As Real Madrid continue to contemplate who they want to finally balance out their team, they have not just set another summer saga, but also set themselves one of those choices that will have all manner of ripples – and maybe unbalance so much else for so many clubs beneath them.
It will be a classic domino transfer.
That choice ultimately comes down to Paul Pogba or Christian Eriksen, but now has the added twist that a third option is a big Tottenham Hotspur target, as well as a player Manchester United themselves have been considering: Lyon’s Tanguy Ndombele.
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And part of the reason for that choice is that Madrid have already spent so much on higher priorities.
If cash did not come into it – and if Zinedine Zidane actually wanted him as much as he and the club together wanted Eden Hazard – the choice would be Pogba. Madrid would pay the £150m-plus fee that United want and that would be that.
1/13 Stay or go? Transfer verdict 2019
Jack Pitt-Brook runs down the biggest transfer sagas awaiting us this summer and whether they will actually happen or not
AFP/Getty
2/13 David De Gea
This has been the worst season in years for the best goalkeeper in the world. He struggled at the World Cup then his form declined over the end of a difficult season. Now he wants a pay-rise to get parity with Alexis Sanchez. United have not offered him that, but De Gea knows that PSG would give him the money that he wants. Juventus are interested too. He has one year left and so if United cannot make him an acceptable offer then his long association with the club could be about to end. Verdict: 50/50
REUTERS
3/13 Wilfried Zaha
Always linked with a move to a top club, and this summer Zaha is keen to make that big step again. But having been rewarded with new long-term contracts from Crystal Palace in the past to ward off interest, his club have the upper hand over his future. So while there are plenty of clubs – like Arsenal – who might like Zaha if he was available for £40m, there is less appetite to pay the £80m it would cost to get him out of Selhurst Park. And with four years left on his deal there, Zaha is unlikely to get the move that he wants. Verdict: stay
Action Images via Reuters
4/13 Mesut Ozil
One of the great unanswered questions of the Unai Emery era has been the role of Mesut Ozil. Arsenal’s best paid and most famous player has been pushed out to the fringes this season, with Emery only appreciating in games where he will not have to do too much physical work. Over the season he started just 20 of Arsenal’s 38 league games. The problem is the ludicrous contract he was given in January 2018, a decision that Arsene Wenger soon came to regret and that has hamstrung Emery too. It means there are no takers for him, and he has no interest to leave. Verdict: stay
Reuters
5/13 Ilkay Gundogan
Pep Guardiola’s first signing at Manchester City finished the season in the best form of his time at the club, instrumental in City’s 14-game winning streak that secured them the title. But his future is not clear. He only has one year left on his contract and has dragged his heels on signing a new one, knowing that at 28 years old this could be the last big contract of his career. Guardiola said at Wembley on Saturday night that if he does not sign then he will be sold, with Barcelona interested in signing him. There will need to be a breakthrough in negotiations to keep him at the club. Verdict: 50/50
Getty Images
6/13 Alexis Sanchez
Like Pogba, a man United were delighted to sign but who has not quite delivered on that promise during his time at Old Trafford. Like Ozil, a player who has proven difficult to move because of the contract he negotiated 18 months ago. Sanchez earns more than £500,000 per week and not many other clubs want to pay that. Only now from Inter Milan is there serious interest, with talks now open on a move, with Untied keen to write off a badly-judged investment. Verdict: go
Getty
7/13 James Maddison
It was only Maddison’s first season in the Premier League but he created more chances than anyone, finishing up with over 100, split evenly between set pieces and open play. He has played with the same confidence and ability he showed all the way through his young career so far, at Coventry City, Aberdeen and Norwich City. The only question is what next. Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs have been following Maddison his whole career but he has always put football first. And while that interest is still there, he is not expected to leave Leicester yet. Especially given the recent arrival of Brendan Rodgers. Verdict: stay
Getty
8/13 Christian Eriksen
For most of this year the presumption at Spurs was that this would be Christian Eriksen’s last season. Because he had one year left on his deal and was not signing a new one. Real Madrid would be his destination and Spurs were already lining up replacements. But there have been plenty of changes at Madrid recently, with Zinedine Zidane coming in and changing their transfer plans. Now the transfer is less certain and there are is even talk of fresh transfer negotiations. His departure is not inevitable yet. Verdict: 50/50
REUTERS
9/13 Harry Maguire
With Vincent Kompany off to Anderlecht, and Nicolas Otamendi likely to leave too, Manchester City want a new centre-back. According to the Mail, they have identified Leicester’s Harry Maguire. He knows the league and would also help them with their home-grown quota for their Champions League squad. But as a 26-year-old England international at an established Premier League side, he is not going to be cheap. Verdict: go
Reuters
10/13 Eden Hazard
