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Hello and welcome to Sportskeeda's Daily Transfer Roundup. The European top flights are all taking shape and with each passing gameweek, every side's strengths and weaknesses are becoming clear.
With giants like Manchester United underperforming, we expect to see a lot of activity in the January transfer window. Let's take a look at what's happening behind the scenes as teams lay the groundwork for a successful winter transfer window.
Luka Modric urges Gareth Bale to stay at Real Madrid
Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric has urged his club teammate Gareth Bale to stay at Real Madrid despite being constantly linked with a move away from the club. Modric underlined Bale's importance at the Santiago Bernabeu and said that he hopes the Welshman will kick on at Madrid for the foreseeable future.
"Of course. He is an amazing player and very important for the team,” Modric claimed.
“He is showing that this season. Hopefully he will stay this season and the next seasons as well. He’s an important player for Real Madrid.”
Modric and Bale faced off against each other a couple of days back in the Euro 2020 qualifier. There were injury concerns over both players and Modric added:
“I didn’t see Gareth afterwards because I was also injured. We will see if I am okay. I am hopeful he will be okay.
“He’s an important player for Real Madrid and hopefully it’s nothing and it is just cramps. We will see.”
Edwin Van Der Sar interested in Manchester United Director of Football role
The former Manchester United goalkeeper and Premier League legend Edwin Van Der Sar has revealed that he would be interested in taking over the role of the director of football at Manchester United should the opportunity arise. However, he admitted that he still has to learn a lot.
He told Planet Futbol TV,
"Besides my family, the wife, kids and friends, I have two loves in my life - Ajax, who scouted me and gave me the chance to shine in the world of football and Manchester United, who helped me to develop even at the end of my career."
"'Of course I'd be interested in a position, but at first I think I need to learn a little bit more here at Ajax and develop myself even further. Let's see what the future brings, United is a fantastic club, with a great following all over the world.
"I'm the chief executive at Ajax, United are looking for a different position, a director of football, it's a different role. I know a little bit about football of course."
Manchester United and AC Milan favourites to sign Ivan Rakitic
That Ivan Rakitic is unsettled at Barcelona is no secret. The Croatian is not happy with the secondary role that he has been given by Ernesto Valverde this season and believes that another top club could better utilize his strengths.
Rakitic was one of Valverde's most played players last season. However, he hasn't featured frequently for the Blaugrana this time around. Meanwhile, Manchester United are in dire need of an attacking midfielder as they run low on creativity in the final third and are finding it really difficult to break down teams who use the low block.
As per the report, both AC Milan and Manchester United have started mobilizing their resources in order to fund a move in January.
Neymar told 4 Real Madrid players he wants to join but they did not sign him for 2 reasons
The long-drawn-out transfer saga from the summer involving Neymar Jr. did not find a resolution by the time the transfer window shut. Lack of departures from Real Madrid's roster and Barcelona's inability to cough up the asking price acted as impediments to Neymar's dreams of securing a move away from Paris Saint-Germain.
Now, according to the latest reports, Neymar still wants to join Real Madrid and would prefer a move to the Santiago Bernabeu over Barcelona. Neymar had messaged Sergio Ramos, Casemiro, Marcelo and Luka Modric and revealed to them that he intends to join Los Blancos.
However, since Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez both ended up staying put at Real Madrid, they informed Paris Saint-Germain that they will not be making a bid for the Brazilian. Secondly, though Florentino Perez acknowledges that Neymar is a good player, the €200 million price tag and exorbitant wages was always going to make the deal unlikely.
The report adds that Neymar is still hopeful of forcing a move to Real Madrid next summer.
