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After a tough start this season, Real Madrid is currently ninth on the LaLiga table, seven points behind the leaders, Barcelona. They struggled to fire under Julen Lopetegui and he was eventually sacked after their humiliating 5-1 defeat against Barcelona.
The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo was a big blow for Los Blancos, and the inability to replace their departing superstar made things even worse. Karim Benzema has failed to do anything meaningful, and injuries to Gareth Bale and Isco came as another disadvantage.
However, with the January transfer window just a few months away, Real Madrid could use this as an opportunity to find a suitable candidate to carry their team forward the post-Ronaldo era.
Right on this note, here is the list of three players who can fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
#3 Eden Hazard
The Belgium international was linked heavily with Real Madrid to replace Cristiano Ronaldo last summer but Chelsea blocked his potential move to the Bernabeu. However, he recently revealed his desire to join the Los Blancos and could finally move to Spain this winter or even wait till next summer.
Eden Hazard is a technically strong player who is happy to play on the wings or as the central attacking midfielder. His penchant for scoring and laying on goals for others has been a key characteristic of his time at the Stamford Bridge and could help Real Madrid end their goalscoring crisis.
The 27-year-old joined Chelsea from Lille in the summer transfer window of 2012 and has played 217 Premier League games for the London based club so far, scoring 76 times. He won the Chelsea Player of the Year award three times and was also the PFA Young Player of the Season in 2013-14.
Hazard won two Premier League titles with the Blues and also helped his team win the Europa League during the 2012-13 season. He was Belgium's star performer at the FIFA World Cup 2018 and provided the most number of assists (two) during the tournament.
#2 Kylian Mbappe
It is hard to believe that Kylian Mbappe is just 19-years-of-age. The French international has already achieved so many great heights at this young age and is considered to be one of the biggest talents in football.
The 'Golden Boy' of 2017, Kylian Mbappe made his debut in 2015 at the tender age of 16 but he got his breakthrough in the 2016-2017 season. He was one of Monaco's star players during that season as they clinched the Ligue 1 title right under the nose of PSG.
AS Monaco reached the semi-finals of the Champions League as well that season and Kylian Mbappe played a vital role in the team, scoring six goals in their European sojourn. He finished the 2016-2017 season with 26 goals in all competitions.
His impressive performances at AS Monaco impressed PSG and they initially signed him on-loan (with a deal in place to sign him permanently in 2018) in the summer of 2017. He created a lethal attacking front-three alongside Neymar and Edison Cavani at Parc des Princes and is most likely to win the Ligue 1 title with the club this season.
At 19, Kylian Mbappe's best years are ahead of him and he would be a perfect candidate for replacing Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
#1 Neymar
Neymar is often considered the world's best player after Ronaldo and Messi and can consider himself unlucky to be born in the same generation as the greatest duo.
After spending four successful years with Barcelona, Neymar moved to PSG for a world record fee in 2017 and has been in wonderful form since his move. He bagged 28 goals and 16 assists during the 2017-2018 season and helped his team win the domestic treble. Neymar started strong this season as well and already scored eight goals in the nine league games.
The Brazillian international won the Samba Gold award on three occasions and was also the LaLiga Best World Player during the 2014-2015 season. Neymar was included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI two times and was also the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year last season.
The 27-year-old was linked with Real Madrid recently but the Los Blancos needs to pay a fee excess to what PSG paid to sign from Barcelona in 2017.
