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If there were one club who were more than happy to see the back of the recently concluded season, it were Real Madrid.
The Spanish giants had entered the campaign as the three-time defending European champions, but in spectacular scenes, the club imploded, mounting nothing near a genuine defense of their continental crown as they were humiliatingly eliminated by Ajax at the Round of 16 stage, while also being off the pace in La Liga, effectively meaning that their season was over by March.
Real Madrid went through three different coaches to get to this nadir and the return of Zinedine Zidane barely ten months after his resignation offered some promise, but the 46-year-old failed to offer any uplift in results, winning just four of the 11 La Liga matches he oversaw.
While a lot of factors were responsible for the club's decline, chief of it being the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, the bottomline is that Real Madrid have an ageing squad in need of a massive overhaul.
The bulk of the team have been together for the best part of the last six years, winning everything winnable in that time and as with everything else, there is nowhere else to go but down.
Zidane has noticed as much, and the club plan a massive overhaul in the summer having already announced the arrivals of a number of players including Eder Militao from FC Porto and Rodrygo Goes from Santos, while also being linked with a host of other high profile players.
Real Madrid would look a very different team moving into the future but unfortunately, a number of the players on the current roster might not be a part of that future. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at four players who might be offloaded by Real Madrid this summer.
#4 Keylor Navas
Keylor Navas was signed by Real Madrid from Levante in the summer of 2014, and since then he has proved himself to be an integral part to everything achieved by Los Blancos.
Despite lacking the star appeal associated with the 'Galactico' nature of Real Madrid players, the 32-year-old has been more than a reliable performer between the sticks, doing his duties efficiently even though he did not get his fair share of press coverage.
In 2015, the Costa Rican international found himself in the spotlight as Real frantically chased the signing of David de Gea from Manchester United but despite all the rancor associated with the infamous 'fax machine gate', Navas regained his composure and helped the club to three consecutive Champions League triumphs.
He has made 141 appearances for the club in all competitions across four seasons and has established himself as the undisputed number one, following the departure of club legend Iker Casillas in 2015.
However, the arrival of Thibaut Courtois last season relegated him to the bench, as Jolen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari preferred the Belgian to him.
Zidane's reappointment offered a promise of hope to Navas as he is a personal favorite of the Frenchman, but despite being initial coy on his goalkeeping situation, Zidane appears to have made a decision in favor of Courtois.
For starters, the former Chelsea man has age on his side, while his status as one of the best goalkeepers in the world means that he would not be content on the bench and Real would not easily get buyers for him.
Navas was the preferred option in goal for Real Madrid's last La Liga match of the season against Real Betis and his actions to the fans at the end of the match suggested that this was his last act in a Real Madrid shirt.
His wife also stoked the embers of speculation about his future when she posted a picture on Instagram while the pair were holidaying in Porto with the caption 'we are staying'
If he does move on from Real, the Costa Rican international would depart as one of the most decorated goalkeepers in recent history and while he might not have gotten the widespread headlines that his performances deserved, his services were not unnoticed by the notoriously demanding Real Madrid fans as the adulation they showered on him in his 'farewell' showed.
#3 Marcelo
Marcelo has been the standout left-back in the world over the last decade, establishing himself as Real Madrid's go-to man on the left flank of defense and contributing more than his fair share to attacks with him bombarding runs forward and pin-point deliveries.
That the 32-year-old has been central to everything achieved in recent years by Real Madrid would be merely stating the obvious as Marcelo has played his way into the annals of the club as one of the greatest left-backs to don the famous whites of Real Madrid.
Given his extremely high performance levels, it is almost tempting to think that he would perform at that level forever, but the reality is that footballers are prone to decline after some years as age and other factors start to take its toll and Marcelo is no different.
The Brazilian international was uncharacteristically off colour this season, performing at a level significantly beneath what we are used to and he was responsible for a number of goals conceded by the club, with it being so bad that the player had to issue a public apology to fans as well as a private one to his teammates.
At a point in the season, he lost his starting spot to young upstart Sergio Reguilon, and even though Zidane somewhat restored him to the starting lineup, the Real Madrid number 12 continued to struggle.
There were reports linking Marcelo with a move to Juventus which would see him reunite with close friend Cristiano Ronaldo and the impending arrival of his compatriot Eder Militao further puts his future at the Bernabeu in doubt. Hence, the time might be right for Marcelo to call it quits on a 12-year trophy-laden legendary career with Real Madrid.
#2 James Rodriguez
James Rodriguez was the star of the 2014 World Cup, capturing the hearts of millions around the world with his boyish good looks as well as scintillating displays for Colombia; he won the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup.
At that point, he was the name on everybody's lips and if there was ever a player tailor-made for Real Madrid, it was Rodriguez as he had everything Florentino Perez sought in a player - marketability, star appeal and the technique to go with it.
Things started out well enough for the Colombian international at the Bernabeu as he was one of Carlo Ancelotti's favourites, but it all started to go downhill for him upon the appointment of Zidane.
The Frenchman preferred Isco in his attacking midfield role and as such, Rodriguez had to settle for a spot on the bench.
However, on his day, the former Porto man is among the best playmakers in the world and as such is too talented to rot away on the bench, hence a move away was the only option.
That move came in the form of a two-year loan transfer to Bayern Munich, and despite initially starring under Ancelotti and Jupp Heynckes, he once more struggled at the Allianz Arena and currently finds his future unresolved.
There had been indications that Bayern were interested in making his move permanent but concerns over his fitness as well as professionalism means that the Colombian could be set for a move once again in the summer as Zidane does not appear to have him in his plans.
The 27-year-old has one year left on his Real Madrid contract and the Spanish giants would be keen to get a buyer rather than lose him for free next season and with clubs such as Juventus and Manchester United said to be interested, his future might not lie at the Santiago Bernabeu.
#1 Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale was made the then-most expensive player of all time when Real Madrid paid Tottenham the sum of £86 million for his services in the summer of 2013.
The Welshman had starred with Tottenham in the Premier League, winning two PFA Player of the Year awards and it was expected that he would bring that form with him to Real Madrid.
However, that proved not to be the case as persistent injuries coupled with the presence of Ronaldo meant that Real Madrid never truly got the best out of the 29-year-old.
However, Bale still contributed in no small measure to the club's successes, with his stunning solo goal in the 2014 Copa del Rey victory over Barcelona as well as his brace against Liverpool in the final of the 2018 Champions League season was indicative of his ability.
Nevertheless, his performances did not come on the scale and frequency that was expected. The departure of Ronaldo to Juventus last summer offered Bale the opportunity to be the star of the show as he was with Tottenham and the Welsh national team, but he failed to grab his opportunities.
Bale found himself on the receiving end of booes from Real Madrid fans as they saw him as one of the players most culpable for the club's dip in form.
The return of Zidane to the dugout only further excerbated issues for Bale, with the Frenchman not even hiding his non-interest in him.
Zidane has constantly left Bale out of his starting lineup, while his comments about the player's future leaves no doubt that he has no plans for the Welshman.
Tottenham and Manchester United are among the clubs interested in his services and if he does depart, he would leave as one of the most divisive figures in Real Madrid's history as despite the trophies, he never quite did enough to win the fans over which is a shame, given his immense talent and ability.
