In their attempt to beat FC Barcelona for a different Brazilian, Real Madrid have made an offer to AS Roma for their young and talented Centre Back Marquinhos, only to be rejected.
According to the Gazzetta in Italy, the 19-year old Brazilian was valued at €20 million by Real Madrid, but Roma, who missed out on European football this season by losing in the Italian Cup Final, think there’s a lot more to their very talented “wonderkid” defender, who was signed less than a season ago for only €3 million from Corinthians, and he has already turned out to be one of the wisest piece of business done by anyone in European football for quite some time.
Just like Real Madrid, Barcelona are interested in the player as well, and probably with a bigger need to repair what needs fixing in their defensive system, which also means at least one new central defender for immediate deployment, possibly even two, with one of them being someone to count on for the future.
But for Barcelona, after spending €57 million on Neymar, making another big signing without selling anyone (David Villa, Cesc Fabregas?) is going to be difficult, as they usually try not to go overboard with more than one big signing, which might very well be the biggest we’ll see from anyone this summer.
At the moment, Real Madrid have Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Pepe and Raul Albiol at centre back. It seems Albiol, a former Spanish international, doesn’t have much of a future with the team, even at backup. Pepe might also be sold, as his number one fan until not too long ago, Jose Mourinho, is no longer with the club. Real Madrid don’t usually believe in finding a replacement from within, so there’s a good chance we’ll see at least two new central defenders arriving at the club, and in traditional Real Madrid fashion, they won’t be cheap.