Real Madrid have gone into the season trusting that a combination of Eduardo Camavinga, Fede Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham will make their midfield one of the strongest in the game. Yet there is no doubt that they are feeling the absence of the retired Toni Kroos.
In addition to links to Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich and Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool, the other position that appears to be of interest to Los Blancos for next summer is midfield. Manchester City midfielder Rodri Hernandez is their top target.
According to Sport though, Paris Saint-Germain’s Fabian Ruiz is now on their radar, having previously considered his signing before. His performances for Spain this summer have put him back in mind as a potential alternative. The 28-year-old has three years left on his PSG contract, but Carlo Ancelotti and assistant Davide Ancelotti signed him while they were at Napoli beforehand, and the latter is credited with the move, pushing hard for his addition.
Ancelotti junior is obviously still in place as assistant to Carlo, and his presence will count as a major advocating voice in the process of deciding how to proceed. If Real Madrid do strengthen, then it seems likely that Rodri would remain as the top choice, but Fabian would likely come at a significantly cheaper price.