Rebuilding Real Madrid - how do you do it? | Buy well

Your summer would be very good if Barcelona weren't buying De Jong, De Ligt and Griezmann. Spending nearly half a billion euros on new players in one window only to see your main rivals buy the better players is hardly ideal.

It looks like Jovic will share minutes with Benzema, Mendy will share minutes with Marcelo, Militão will share minutes with Varane, Rodrygo will probably play very few minutes... Hazard's the only one that will be an undisputed starter from the get go. You're betting on a few players to pass expectations if the plan is to win the league next season. Madrid should go for another star, Pogba instead of Eriksen would make sense.
De Ligt is not done and it remains to be seen what kind of impact Greizmann will have on that team. Barca made huge purchases the last few years with little to no impact on the team. I like the Madrid buys so far. They added depth, speed, youth, talent and a true star in Hazard.
 
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Militao and Mendy are also giving depth that was missing in defense. Reguillon and Nacho/Vallejo are not up to the task. Their biggest issue was if someone injures himself at CB or LB, they were fecked. Militao and Mendy are great prospects at their respective positions, excellent business.
I agree with almost your entire post, but I think that Mendy will go straight into the first 11, no qualms.
 
Surely they didn't buy Mendy for a huge fee to sit behind Marcelo.
 
Bale and Llorente stood out the most.

As for the others, everyone knows you need to sell (even if not for the money but just for squad size) which always means you get less.

I thought £44.5m was a fair estimation on Bale to be honest. Yes he's struggling but when players like Perisic are touted at £60m and Pepe at £70m. I'd say given his struggles £45m for Bale is fair price and a gamble that could well pay off for a club willing to take a punt.
 
I thought £44.5m was a fair estimation on Bale to be honest. Yes he's struggling but when players like Perisic are touted at £60m and Pepe at £70m. I'd say given his struggles £45m for Bale is fair price and a gamble that could well pay off for a club willing to take a punt.

It's not just the transfer fee, it's his insane wages too. No point for him to take pay cut and there is no point for other clubs to take punt on a player with huge wages.
 
Madrid aren't messing about, they're getting all their signings in quick.
 
Courtois
Carvajal Varane Militao Mendy
Casemiro
Kroos Eriksen**
Vinicius/Rodrygo Jovic Hazard
Decent... You have to give them credit, they had a shite season, they had an aging squad, they lost a legend last summer, and they go out and spend what's needed to have those players at their squad. It might not all hit, it'll take a bit of transition, but they're going for the top younger players who are ready now to go in and rebuild them instantly. And Hazard who is the player they needed to sign for years.
Bang on unfortunately. We could learn a thing or two.
 
It's not just the transfer fee, it's his insane wages too. No point for him to take pay cut and there is no point for other clubs to take punt on a player with huge wages.

Yeah the wage would be mental. He'd have to be convinced to take a massive cut, or Madrid to stump up x amount. I think I read he's on 600k a week or something. In terms of transfer value though I'd say the op was on point.
 
They’ll be banned from the Champion’s League at this rate.
It's Madrid. They don't get touched by UEFA.

Frustrating when city / psg go and spend and they get slaughtered in the press but it's ok for Real to do it.

Yes, they have massive revenue but 350m spend and they're not done yet is sickening imo
 
Madrid transfer strategy has not changed. The problem with United has been for me that I have not seen a clear transfer strategy.

These players that are bought is in line with RM transfer strategy.

RM has tried to find the next big name(buy players u23) and occationally buy the big names who has 1 or 2 years left on their contract. Believe it or not the RM cannot compete with the crazy amounts these days.

So all the players that are bought Vinicious, Rodrygo, Militao, Odriozola, Ceballos, Theo Hernandez, Brahim Diaz and now Mendy, Luka Jovic are all in line with our strategy. Hazard cost 100+addons because he had 1 year left. Otherwise Chelsea would ask at least 200 million.

Some of the young players will make it big and some will fail, but I am happy with the strategy.

