Jesé Rodríguez
RUMOUR – Following a lengthy spell out with a cruciate ligament injury, Jesé has struggled for both fitness and match-sharpness, completing 90 minutes just twice since his return in December. Carlo Ancelotti has also overlooked the tricky forward during spells that saw both Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema fall to injury. Now it seems Jesé is desperate to leave Los Blancos, hoping to emulate the rise of his former teammate and friend Alvaro Morata by leaving the Bernabéu. Fresh reports suggest Real Madrid are now planning to sell the Spanish U21 international at the end of the season, with an inclusion of a buyback clause according to Alvaro de la Rosa of AS. Such a clause was utilised following Dani Carvajal’s inspired form in the Bundesliga at Bayer Leverkusen.
WILL IT HAPPEN? – Chelsea have been linked with the forward on a number of occasions and despite possessing a wealth of attacking options, it is quite apparent that Abramovich cannot resist an exciting attacker. Even now Chelsea are continuing to sign players in the attacking third. The recent acquisition of Adrian highlights the low risk and high reward approach adopted by technical director Michael Emenalo. Yet the speculation concerning a move for Jesé appears to be fabricated. Mourinho has made clear of his intentions to integrate players from Chelsea’s illustrious academy and any move for Jesé would offset the progress of players such as Izzy Brown, Jeremie Boga or Charly Musonda.
Gareth Bale
RUMOUR – Since signing for a world-record fee of £85 million it is fair to say that Gareth Bale has not yet established himself as a fan-favourite in the way many expected. Indeed, the pride of Wales has been booed and whistled off the field at times despite registering crucial goals in the Copa del Rey final against bitter rivals Barcelona and in the Champions League final versus inter-city neighbours Atlético. The fans that call the Santiago Bernabéu home are unrivalled in their demand for perfection and Bale has somewhat folded under the pressure of the fans and his price tag while still recording a respectable 17 goals and 10 assists in 41 appearances.
WILL IT HAPPEN? – The simple answer is no and the reason being, Madrid do not want to sell. Bale represents a gamble by Florentino Pérez, a gamble that the President of Real Madrid is determined to see eventually come good. It is true that a player of Bale’s caliber could raise Chelsea to the level of Barcelona or Bayern Munich and I can imagine Abramovich’s supposed interest is genuine. However, Bale will be forced to prove himself to the Madristas whether he likes it or not. His agent, Jonathan Barnett, has also insisted he will remain at Madrid for next season. Spanish football expert, Guillem Balagué, also believes Bale will stay: ‘Bale is not going anywhere this summer and will still be at Real next season, although both his position and role in the team have to change.’
Raphaël Varane
RUMOUR – Undoubtedly one of the hottest prospects in world football and arguably the most promising young defender to emerge in recent years, Raphaël Varane has cut a frustrated figure at times in the Spanish capital, primarily down to a lack of playing time. A niggling knee injury picked up two seasons ago has not helped his cause either. Once more Carlo Ancelotti has preferred the more experienced partnership consisting of club icon Sergio Ramos and Portuguese international, Pepe. Therefore Varane may view a move to Chelsea as more progressive in terms of his development and playing time. His previous highest number of appearances for Los Blancos amounts to thirty-three outings during the 2012/13 season, where he eventually fell to an injury. It is worth noting his manager at the time was a certain José Mourinho
WILL IT HAPPEN? – Mourinho’s interest in the French international has been made deliberately obvious as shown by his comments prior to the World Cup in Brazil: ‘I think he is the best young central defender in the world. Already I think he is the best.’ Yet this season has seen Varane surpass his previous highest number of appearances for Real, recording 39 in all competitions, benefiting from an injury to Pepe. Much to the dismay of Chelsea, Real will need some convincing to sell the Frenchman with Sergio Ramos one year off the dreaded age of 30 and Pepe already at 32. Further ruling out a potential partnership between Zouma and Varane at the Bridge, Varane told Madrid’s official website the following after Barcelona confirmed the Spanish title: ‘We have to congratulate the champions because they have done very well. We’ll try to win it next year.’ His willingness to be a part of next season’s challenge is the biggest hint that a possible reunion with Mourinho is highly unlikely.
