Real Madrid has signed $342 million of talent in the transfer market but is still going after the most expensive players on the planet

Photo by AP Photo/Martin Meissner

The availability of Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe interests Real Madrid.
The La Liga club has already spent $342 million buying five players in the summer transfer market.
But despite its shopping spree, Real remains determined to add another player to its deepening roster as it seeks a swift return to championship status in soccer’s top tournaments.
To help fund a move for Pogba or Mbappe, MARCA reports that the club will likely sell Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez, both of whom have been linked with transfers to Premier League teams.
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Real Madrid has already spent $342 million signing top talent in the transfer market but is still going after the most expensive players on the planet, according to reports in Spain.

The La Liga powerhouse is looking to rebuild after selling Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus last summer, seeing Zinedine Zidane leave the club days later, and finishing the 2018-2019 bereft of major titles.

Real had previously won the UEFA Champions League in three successive seasons with Zidane as coach and Ronaldo firing in goals from all angles, but was knocked out of the competition at the Round of 16 stage this year.

Real won the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, a low-regarded mid-season tournament, but struggled in the Spanish division and was eliminated in the domestic cup semifinal.

Though Zidane returned as coach in March, replacing Santiago Solari, Madrid is desperate to restore itself as a champion in soccer’s greatest tournaments.

To help achieve this, the club’s brass has undergone a massive recruitment drive buying Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, and Rodrygo Goes for a combined $342 million, according to the Spanish sports publication MARCA.

In the same report, MARCA says "more signings are planned" as the club is keen to bring the Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba to Madrid, a deal that could cost $170 million.

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In a separate article, MARCA reports that "Real Madrid are waiting" on Kylian Mbappe, the 20-year-old sensation who has lit up Ligue 1 in France with goals that are like works of art, scoring four goals in 13 minutes in one extraordinary appearance, and for shining even without Neymar in the first team.

Mbappe recently hinted at a desire to leave Paris Saint-Germain, but few clubs would be able to afford his $280 million valuation. Real, though, is one of the few clubs who could.

Should Real secure Pogba’s signature this summer, it would take its spending past the half a billion dollar mark. If it added Mbappe to its roster, too, then it would be looking at a total expenditure of $792 million.

To buy one more player, Real would first need to offload a number of its own athletes as a way of raising funds.

MARCA says Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez could be sold. Bale, who has been linked with a move to United and a return to Tottenham Hotspur, could raise up to $55 million, according to CIES Football Observatory valuations.

Rodriguez, also linked with United as well as Liverpool FC and Arsenal, could generate approximately $33 million.

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