A frenetic start to pre-season has seen the world record transfer fee broken twice in the space of ten days by Real Madrid, causing many top bosses to place ludicrous price tags on their stars.
Inter Milan recently stated that they would only settle for £76million for striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic while Bayern Munich have slapped a £45million price on French winger Franck Ribery.
However, the best value-for-money looks to be at the Santiago Bernabeu where a terrible season has triggered a mass exodus as the Madrid giants look to recover some of the £136million spent on Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Up to 12 players face the chop from new Real Madrid president Florentino Perez including Dutch quartet Arjen Robben, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Rafael Van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder. With each of them understood to be available for cut-prices it is clear where Europe’s top clubs should look to do their shopping this summer.
Arjen Robben – The flying Dutch winger was Los Merengues most inspiring player in 2009, his return to form was pivotal in the club’s 17 game unbeaten run which saw them close the gap on Barcelona to just four points at one stage.
Reported Cost – £20million
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar – The 25-year-old was signed by Real Madrid this January for a reported £20million and despite not making the expected impact in his first six months, he is still one of the most promising strikers in Europe. A £15million price-tag would be very tempting for a number of top clubs.
Rafael Van der Vaart – After scoring four goals in his first month in the Spanish capital, it looked like the club had found Guti’s long term replacement. However, niggly injuries and a rumoured fall-out with manager Juande Ramos hampered his fluidity in the first team, placing doubt over his future.
Reported Cost – £15million
Wesley Sneijder – The industrious midfielder was key to Madrid’s title success in 2008 but an injury-plagued second season has left him in the cold as Lassana Diarra and Fernando Gago have established a good partnership in center-midfield.
Reported Cost – £18million
Other talented players set to leave Real Madrid include Gabriel Heinze (£5m), Royston Drenthe (£10m), Ruud Van Nistelrooy (£2.5m), Javier Saviola (£5m) and Jerzy Dudek (Free) who would certainly have no trouble finding new clubs.