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So far, the 2018/19 season has been horrible for Real Madrid. The Galacticos dropped out of the Champions League against Ajax Amsterdam in the Round of 16, after winning the competition 3 times in a row.
They are in 3rd spot behind Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona in the La Liga, with the Catalonians nearly unreachable at the top. In addition, maybe the biggest harassment for Madrid: The 3 Classico losses since Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane both left the capital. Now in March, the latter was appointed to lead Real back to top after two disappointing managerial spells of Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari. With those two, the biggest issue has been the lack of goals, which is connected to issues in the striking position, where Karim Benzema is slowly declining.
The Frenchman was trusted by his manager a lot, but after the loss of Cristiano he failed to step up and make the fans forget their star. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges for Zidane is to find a new starting striker.
Having a budget of reported £300 million, the club definitely does not lack money and ambition to find a replacement for their agening striker. A young Galactico signing is needed, that could lead Madrid back to glory and fill the gap on the scoresheet, that a certain Portugese left the last summer.
To be realisitc, I did not include agening strikers that have been linked to Real over the past few years, like Lewandowski or Agüero. The player should be a poster boy, a goal threat but also have a name to him that Madrid fans could cheer after a big win. Here are my propositions, that I think could lead the record winner of the Champions League back to the top:
#1 Mauro Icardi
Icardi is an Argentinian that started his career at FC Barcelona. After not getting his chance at the club he swapped Spain for Italy, where he hired for Sampdoria Genoa. There he played two quality seasons and in 2014 earned himself a move to one of Italy's biggest clubs: Inter Milan. In the start of 2019 he fell out with Inter board and does not seem to be happy, playing for the Nerazzuri anymore.
He is only 26 years old but already scored 119 goals in the Serie A and assisted furthermore 26. He is a pure poacher, not as involved in the play as others (only averaging 15 passes per game), but still makes 1.2 key passes per 90. His main ability are his lurking in the box skills. In this area, the Mauro makes 2 shots in every game and is also usually in the winning end of crosses.
How he would fit Madrid: Icardi is a Spanish speaker, which him to fit very easy into the squad and as a big player in Italy, a transfer could turn him into a global superstarhat, also matching the transferpolicy of Real. Despite this, he also is very consistent on the pitch, at least scoring 15 goals in his last 4 Serie A seasons. Despite being great in the box, he would need to improve passing numbers to fit in as a number 9 in Zidane's system. Apart from that I could see him joining the Los Blancos and partially fill in the gap, at least when it comes to goal scoring, that Ronaldo left at the club.
Costs: £70 million
Also See : Durand Cup, Durand Cup Schedule, Calcutta Football League
#2 Luka Jovic
Jovic is a young Serbian striker, who came up through the youth of Red Star Belgrad. He left the club in 2016 for the Cyprus' club Apol. Limassol, who sold him one day later for a profit of 4 million to Benfica. The Portuguese team later loaned him out to Eintracht Frankfurt, where he exploded and right now is targeted by various top clubs.
The reason is simple: He already scored 15 goals and gave 5 assists in his first Bundesliga season, while as well scoring 7 times in his 7 Europa League appearances. The Frankfurt striker is another poacher, only passing the ball 17.3 times per game. His main strength can as well be found in the box, averaging 2.5 shots in this part of the field. His biggest advantage is his age. He still is only 21 years old and got huge potential in him. The lack of experience may put Real Madrid off, but his numbers warrant the possibility of the Spanish club taking the risk.
How he would fit Madrid: Luka is a young player, which seems to match with the recent transfers of Florentino Perez. He is very dangerous in the box and his distinctive poaching ability are quite rare for such an young attacker, which brands him as an exceptional talent. He lacks in experience and, as Icardi, Jovic is not the best player when it come to the buildup before the chances. Apart from those facts, that would need to improve in the Bernabeu, he is worth taking the risk and could be the next big number 9 in the white jersey.
Costs: £60 million
#3 Harry Kane
Kane started his career where he plays now: At Tottenham Hotspur. The Spurs loaned him out to the likes of Millwall, Norwich and Leicester, before he got his chance in the first team. After a slow start, Harry began to score loads and today is rightfully called one of the best strikers in the world.
The captain of the English national team is not only a poacher but is also involved in the play of the club very much. Averaging 20 passes still is not that much, but he dribbles past 1.7 opponents and even hits 1.4 successful longballs per game. Even younger than Icardi at 25 years, he already scored 125 times in his 179 Premier league games.
The biggest issue possibly will be getting him away from his youth club Tottenham and his mentor Mauricio Pochettino, but joining the likes of Michael Owen and David Beckham in the history books of Real could motivate him for the move.
How he would fit Madrid: Harry seems like a typical old school Madrid signing: big name, big numbers and especially big money. His statistics warrant the price tag and on top of that, he is better at creating chances than most other strikers. There are 2 issues with him: His price, as Real definitely will not spend all their money on one striker and the circumstance that he does not want to leave his current club.
Costs: £165 million
#4 Sebastién Haller
Haller is another player from the famous youth of Auxerre, close to Paris. Also making his first appearances there, he swapped France for the Netherlands early in his career, where he became the league top scorer at Utrecht. From the Eredivisie, Frankfurt signed him for 7 million and there he turned up this season.
14 goals and 9 assists in his second year for the Eintracht are amazing numbers. The 190 cm tall attacker is not only amazing in the air, winning 7.4 aerial duels per game, but also with his feet, passing the ball 28 times per 90 minutes. The only issue there is his 63% accuracy, which is very low, but may be due to fact that he often plays the risky ball forward. The Frenchman, who is still only 24 years old, is an outside the box call who could be a respectable successor to Benzema.
How he would fit Madrid: He probably would fit Zidane's tactics the most of all those candidates. Very good at creating chances and a threat in the air, combined with his goal scoring hunger makes him a complete striker. The biggest issue I see here is, that he does not have a big name yet. Real would by no means take a risk of making an international unknown player their star striker, which is a shame considering his talent.
Costs: £40 million
#5 Kylian Mbappé
Mbappé started his career, as many Ligue 1 stars of the recent years, at AS Monaco. Making his debut at 17, he soon played every game under Leonardo Jardim. The young squad around him even won the League in 16/17. One year later Paris Saint-Germain bought him for around 135 million and there, in a line up with Cavani and Neymar, he even became better.
Kylian may be the youngest player on this list (20 years old), but still could be the biggest name of them all. Already playing a big part in World Cup winning France side. The PSG player already scored 79 goals and assisted 47 more in his undeveloped career. He is lightning fast and very strong on the ball, as he dribbles 2.3 opponents per game. 26.2 passes and 4.3 shots per 90 are also not a bad number for a forward.
This season might be the best one for the player yet, having more goals then games so far. He definitely would be the most galactico signing on this list.
How he would fit Madrid: Kylian would be the ultimate signing. He is a future Ballon d'or winner in the making and could reach the ability of Ronaldo one day. He is fast, strong, good on the ball, a great finisher and probably the only player truly worth his +£150 price tag.
He and Zidane could build a French legacy in the capital of Spain, which would last for many years, considering his young age. The only reason why I do not see this happening is the same as with Harry Kane: I don’t see Real invest such money in only one position.
Costs: £190 million
