Real Madrid are a team that is largely in need of an overhaul, with a number of key players now reaching the autumn of their careers. The likes of Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric are all in their 30's, and the squad is one crying out for some new recruits.
Eden Hazard has been strongly linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu, and the Belgian seems keen on heading to the Spanish capital. Real Madrid's interest in Harry Kane has also been widely reported, but they had also set their sights on one of his teammates.
They identified Christian Eriksen as the perfect man to slot into an attacking midfield role in the team, and with the Dane also about to enter the final year of his contract, they were confident of coming to an agreement with Spurs.
However, they now seem more hesitant on pursuing a deal. AS are reporting that Madrid have dropped their interest in Eriksen, as they feel any transfer would not be financially feasible. Los Blancos were willing to pay around €85million for the player, but they believe a recent move from rivals Barcelona will end any chance of such a fee being agreed.
📍 Amsterdam
📝 Contract = signed
🤝 Deal = done
👱🏻 Frenkie = 🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/BwZPjR5JKw— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 23, 2019
Barca this week shelled out €86million for Ajax midfielder Frenkie De Jong, a player who lacks the top level experience of a player such as Eriksen. Madrid believe that deal will inflate the market this summer for players in a similar position, making any deal for Eriksen extend beyond their price range.
We have seen a domino effect such as this one happen before. The Neymar to PSG deal is one which drove the prices of other transfers that summer through the roof, with other deals such as Coutinho to Barcelona being greatly influenced by the fee paid by the French club. While the De Jong transfer fee was not on the scale of that one, it could have a similar effect.
With the player having only 18 months left on his contract, and with a new deal not seemingly forthcoming, Daniel Levy may be willing to sell the midfielder this summer. He will no doubt want to extract every ounce of value from any deal, however, with Chelsea, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Juventus also rumoured to be interested in signing the player.
