#2 There’s no ‘Galactico’ for Real Madrid to sign
If there’s any team more financially powerful than Manchester United, it’s Real Madrid. The Spanish giants have broken the world transfer fee record five times since the turn of the millennium, usually in order to bring the world’s best players to the Bernabeu as part of their notorious ‘Galactico’ project. Could they do it this year? If they so wished, but the problem is that well, there’s no real ‘Galactico’ out there who’s available right now.
Think about it. The players who went to Real to break the record were Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. All of them were talked about as perhaps the best player on the planet at the time of their transfer. Madrid’s big targets this year include Kylian Mbappe, Eden Hazard and David de Gea. Great players, but none of them really scream ‘Galactico’ like those record-breaking names. They’re more in line with big Madrid signings like David Beckham, Michael Owen, Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez.
If Neymar or Luis Suarez – or dare I say it, Lionel Messi – became available, then perhaps Real would break the record in order to bring another Galactico aboard. But while there are no Galacticos available then Madrid are unlikely to break the record. And if Real won’t do it then who the hell will?