And as far as whether the players will walk into the playing 11. I know we have had a poor season, but most of our players are generally world class. Ramos Varane - you cant find a better combination of central midfielders. Varane has had an extremely poor season. Mendy is there to compete with Marcelo. Carvajal/Odriozola is as good as they get. Carvajal was among the very best on his position, but this season he was extremly poor.

We will add another midfielder to Kroos, Modric and Casemiro to juice up the midfield. Pogba will be great addition.

Upfront we added Jovic, Hazard and Rodrygo an 18 years old wonderkid. Their President said recently Rodrygo is the best Santos player after Robinho and Neymar. Those players added to Vinicius who was our best offensive player last season. At only 18! Yes he is a shit at finishing, but if he improve that he will turn out to be among the best. Benzema had a good season personally. Asensio also had a poor season, but will get 1 more chance to show he can play at RM. Isco is on the brink. Brilliant player, but was our worst player last season along with Marcelo. Might be sold.

James, Bale, Vasquez, Kovacic and Mariano must be sold. Does not have a future with the new arrivals.

Yup, this has been the strategy and only stopped signing this type of players recently after winning 3 UCL in a row (and 4 of the last 5) and thinking the squad was good enough, even after selling Ronaldo. We also have signed very promising young players that didn't live up to expectations, for one reason or another, like let's say Illarramendi, Sahin, etc. but the team also moves on quickly when players don't work.

So ultimately I think it's a good balance to buy high rated players when they're still on their early 20s and a few signings like Hazard.
 
Yup, this has been the strategy and only stopped signing this type of players recently after winning 3 UCL in a row (and 4 of the last 5) and thinking the squad was good enough, even after selling Ronaldo. We also have signed very promising young players that didn't live up to expectations, for one reason or another, like let's say Illarramendi, Sahin, etc. but the team also moves on quickly when players don't work.

So ultimately I think it's a good balance to buy high rated players when they're still on their early 20s and a few signings like Hazard.
 
How to rebuild 101: identify positions requiring updating, identify potential signings, agree fee with players club, sign player. Real seem to have got this idea already down to a tee.
 
They won 3 champions leagues in a row. Had one average season. Have now spent 300m so far on clearly identified players in the exact positions they need to improve their already very good squad. Their small rebuild has put our years of Woodward in huge perspective. And they still might go for pogba.

How they'll achieve this financially is difficult to say.
 
I find this real Madrid team potentially looking very weak.

Hazard for Ronaldo, Jovic for Benzema whilst covering to some degree goals of C. Ronaldo or Bale, Mendy for Marcelo.

There's no doubt they are on paper doing the right thing - going for some young players too; but the triple CL wins were still largely a galactico basis. Wonder if changing is worth it.
 
There's always the risk of introducing too many players into a team. Plus, most of these players are still young. We still don't know how they will react to being placed in a new environment. The pressure at Madrid must be immense as they booed Ronaldo at one point.
 
It's Madrid. They don't get touched by UEFA.

Frustrating when city / psg go and spend and they get slaughtered in the press but it's ok for Real to do it.

Yes, they have massive revenue but 350m spend and they're not done yet is sickening imo

It's not money from a state. It's revenue that comes from the club's marketing, image rights etc. So it's a different ballgame than PSG and City.

You also have to remember that they have hardly spent in the last 3 years. And sold Ronaldo for a 100 million just last season. And they can still sell up to 10 players in this window alone.

I don't know if the players they're buying will pan out (well Hazard will). But at least on paper they're having a very solid offseason.
 
It's not money from a state. It's revenue that comes from the club's marketing, image rights etc. So it's a different ballgame than PSG and City.

You also have to remember that they have hardly spent in the last 3 years. And sold Ronaldo for a 100 million just last season. And they can still sell up to 10 players in this window alone.

I don't know if the players they're buying will pan out (well Hazard will). But at least on paper they're having a very solid offseason.
agree with what you're saying, but there definitely seems to be a bit more in the papers when clubs other than Barca / Real splash big about the state of the game etc.
 
