Real Madrid to Hand Zinedine Zidane €500m Transfer War Chest as Los Blancos Target Superstar Trio
It seems Real Madrid are wasting no time ahead of their forthcoming summer rebuild, as reports from France say the club's hierarchy have set aside €500m for Zinedine Zidane to land Kylian Mbappe, Eden Hazard and Paul Pogba in the coming months.
Zidane left the club after winning a third successive Champions League back in May, but after two futile efforts to replace him - with both Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari sacked in a season which would yield no trophies - he returned earlier this month, with some reported assurances over plans to strengthen the squad.
There has been no end to the number of players rumoured to be joining, with some 18 names linked since Zizou's return, and a report from L'Equipe tells us just how serious they are about their renovation project.
The claim is that having brought in €751m in revenue last season, president Florentino Perez is convinced a new Galactico era is the way forward, and is prepared to spend copious amounts of money to land the three highest-profile players he has been linked with.
Mbappe is expected to cost around €280m himself according to some reports, having scored 31 goals in 35 appearances this season for Paris Saint-Germain, so a new world record transfer fee could be on the agenda there if there is any truth to the rumours.
In the case of Hazard, his on-again off-again move from Chelsea to the Bernabeu has been ongoing for what seems like years, but it is widely thought that he could finally get the move over the line this summer, despite his current club operating under a transfer ban for the next two windows.
Perhaps the least likely of the three is the reported move for Manchester United's Paul Pogba. It would have come as no surprise four months ago, but all is rosey at Old Trafford once again after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed on a permanent basis on Thursday.
It doesn't seem entirely likely that the World Cup winner will want to move for the sake of moving at this stage, but he has made no secret of his admiration for Zidane in the past, so if Real come calling with an offer, then it may prove too good to refuse for both United and the player.