Spanish journalist Guillem Balague has said that Real Madrid want Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen over Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba.
The Premier League duo have been linked with a move to the Bernabeu in recent months, with Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane planning to begin the first full season in charge of his second spell at the club with a revamped squad.
Luka Modric is one player who could make way according to Balague, who, speaking to the Daily Express on Tuesday [11:15am] claimed that Madrid have finally decided who they want to sign to replace him.
“I’m quite certain [Real president] Florentino Perez and the club would like Eriksen instead,” the journalist said. “[He would be] cheaper and a more Real Madrid player.
“Modric I believe they want to sell because they need to raise money, so you don’t have Modric but you have Eriksen, that’s sorted out.”
OPINION
There is no doubt that Zidane is planning a revamp of his squad this summer, and a new midfielder is on his shopping list. Between Eriksen and Pogba, you would have to say that Eriksen would be harder of the two to persuade on a move to Spain: while Pogba looks to have lost all motivation to play in a United shirt, Eriksen is part of the spine of the team that Pochettino has built. The respective managers – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Mauricio Pochettino – probably feel the same way. For Solskjaer, Pogba can be a world-class player when he wants to be, while Erisken is simply invaluable and losing him to Real Madrid would be a hammer blow to Spurs, for he is one of the reasons why Spurs have made so much progress in the last few seasons. It will be interesting to see who Madrid finally decide on, but according to Balague, the club have their sights set on Eriksen.