Courtois
Carvajal Varane Militao Mendy
Casemiro
Kroos Eriksen**
Vinicius/Rodrygo Jovic Hazard
Decent... You have to give them credit, they had a shite season, they had an aging squad, they lost a legend last summer, and they go out and spend what's needed to have those players at their squad. It might not all hit, it'll take a bit of transition, but they're going for the top younger players who are ready now to go in and rebuild them instantly. And Hazard who is the player they needed to sign for years.
No white text? Varane has yet to have a better season than Ramos in his career. It'll be Ramos-Varane (in that order) with Militao as the third CB, until he proves himself and takes Varane's position in some matches, or Ramos' when he gets older, maybe in 2 years time.
 
I find this real Madrid team potentially looking very weak.

Hazard for Ronaldo, Jovic for Benzema whilst covering to some degree goals of C. Ronaldo or Bale, Mendy for Marcelo.

There's no doubt they are on paper doing the right thing - going for some young players too; but the triple CL wins were still largely a galactico basis. Wonder if changing is worth it.
I still somehow believe Benzema will be a starter (at first at least)
 
This. (I hope I managed to quote RoyH1 post - not sure I did it the right way)
I don't get all the noise around their spending and claims that they will get in trouble with FFP.
Isn't FFP is taking into account the spending over a span of five years or so ?

According to Transfermarkt :
15/16 : Ins - 92.5M, Outs - 15.65M
16/17 - Ins - 30M, Outs - 37.5M
17/18 - Ins - 40.5M, Outs - 128.5M
18/19 - Ins - 162.75M, Outs - 133.5M
19/20 - Ins - 303M, Outs - 0M

That's a NET of -313.6M over 5 years.
Surely Real Madrid, with all their revenues, can afford to put another 100M on top of that, and that is even before selling anyone.
Of course they are going to sell some players, these players will push for a move as they are not likely at all to play.
Let's take their attackers for example :
Isco, Vinicius, Asensio, Brahim Diaz, Bale, Vazquez, Benzema, Mariano, Jovic, Hazard and Rodrygo - and they have James coming back from loan.
That's 11 players for 3-4 positions - some will surely leave.

My point is I can see them spending another 100m or so on a midfielder and have no problem. They will have a squad full of winners and young upcoming talent.
 
Not convinced they will recoup enough to get pogba. Should we look for isco or asensio and 100m ? Or do we really even want them

It will just be Di Maria all over again. They’ll probably see us as a step down, not give 100% and push hard for a move to a PSG/Juventus behind the scenes.

At least with Bale I think he would genuinely want to prove a point and give 110% for us. Not that I think his wages are worth it.
 
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This. (I hope I managed to quote RoyH1 post - not sure I did it the right way)
I don't get all the noise around their spending and claims that they will get in trouble with FFP.
Isn't FFP is taking into account the spending over a span of five years or so ?

According to Transfermarkt :
15/16 : Ins - 92.5M, Outs - 15.65M
16/17 - Ins - 30M, Outs - 37.5M
17/18 - Ins - 40.5M, Outs - 128.5M
18/19 - Ins - 162.75M, Outs - 133.5M
19/20 - Ins - 303M, Outs - 0M

That's a NET of -313.6M over 5 years.
Surely Real Madrid, with all their revenues, can afford to put another 100M on top of that, and that is even before selling anyone.
Of course they are going to sell some players, these players will push for a move as they are not likely at all to play.
Let's take their attackers for example :
Isco, Vinicius, Asensio, Brahim Diaz, Bale, Vazquez, Benzema, Mariano, Jovic, Hazard and Rodrygo - and they have James coming back from loan.
That's 11 players for 3-4 positions - some will surely leave.

My point is I can see them spending another 100m or so on a midfielder and have no problem. They will have a squad full of winners and young upcoming talent.

Starting July 1st, FFP will look at club numbers on a yearly basis, since in Spain clubs close their fiscal June 30th Real Madrid will escape the new system with all these last signings entering the 5 year window you just mentioned, and they haven't sold anyone yet because from July 1st onwards if they were to, say, pay 300M for Mbappe, they'd have to raise money selling players like Isco, James, etc... and those would count for the next year of FFP.

Florentino talked about this in the Spanish radio recently, didn't give any names or ideas, just said that Real Madrid were basing their transfer window having in mind FFP changes this summer.

