Real Madrid - Galactico Era Part II

With summer comes the transfer speculation and some other baseless and senseless rumours which actually make for great entertainment if you're a fiction lover. Real Madrid had a shockingly disappointing season with yet another loss in the last 16 of Champions league to Liverpool where they were mauled 5-0 on aggregate,Went out in the last 32 in the Kings Cup and were truly pathetic in the final few games of the league starting with the bashing by Barcelona at home. There has been change at the top. Florentino Perez has taken over the presidency,Zizou is back as an advisor to Perez and Valdano is back as director general. Along with the change in board there would be change in playing style and staff too with former Villareal manager, Pellegrini taking over. Obviously with the change in administration there are bound to be changes in squad too.

The managers used a total of 33 players in the 2008/09 season. An astounding number showing the club has a huge squad and might need some trimming down considering the huge wages they would be accumulating in these economic crisis. With Perez being the creator of "The Galacticos", the legendary workforce for Madrid with players like Zidane,Figo,Beckham and Ronaldo all playing on the same pitch for the same team. He has returned and would want to reignite the same period and bring the same glory that the club has seen missing ever since. A Galactico Part II. Let's get to the candidates shall we?

Kaka
This 27 year old Milan faithful has pledged his future to the club and has spent 6 seasons with the Rossoneri. Carlo Ancelotti has left the San Siro club and his exit has left many players in the squad with unanswered status over their future. Kaka is a player with good feet and a good vision to spot lapses in the defense going forward. Its been reported that Madrid have bid £65million for the player with Chelsea also on the fray to claim the services of the Brazilian. However, Chelsea have since denied the reports but nothing can be said in the strange world of football transfers. His decision about his future is expected to come out soon.

UPDATE : AC Milan announce Kaka's switch to Real Madrid for world record fee of £56million. [BBC]

Ronaldo
After the whole summer was spent(read wasted) by the club to acquire the Portuguese winger last time around, the saga has started again. £75 million is the quoted price. Add to that the huge wages he would take home which would most definitely be more than £150,000 a week.This flamboyant, highly motivated and skilled player has the ability to turn the game on its head almost single handedly.He is good not only with his feet but also in the air and his prowess with free kicks is very well known.Although many Madridistas are not in the favour of the club spending huge amounts of money for him due to his arrogance.It is also expected that he would definitely move on from Manchester United after their loss to Barcelona in the Champions League final. The club would also expect him to replicate what Beckham did for the club when he joined that is to sell T-shirts and bring in revenue in terms of his popularity all over the globe.

UPDATE : Manchester United accept an unconditional bid for Ronaldo worth £80million. [Man Utd's official website]

Ribery
The Frenchman currently with the Bayern Munich has also raised Perez's interest which also goes to show the club has moved beyond their dependance on facial features as compared to the footballing skills which was shown when they withdrew from the race to sign Ronaldinho who ended up going to Barcelona and being a huge force for the rivals. Zidane is good friends with Ribbery so the deal might come through after all and prefers to play on the left as a winger.Along with Real Madrid, Barcelona,Chelsea and Manchester United are in the picture to sign him over the summer.He's not quite the household name as the two above are but the situation would most definitely change if he arrives at the Santiago Bernabeu.

David Villa
Valencia are in turmoils with their financial situation and have ambitions of building a new stadium but would want funding for that. Villa is young,talented and has a nack of scoring goals. With David Silva looking like heading to Liverpool, Valencia look set to lose two talented parts of their squad. Last year,Real Madrid had been reported to have placed a bid for €35million but it didn't take place.Chelsea are also interested in 'El Guaje' after snubbing their interest in Kaka.The Spaniard could well take Raul's place in the team as the legendary striker doesn't have the legs now to play week in,week out and looks more of a burden than an asset.

Xabi Alonso
Reports in Spain suggest the player has agreed to a £22million deal with the club and Liverpool has also given the nod with manager Rafa Benitez showing interest in a cash + Gabriel Heinze deal or Alvaro Negredo,who is with Almeria but under a buy back clause.Alonso has the ability to control midfield both in an attacking sense and in the defensive sense.His ability to spread the ball upfield also creates chances for the strikers.His partnership with Lass would also make it difficult for the opposition to bother the defence.


Other players linked with Real Madrid are Carlos Tevez(Manchester United) and Antonio Valencia(Wigan Athletic) who would be great for the club but I'm not sure they would form the part of the Galactico II.With Cannavaro leaving for Turin there is an urgent need for good quality defence personnel who could prevent Casillas some very jittery moments.

Who would you like to see part of Real Madrid?And are you happy with the contenders so far?