On July 10th, Real Madrid was left with a gaping, Cristiano Ronaldo-sized hole in their team. They lost their greatest player and their global icon of the last decade, and while they made 117 MILLION euros in the transfer, we have yet to see what comes out of it. It's been a slow summer for Real Madrid, and it leaves this team in an odd position for the upcoming season.
Their attack is now left with an open "50-goal per season" gap that needs to be filled somehow. Their only striker currently is an aging Benzema, and he's aging pretty fast. Bale is injury-prone and inconsistent, he can't become the superstar that we all expected at some point. His career at Madrid has stalled and his future is in question. They need an extra star-level player in the attack.
That's not to say that their current team isn't bad or doomed, the players and pieces they own are enough to make any team jealous. Modric, while being 32 years of age, was the best player this World Cup. Their defense is still standing strong, and Casemiro remains ahead of them as one of the world's greatest defensive midfielders. Asensio will finally get the playing time he deserves. And Isco is Isco.
Also, Madrid have brought Vinicius Junior, an 18-year old SUPER WONDERKID from Brazil. I watched his highlights and he looks downright frightening. With his size, speed, and skill (along with his beautiful Gladiator name), he might become the future. But that's an unrealistic expectation he will fill Ronaldo's shoes right away.
Elsewhere, other European teams are building up their weapons. Barcelona just bought Arturo Vidal from Bayern and stole Malcolm from the hands of Roma. Bayern finalized signing Leon Goretzka and added Renato Sanches and Alphonso Davies to the team. Liverpool strengthened their midfield by adding Xheridan Shaqiri, Nabil Keita, and Fabinho. Atletico bought Thomas Lemar, Gelson Martins, and Santi Arias. Juventus signed Ronaldo, secured Douglas Costa and brought back Bonucci.
This all reminds me of that scene in Spiderman: Homecoming (2017), where Michael Keaton's Vuture says, "The world is changing, it's time we change too" to his evil henchmen. Well yeah, the football world is constantly changing every day and Real needs to keep up. They just need to make one big signing soon to straighten the ship once more.
So what's next? Well I don't know, they are REAL FREAKING MADRID. They need to make a move soon. Madrid has never been shy to throw money around and buy football's best talents. The Galactico era is way over, but this team can go out and buy whoever they want because they simply can. This is what they have accomplished this summer: they flirted with Chelsea over Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois (and seem to be going nowhere), their links with both Neymar and Mbappe seem dead ends (at least for this summer). Meanwhile, rumors claim that Modric is itching for a transfer out of Real.
To say it's a sinking ship is an overstatement, but to call this summer a disappointment so far is reasonable.
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