On another note, Real are due to get some money, be it from big players or small ones, their squad right now is absurdly overloaded.

There's 37 players with first team contract, and only 25 spots available.

15602930540437.jpg


The amount of left backs, midfielders and forward is absurd, I don't think any other team in the world has so many quality players in their squad, maybe better level overall, but not that amount of capable players.
 
I think they have already done well in the market as of today. I hope they let us keep Pogba. I'm happy about the decision taken in regards to Mino Raiola's ban.
 
I'll wait a season to give a verdict, but if I have to give one now, I think they will have a problematic next couple of years and NO their rebuild hasn't even started let alone finished.
 
It's Madrid. They don't get touched by UEFA.

Frustrating when city / psg go and spend and they get slaughtered in the press but it's ok for Real to do it.

Yes, they have massive revenue but 350m spend and they're not done yet is sickening imo
they have barely spend anything in the past seasons, in fact they've ended many seasons with a surplus thanks to sales. FFP takes into account many years, not just one window. Now keep raging.
 
It's Madrid. They don't get touched by UEFA.

Frustrating when city / psg go and spend and they get slaughtered in the press but it's ok for Real to do it.

Yes, they have massive revenue but 350m spend and they're not done yet is sickening imo
City do it every season. Madrid do it once every 7-8 years. That's the difference. City's net spend over the last decade is miles higher than Madrid's.
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they have barely spend anything in the past seasons, in fact they've ended many seasons with a surplus thanks to sales. FFP takes into account many years, not just one window. Now keep raging.
Does it sound like I'm raging? I'm questioning the fact the papers seem biased when it comes to certain clubs spending that much in a season that's all. You explained the rational behind why they can spend it, fine - didn't see me disagreeing do you?
 
Their deficiencies in midfield are yet to be addressed. I don't think Pogba would be the answer for them all either.

Hazard is a good signing and a world class player, but the platform is not there yet in that team.
 
Madrid have a goals problem which is essentially the same issue Barcelona will face when Messi is retired / declines.

There's still no clinical player in their starting 11, Jovic to put it into perspective is the same age as Rashford, I wouldn't be expecting miracles from him without acclimatising to Spanish football and a full season to ascertain the movement as a striker required to function in a Zidane team.

The only players in my opinion who could offer them the Xfactor and a high ratio of goals is either Mbappe / Neymar but for the time being they are enslaved to PSG. Not at any discredit to their purchases they have exemplified what we should be doing in the market especially with a novice like Solskjaer, our summer window will determine his employment.
 
Starting July 1st, FFP will look at club numbers on a yearly basis, since in Spain clubs close their fiscal June 30th Real Madrid will escape the new system with all these last signings entering the 5 year window you just mentioned, and they haven't sold anyone yet because from July 1st onwards if they were to, say, pay 300M for Mbappe, they'd have to raise money selling players like Isco, James, etc... and those would count for the next year of FFP.

Florentino talked about this in the Spanish radio recently, didn't give any names or ideas, just said that Real Madrid were basing their transfer window having in mind FFP changes this summer.

On another note, Real are due to get some money, be it from big players or small ones, their squad right now is absurdly overloaded.

There's 37 players with first team contract, and only 25 spots available.

15602930540437.jpg


The amount of left backs, midfielders and forward is absurd, I don't think any other team in the world has so many quality players in their squad, maybe better level overall, but not that amount of capable players.

Why aren’t Hakimi and Lucas Silva on there?
 
Their deficiencies in midfield are yet to be addressed. I don't think Pogba would be the answer for them all either.

Hazard is a good signing and a world class player, but the platform is not there yet in that team.

I'm wondering why Florentino has made such early signings this season. That's not the usual him.

If what @Ishdalar says about FFP is true, that can only mean Florentino plans to go in Galactico mode from July onwards.
 
If they get Pogba or Eriksen in, I think they've revamped the squad very well.

Some of the younger signings like Jovic etc may be hit and miss, but they'll have added world class depth to a team that already had a world class core, minus an ageing Ronaldo and injured Bale. Their attack will be weaker, but Pogba, Hazard and Jovic are good additions to share the goals.