What about Real Madrid's replacement for Ronaldo?

Real Madrid and their entire supporter base were left shattered following Cristiano Ronaldo's exit earlier this summer. The Portugal captain, 33, left the Spanish capital for Juventus in a lucrative transfer worth €100m - while he personally is expected to earn €120m in Turin over the four-year contract deal he signed a few weeks ago.

Ronaldo is Real's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored 450 goals in 438 matches (across all competitions). During his nine-year tenure in Madrid, he consistently averaged a jaw-dropping 50 goals per season and with respect to the world-class talent that remain at Real, no-one can boast similar numbers.

In fact, there are very few players across world football who are consistently lethal in-front of goal.

Speculation over Ronaldo's heir continues

There has been intense talk over who could potentially replace Ronaldo, long-term. Los Blancos were linked with moves for both Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, though the Champions League holders went public, stressing they were not making formal bids for either player.

Both players have reaffirmed their desire to remain in Paris, at least for now - having joined in big-money moves from Barcelona and AS Monaco twelve months ago.

Chelsea forward Eden Hazard was another name regularly on the Whites' wish list, according to recent reports. The Belgian has publicly spoken about his desire to play for Real, even following Zinedine Zidane's surprise departure in June - though new boss Maurizio Sarri is eager to retain the Blues' talisman and is prepared to place an expensive price-tag to ward off interest for now.

Bayern's Robert Lewandowski and PSG striker Edinson Cavani are the latest names to be linked with a move to the 13-time European champions, though they would both be seen as immediate competition alongside Karim Benzema's centre-forward role, rather than Ronaldo's replacement.

What's next?

At the unveiling of Vinicius Jr and Andriy Lunin in Madrid, club president Florentino Perez also spoke about the club's policy of investing in young talent over the last few years.

That has been evident, knowing that they have not spent heavily on one player since James Rodriguez after his World Cup exploits with Colombia four years ago. Julen Lopetegui has also revealed Gareth Bale has a significant role to play in the first-team squad, essentially settling his future in Spain for the foreseeable future.

Spanish creative duo Asensio (no.20) and Isco are expected to play influential roles for Real Madrid

Real could also turn to Marco Asensio, who could be the best and most suitable player to replace Ronaldo's influence. The highly-rated 22-year-old is one of their prized assets and impressed in flashes over the past two seasons while creative midfielder Isco and winger Lucas Vazquez both will be expected to step up to the added responsibility in the final third.

All in all, a Ronaldo-less Real Madrid promises to be as intriguing as Ronaldo's Juventus side next season.