The best player in the league over the last seven years is now desperate to leave it, to get the dream move to Real Madrid he has been coveting since last year. With just one year left on his Chelsea contract, a sale this summer is the obvious solution. But so far there has been no agreement between Real Madrid and Chelsea. Especially with Roman Abramovich in no mood to give up his star asset on the cheap. One report in France last week, that a deal was done for €100million, was premature, and has only left negotiations even more fraught. A deal is still likely, but it will take time. Verdict: go
REUTERS
11/13 Jadon Sancho
Manchester United made Sancho their top transfer target for this summer and were willing to pay £100million to get the teenager out of Borussia Dortmund. But that move will now not be happening, Sancho and his advisers having decided that Old Trafford would not be the right environment for his development. While a move is still theoretically possible – if PSG or Real Madrid pay the asking price – it is far more likely that the 19-year-old Sancho will stay at Dortmund for another season of development now. Verdict: stay
Bioreports
12/13 Toby Alderweireld
It speaks volumes to Mauricio Pochettino’s motivational powers that he has got such a good season out of Alderweireld when it looked last summer as if player and club were set to part ways. Alderweireld wanted a move to Manchester United last summer but there was never an agreement on price so he had to stay. Spurs have taken the option in his contract, which means he will be available this summer to any team who pays £25million for him. This will surely be the point when his four-year spell at the club ends, with one of the richer teams likely to see him as a perfect short-term defensive solution. Verdict: go
Getty Images
13/13 Paul Pogba
When Zinedine Zidane return to the Real Madrid’s manager’s job he made Paul Pogba a priority and now it depends on how much Madrid want to back him. Pogba himself is interested in a move to Madrid, and has been for years. And while Pogba’s form did improve after Jose Mourinho’s departure at Christmas, there is also a view at Old Trafford that they would be better off without a player who is so inconsistent, and who some view as a negative dressing room influence. United would still need to recoup most of the £89m fee for him to sell, however. Verdict: 50/50
AFP/Getty Images
1/13 Stay or go? Transfer verdict 2019
Jack Pitt-Brook runs down the biggest transfer sagas awaiting us this summer and whether they will actually happen or not
AFP/Getty
2/13 David De Gea
This has been the worst season in years for the best goalkeeper in the world. He struggled at the World Cup then his form declined over the end of a difficult season. Now he wants a pay-rise to get parity with Alexis Sanchez. United have not offered him that, but De Gea knows that PSG would give him the money that he wants. Juventus are interested too. He has one year left and so if United cannot make him an acceptable offer then his long association with the club could be about to end. Verdict: 50/50
REUTERS
3/13 Wilfried Zaha
Always linked with a move to a top club, and this summer Zaha is keen to make that big step again. But having been rewarded with new long-term contracts from Crystal Palace in the past to ward off interest, his club have the upper hand over his future. So while there are plenty of clubs – like Arsenal – who might like Zaha if he was available for £40m, there is less appetite to pay the £80m it would cost to get him out of Selhurst Park. And with four years left on his deal there, Zaha is unlikely to get the move that he wants. Verdict: stay
Action Images via Reuters
4/13 Mesut Ozil
One of the great unanswered questions of the Unai Emery era has been the role of Mesut Ozil. Arsenal’s best paid and most famous player has been pushed out to the fringes this season, with Emery only appreciating in games where he will not have to do too much physical work. Over the season he started just 20 of Arsenal’s 38 league games. The problem is the ludicrous contract he was given in January 2018, a decision that Arsene Wenger soon came to regret and that has hamstrung Emery too. It means there are no takers for him, and he has no interest to leave. Verdict: stay
Reuters
5/13 Ilkay Gundogan
Pep Guardiola’s first signing at Manchester City finished the season in the best form of his time at the club, instrumental in City’s 14-game winning streak that secured them the title. But his future is not clear. He only has one year left on his contract and has dragged his heels on signing a new one, knowing that at 28 years old this could be the last big contract of his career. Guardiola said at Wembley on Saturday night that if he does not sign then he will be sold, with Barcelona interested in signing him. There will need to be a breakthrough in negotiations to keep him at the club. Verdict: 50/50
Getty Images
6/13 Alexis Sanchez
Like Pogba, a man United were delighted to sign but who has not quite delivered on that promise during his time at Old Trafford. Like Ozil, a player who has proven difficult to move because of the contract he negotiated 18 months ago. Sanchez earns more than £500,000 per week and not many other clubs want to pay that. Only now from Inter Milan is there serious interest, with talks now open on a move, with Untied keen to write off a badly-judged investment. Verdict: go
Getty
7/13 James Maddison
It was only Maddison’s first season in the Premier League but he created more chances than anyone, finishing up with over 100, split evenly between set pieces and open play. He has played with the same confidence and ability he showed all the way through his young career so far, at Coventry City, Aberdeen and Norwich City. The only question is what next. Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs have been following Maddison his whole career but he has always put football first. And while that interest is still there, he is not expected to leave Leicester yet. Especially given the recent arrival of Brendan Rodgers. Verdict: stay
