The pieces Lopetegui needs to complete his puzzle
Real Madrid will present former Spain’s boss, Julen Lopetegui at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight, so we take a look at the players he really needs to succeed at the Bernabeu.
Former manager, Zinedine Zidane has set the standard so high for the new manager to the extent that Julen needs to deliver as soon as possible to be a fan favorite at Real Madrid.
With Zidane at the helm of affairs at Real Madrid, he made a series of tight decisions concerning his players, selections and substitutions.
Taking a look at the squad at Real, it is actually star-studded but a few changes can still be made.
The goalkeeping position has been a controversial issue at Real Madrid for the last few seasons, with Keylor Navas not been consistent enough. With this said, Los Blancos has been linked with a few other options that include David de Gea, Kepa Arizabalaga and Alisson Becker. Naturally, Lopetegui is expected to prefer de Gea having worked with and have a close relationship with the Spaniard in the national team. Any of these figures should be a good upgrade on Keylor Navas.
The defensive line is rather OK for any team to rely on, with the options on the bench also good enough to be called upon at any given time.
The midfield doesn’t need many changes either, with Kroos, Casemiro, Modric and Isco expected to be pulling the strings for the Merengues next season. Isco has been in and out of Zidane’s team but is expected to be a fixture in Julen’s with the relationship they have in the national team, right from the youth team.
The attack is where the problem lies with arguably all of the starting attackers for Real Madrid last season having their future up in the air. Cristiano Ronaldo has made his intention to leave known to the club, while the Benzema has always faced criticism from the fans and might move on, Bale also has his future in doubt but has decided to wait until after a new manager has been announced before making his decision, but it doesn’t seem to be a good news for the Welshman judging by an interview Lopetegui made in 2015 where he said players like Bale can’t get into his team.
If all these forwards are moved on, then Real Madrid and Lopetegui has a lot on their sleeves.
Neymar has been linked with Real since last season and the capital club will try all possible means to sign him if Ronaldo leaves. Other options includes Egyptian Mohammed Salah, Juventus’ Paulo Dybala and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard on the wing.
Lewandowski, Mauro Icardi and Harry Kane are few of the central forwards that has been linked with Los Blancos in recent times and are expected to acquire the services of at least one of them.
Flamengo’s wonderkind, Vinicius has already been confirmed and will join the Real Madrid squad this summer after turning 18. While another young talent from Brazil, Rodrygo is rumoured to be close to having an agreement with the La Liga giants too.
Lopetegui already has the challenging job of replacing Zidane so now he needs to prove to the world that his unbeaten run with Spain is not a fluke.