Real Madrid are reportedly plotting a twin swoop on Tottenham to prise away Mauricio Pochettino and Harry Kane in the summer transfer window.
According to Spanish TV show La Porteria, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema could be representing Real Madrid till the end of the season before they are replaced in the summer. Los Blancos have set their sights on Tottenham, with Mauricio Pochettino and Harry Kane their big targets for the window.
Pochettino has seen his and Tottenham’s fortunes improve drastically ever since he made his way to the North London club in 2014. Over the last three-and-a-half years, the Argentine has transformed Spurs into genuine Premier League contenders who can also pull their weight in Europe now.
The biggest success story under the Pochettino regime though, has been the emergence of a player who has Real Madrid desperately chasing him. Harry Kane is perhaps the first genuinely world-class player that has risen in England since Wayne Rooney, with the striker breaking records for fun.
It is hardly surprising that Kane is blowing the competition away in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot, even as Tottenham have had a bit of a rough time in the competition. In all, Kane has racked up 28 goals and 3 assists in 28 games across various competitions – numbers that have led to Real Madrid making him a priority target.
Coutinho has left Liverpool, will Kane leave Spurs?
? Pochettino says you can’t take your best players for granted |https://t.co/8dNtK44520 pic.twitter.com/8OyAIOQB8r
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) January 8, 2018
2017-18 has been a season of uncharacteristic struggles for Los Blancos, who are lagging well behind Barcelona in La Liga (19 points) with little chance of winning the title. In the Champions League, Real Madrid finished runners-up behind the club they’re trying to poach, Tottenham, and face a daunting Round of 16 clash against PSG.
The Spanish and European champions’ problems this season so far can be pinned down largely to their inability to find the back of the net on a consistent basis. While the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Marco Asensio and others haven’t contributed sufficiently, the poor performances of Karim Benzema have piled on the pressure enormously on Real Madrid.
The French striker has a paltry return of five goals and three assists in 20 appearances this season, and it doesn’t come as a surprise that Real Madrid are looking towards possible replacements. Zinedine Zidane, on the other hand, has a fair few problems of his own.
Los Blancos are already primed for failure in the league, and a possible inability to beat PSG in Europe could be the last straw for Florentino Perez, as far as the French manager is concerned. The Real Madrid is known to have little patience if managers fail to deliver, and Zidane is unlikely to be any different.
In Pochettino, Perez sees a manager who has developed in promising fashion at Tottenham and is now ready to make the step up to one of the biggest clubs in the world. The Argentine has previously made it quite clear that he would like to manage Real Madrid one day, and it may soon be a reality.
The final decision on Zidane might be taken on Real Madrid’s Champions League showing, and it remains to be seen if he is replaced by Pochettino. As far as Kane is concerned, he looks highly likely to be the subject of transfer bids in the summer, and it will be interesting to see if he is joined by his Tottenham boss at the Bernabeu.
