There once was a time when Real Madrid were the biggest strength in the European transfer market, taking nearly all targets they wanted and snatching much-loved players away from their clubs.
One of the biggest hits they managed was taking Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009, and he joined a long list of other stars who had been taken with seemingly endless funds.
Things are now very different, and Florentino Perez has this week spoken out against ‘state clubs’. Those would usually be thought of as Manchester City and PSG, however, it’s clear Newcastle United are now being dragged into the picture.
Wednesday’s edition of AS has a big article explaining Real Madrid’s plan to fight back against these clubs, and Newcastle United are named.
It’s explained Los Blancos plan to use the prestige they have to convince players to turn down higher wages elsewhere. They also need to take advantage of free transfers, as could be the case with Kylian Mbappe, and signings via reasonable purchase clauses, such as with Erling Haaland.
AS say the plan is: ‘To convince the great footballers on the market to prefer to play for Madrid because of its historical and universal prestige, instead of accepting exorbitant millionaire chips at clubs such as PSG, City, Chelsea or, for a few weeks, Newcastle.’
That Real Madrid would now be concerned about Newcastle United is a huge change given the histories of the two clubs.
