Has Real Madrid returned to the Galacticos era?

Real Madrid fans seem to have gone back a few years, exactly ten seasons: it's the summer of 2009 when Florentino Perez returns to the Spanish team's direction and decides to invest heavily in the merengues' squad: some top players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kakà, Benzema and Xabi Alonso, but also the youngsters Negredo, Granero and Arbeloa, setting the basements for the following years. This time, and we are still at the beginning of June, here we go again: also thanks to the agreement that last March brought Zinedine Zidane back to the Blancos' bench, the Madrid president put an unlimited budget into the hands of the French manager to build a team (at the moment there are 37 players in the roster!) who live up to the ambitions of the most successful club in the world, exceeding the previous spending records and reaching € 300 million for 'only' six signings. In absolute countertendency compared to the past summer market windows (let's talk about 2017 and 2016 for example) in which Real Madrid, satisfied with the trophies, had been quite sly on the market and had almost only taken care to confirm their best players.

Of course, these are really important footballers, new Galacticos who will have to forget as soon as possible the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo (never really replaced) and give life to a new winning cycle, putting behind one of the worst seasons of the recent past the Spanish club: three managers, many fools and no titles won except the FIFA Club World Cup. The revolution may not be over (will Pogba arrive or not?), but in the meanwhile we know better the first six market affairs of this strengthening campaign that promises to be historic.

Rodrygo Goes

club: Santos
price: 45 mln

Even if the deal was concluded more than a year ago, the new Brazilian talent born in 2001 will be presented at the Bernabeu only Tuesday, June 18, immediately after greeting, in tears, his Santos' teammates. It will not be Neymar or Vinicius Jr., but its history is very reminiscent of that of the two Brazilian talents paid a lot of millions and still minors.

Eder Militão

club: Porto
price: 50 mln

The umpteenth capital gain of the Portuguese club concerns this Brazilian centre-back, which has also often played as a right-back if necessary. Bought just one year ago by the San Paolo for a few millions, he played just over forty games before being sold to the Blancos, before the end of the season, after having also receive the first call-up in the Seleçao. We had already suggested him as one of the most interesting players to follow in the last edition of the UEFA Champions League, also because of his excellent feeling with the goal.

Luka Jovic

club: Eintracht Frankfurt
price: 60 mln

We talked about him many times: the Serbian striker was one of the great revelations of the last two seasons, both in the Bundesliga and in the Europa League, with the Eintracht Frankfurt jersey. 75 caps and 36 goals: the landing in a top team, given its skills and its growth, it was only a matter of time and was the Real that dulled it, but had to spend a lot. Will it be money well spent? How will he fit into Zidane's lineup?

Eden Hazard

club: Chelsea
price: 100 mln

The one between the Belgian and the Spanish club was a marriage announced some time ago and made even more probable in recent weeks, between the public statements of the same player and the sentence that blocked the Chelsea acquisition market. Hazard was looking for a new challenge, Real Madrid could be the right place to consecrate definitively and take all the responsibilities of the case. It could be a real bargain because, paradoxically, it hasn't even been paid that much. 50,000 went to the Bernabeu to welcome him.

Ferland Mendy

club: Olympique Lyonnais
price: 48 mln

Two years ago he played in the French second division at Le Havre, from next July 1 he will be the new Real Madrid's left-back: even with regards to the former Lyon left-handed it is a huge capital gain, if we consider that Aulas had paid him just 5 million and resold for almost ten times more. Same role as the other Mendy, Benjamin, but different characteristics: will he take the place of Marcelo or will he be his replacement? The merengues, in that position, also have Reguillon.

Takefusa Kubo

club: FC Tokyo
price: 2 mln

Searching for him on Google comes out that unpleasant epithet of 'Japanese Messi', both for the skills and for his period in the blaugrana youth academy, which cost Barcelona a strong fine for having purchased it when he was just ten years old. Now, at the age of eighteen, his future will be written in Madrid, but only in the Castilla formation, which currently plays in the third division of Spanish football.