madrid has tried to signal Kylian Mbappé however has been unable to achieve a deal for the France star. It might have to attend till his contract with Paris Saint-Germain ends on the finish of the season to have the ability to lastly convey him to the Santiago Bernabeu.
For now, Madrid has solely signed Joselu on a mortgage from Espanyol. The 33-year-old striker blossomed late in his profession however has been an everyday with Spain’s nationwide staff. The hope is that he can staff up properly with Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, the younger Brazilian duo that final season confirmed indicators they will tackle a higher position in assault.
Vinícius’ season was marked by a sequence of racist insults towards him by followers, which in the end prompted an outpouring of help for the Brazilian from sports figures world wide. The insults towards Vinícius spurred authorities officers into motion to spice up the combat towards racism.
The solely different attacking-minded participant at the moment obtainable for Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is 24-year-old Brahim Díaz, who returned to the squad after a three-year mortgage with AC Milan. He is listed by Madrid as one of many squad’s forwards however has typically performed as an attacking midfielder.
Ancelotti had stated a couple of months again that Madrid would search for “a striker who can score goals and link up well with the others.”
Harry Kane was among the many strikers reportedly on the listing of candidates to exchange Benzema, however the Tottenham striker has been extra extensively linked with Bayern Munich.
“I think we are complete,” Ancelotti stated not too long ago throughout preseason. “The new players are doing very well. Brahim and Joselu have shown that they can contribute to the team offensively. I think the team has a lot of attacking options to give us chances to score goals.”
In addition to Benzema, Madrid has additionally misplaced forwards Eden Hazard, Marco Asensio and Mariano Díaz. Neither of them performed a lot final season however have been choices off the bench for Ancelotti.
Madrid’s protection will stay largely unchanged, anchored by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, however the midfield will probably be boosted by the addition of younger England midfielder Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund. He will combine up with veterans Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, who had their contracts renewed for what needs to be their closing seasons with the Spanish membership. It begins with a sport at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
Madrid completed final season with three titles – the UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup and Copa del Rey. But it completed second within the Spanish league, 10 factors behind champion Barcelona, and was eradicated by Manchester City within the semifinals of the Champions League.
More success this season might depend upon whether or not the membership can discover a method to maintain succeeding in assault with out a true scorer. Or on whether or not it might probably lastly succeed with signing Mbappé.
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com