Real Madrid, the club of the century, endured a nightmare 2018/19 campaign finishing the season empty-handed with nothing to show for in terms of trophies.
It seems like a direct consequence of last summer where Los Blancos’ ship was hit hard by the departure of their manager Zinedine Zidane and star player Cristiano Ronaldo.
With Karim Benzema misfiring and the lack of replacement signings upfront meant they entered the 2018/19 season without a proven goal scorer in the team and paid the full price for their apparent overconfidence.
Galacticos went through three managerial changes which saw Julian Lopetegui and Santiago Solari sacked to aid the reunion with their former manager Zidane in March, who had left the club 9 months prior to his return.
Although the season’s fate had been sealed by the time the French manager returned, the Spanish giants have splashed over €300m so far to atone for their passiveness in the last transfer window.
With the arrivals of Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Ferland Mendy, Eder Militao and Rodrygo Goes, the Royal Whites look all geared up for the upcoming season.
And to add the cherry on the top, all these transfers are billed under the 2018/19 campaign meaning the capital club will start from ground zero when the calendar turns to July 1st.
The potential arrival of another midfielder at Santiago Bernabeu remains inevitable with the club president Florentino Perez backing his manager to the hilt.
Another huge sum will be spent to aid the potential arrival of Paul Pogba, Christian Eriksen, or any other suitable candidate.
However, with one aspect of the transfer dealings almost complete, the club will turn their attention towards the possible departures of Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez who are earning high wages unbalancing the books at Santiago Bernabeu.
Players like Marcos Llorente and Mateo Kovacic have already left the club while Dani Ceballos remains keen on his next destination where he can get much-needed playing time to advance his football career.
After all the transfer business during the summer, Los Blancos, who boast of an immaculate squad with enviable depth, will be keen on competing on all fronts next season. However, the league title and the Champions League will top the charts in terms of priority.
Taking into account the stature of the club, it doesn’t go down well when one looks at the fact that they have only won two Primera LIGA titles in the last decade. And to add salt to the wounds, they have seen their fierce rivals in Barcelona lift seven during the same period.
It will be interesting to see how Zidane manages such a large cast at his disposal and how he fares in his first full season without the Portuguese superstar who was the backbone of the team who 3-peated the Champions League under the French manager between 2016 to 2018.
