The latest transfer news includes a lot of big names as Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United and possible moves for Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale dominate the headlines.
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Those legendary figures, plus plenty of other big stars, look set to move on this summer and it will be intriguing to see how this all plays out.
In the case of Ronaldo, Bale and Hazard, they will all be leading men for their national teams this summer at EURO 2020.
That means their club future may not be sorted out for a while, but it seems like they will move on.
Ronaldo to make dramatic return?
First up, let’s tackle this report about Cristiano Ronaldo heading back to Manchester United.
We all know that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer absolutely buzzes off nostalgia, but surely this is a step too far?
Ronaldo, 36, finished as the top goalscorer in Serie A this season as Juventus snuck into the top four on the final day of the season. But, Ronaldo was left out for the final game by Juve boss Andrea Pirlo and that led to reports about his future in Turin, once again.
According to a report from The Athletic, Manchester United are monitoring the situation closely and could pounce to make a move for Ronaldo this summer. The player is believed to fancy a dramatic return to Old Trafford.
Do United need Ronaldo?
Well, they already have one veteran forward in Edinson Cavani who proved his class late in the season and the likes of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood are also stars in the making up top.
But Ronaldo is Ronaldo.
He shows no real signs of ageing and with the Glazer family getting hammered by United protestors for their running of the club, they could look to appease fans with some big money signings this summer, and a United legend returning would also fit the bill.
Of course the better long term, and more expensive, options would be Erling Haaland and Harry Kane.
But if Ronaldo somehow became available a year before the end of his Juventus contract, is he worth a punt for United? Absolutely.
Real Madrid duo up for sale
We know that Gareth Bale is set to move on this summer, as he said following his final game of the season on loan at Tottenham that he has made his mind up but didn’t want to saying anything because it will cause ‘chaos’ for everyone.
Hmm.
Bale, 31, had a fine finish to his loan spell at Spurs and finally looks like getting back to his best, just in time for the European Championships as he hopes to lead Wales to a deep run.
But when it comes to his club career, his time at Real Madrid is almost up as he has one year left on his contract. Another loan seems likely unless Real just want to get his huge wages off the books and he can move as a free agent. A loan return to the Premier League seems likely.
According to a report from our partners in the UK at Sky Sports, Bale isn’t the only Galactico who could leave this summer.
Eden Hazard, 30, has had a nightmare with injuries since moving to Real from Chelsea for $122 million in 2019.
It is believed that Bale and Hazard, plus Luka Jovic, will be put up for sale this summer as Real try to bring in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to usher in a new era.
How likely is it that Hazard and Bale bring in more than $75 million combined in transfer fees? Not very. Are clubs likely to pay them the astronomical wages they are on at Real Madrid? Not likely.
It is more likely they stick around at Real and at the very least they head out on loan next season. Chelsea bringing Hazard back on loan would be epic, and would solve their goalscoring problems, as long as Hazard can stay fit.
Zinedine Zidane may not be the coach at Real Madrid next season and Florentino Perez would like to trim his squad, but there are a lot of powerful, yet ageing, players on the books.
The La Liga runners up have Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Marcelo, Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane still around, while Sergio Ramos is out of contract this summer.
It is going to take a heck of a lot to overhaul this squad and Real will probably have to wait another year to make it happen properly. Can they afford to keep Bale and Hazard around?
