5 players Real Madrid could target in the summer

Real Madrid will have a busy summer transfer window in 2019 after coming in third place in La Liga and disappointing in the Champions League.

Though Real Madrid briefly received a lift from 18-year-old phenom Vinicius Junior, the Brazilian winger went down with an injury and Madrid regressed back to lacking any sort of inventiveness in attack. After failing to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, Real must also upgrade Gareth Bale, who will soon depart with his best days in Spain’s capital clearly behind him.

Real have talent on their squad, as evidenced by Vinicius and Marco Asensio in their attack, but they also have several aging stars who must be upgraded. Bale, Sergio Ramos, and Keylor Navas are among the notable names on the way out, and stars Karim Benzema and Luka Modric will eventually have to be replaced.

This summer will be about building for the future and making upgrades for the present, because Real cannot afford to play this poorly for a second straight season. While Real do have needs defensively, the focus will be on upgrading their attack; that’s usually Florentino Perez’s primary concern in running Real as an enterprise.

Here are five possible transfer targets for Real, but this is by no means an exhaustive list. Other stars like left back Ferland Mendy are likely squarely on Los Blancos radar in 2019.

Note that Real have already signed Eintracht Frankfurt striker Luka Jovic, who scored 17 goals in the Bundesliga and was an even more efficient scoring machine in the Europa League. Jovic, just 21, could be one of the world’s best for years to come and is a perfect addition to Real’s lineup. Probably Real’s biggest target behind the player below, Jovic is indeed a vital signing for a club looking to add young attacking talent before the 2019-2020 season begins.

Eden Hazard

There simply isn’t a player Real Madrid need more than Eden Hazard, whose 15 assists were more than any other player in Europe. For the past several years, Hazard has been the Premier League’s most consistent star, producing moments of magic with quick feet that make his dribbling ability reminiscent of Lionel Messi’s.

A complete player who can excel in just about any attacking role, Hazard finishes with aplomb, in addition to setting up teammates after mazy runs. Real don’t have a player capable of creating chances for others to the degree Hazard does, and it would be a joy for Real fans to see him and Karim Benzema – or a younger, potentially better striker – link up together in 2019-2020.

After putting on one last master class in a Chelsea jersey in the Europa League final, Hazard sounds like he’s ready for bigger and better things after carrying the London-based club for the past few years. If Hazard is able to lead Real to Champions League victory again, he’ll go down in the history books after having led Chelsea to multiple Premier League titles and Europa League glory in what was otherwise a down year.