Getty
8/13 Christian Eriksen
For most of this year the presumption at Spurs was that this would be Christian Eriksen’s last season. Because he had one year left on his deal and was not signing a new one. Real Madrid would be his destination and Spurs were already lining up replacements. But there have been plenty of changes at Madrid recently, with Zinedine Zidane coming in and changing their transfer plans. Now the transfer is less certain and there are is even talk of fresh transfer negotiations. His departure is not inevitable yet. Verdict: 50/50
REUTERS
9/13 Harry Maguire
With Vincent Kompany off to Anderlecht, and Nicolas Otamendi likely to leave too, Manchester City want a new centre-back. According to the Mail, they have identified Leicester’s Harry Maguire. He knows the league and would also help them with their home-grown quota for their Champions League squad. But as a 26-year-old England international at an established Premier League side, he is not going to be cheap. Verdict: go
Reuters
10/13 Eden Hazard
The best player in the league over the last seven years is now desperate to leave it, to get the dream move to Real Madrid he has been coveting since last year. With just one year left on his Chelsea contract, a sale this summer is the obvious solution. But so far there has been no agreement between Real Madrid and Chelsea. Especially with Roman Abramovich in no mood to give up his star asset on the cheap. One report in France last week, that a deal was done for €100million, was premature, and has only left negotiations even more fraught. A deal is still likely, but it will take time. Verdict: go
REUTERS
11/13 Jadon Sancho
Manchester United made Sancho their top transfer target for this summer and were willing to pay £100million to get the teenager out of Borussia Dortmund. But that move will now not be happening, Sancho and his advisers having decided that Old Trafford would not be the right environment for his development. While a move is still theoretically possible – if PSG or Real Madrid pay the asking price – it is far more likely that the 19-year-old Sancho will stay at Dortmund for another season of development now. Verdict: stay
Bioreports
12/13 Toby Alderweireld
It speaks volumes to Mauricio Pochettino’s motivational powers that he has got such a good season out of Alderweireld when it looked last summer as if player and club were set to part ways. Alderweireld wanted a move to Manchester United last summer but there was never an agreement on price so he had to stay. Spurs have taken the option in his contract, which means he will be available this summer to any team who pays £25million for him. This will surely be the point when his four-year spell at the club ends, with one of the richer teams likely to see him as a perfect short-term defensive solution. Verdict: go
Getty Images
13/13 Paul Pogba
When Zinedine Zidane return to the Real Madrid’s manager’s job he made Paul Pogba a priority and now it depends on how much Madrid want to back him. Pogba himself is interested in a move to Madrid, and has been for years. And while Pogba’s form did improve after Jose Mourinho’s departure at Christmas, there is also a view at Old Trafford that they would be better off without a player who is so inconsistent, and who some view as a negative dressing room influence. United would still need to recoup most of the £89m fee for him to sell, however. Verdict: 50/50
AFP/Getty Images
It is now far from that simple.
Having spent so much, Madrid want to go cheaper. It has already been made known to Pogba that he may have to lower certain demands – and maybe even push for a transfer – if he really wants to come to the Bernabeu. They meanwhile know themselves they can push a button to meet Daniel Levy’s price, which is understood to be around £100m. There is then the possibility they go much lower, and straight to about £70m for Ndombele.
This is what they are weighing up, as well as the different qualities.
Ndombele offers spark, but also much greater scope for improvement. There are meanwhile fair questions about whether Pogba has any more improving to do at 26, something that is a slight concern given his inconsistency. He probably has more natural talent than both, but certainly doesn’t have Eriksen’s consistency or composure. The Dane would be the more unimaginative choice, in almost all senses, but also the choice with the more proven track record in what Madrid require.
This is why many around the club – and some around White Hart Lane – feel they will eventually go for Eriksen.
That would likely leave the path cleared for Spurs for Ndombele, but also mean they have the money to go for Real Betis’ Giovani Lo Celso. It would also mean that Pogba – since he really is “desperate” to leave United – would have to look to Paris Saint-Germain or Juventus potentially causing more ripples in the market.
If Madrid ultimately go for the French star, though, it would mean United fairly drastically reshaping their plans. They could even challenge Spurs for Ndombele, although Youri Tielemans of Monaco is currently the No 1 alternative. That would in turn leave Eriksen in limbo, since he has been so unusually vocal about a move himself.
Even the move that causes the least upheaval, Madrid going for Ndombele, could cause a few shockwaves thereafter as both Pogba and Eriksen will be forced to look elsewhere if they really are insistent on this “new challenge”.
Either way, the centre of the Madrid team is likely to be the source of a fair few tremors this summer.
