Real Madrid must 'raise £84m to avoid Financial Fair Play punishment' and will sell stars in the January transfer window

Posted Sunday, December 08, 2019 by Thesun.co.uk

Real Madrid must 'raise £84m to avoid Financial Fair Play punishment' and will sell stars in the January transfer window
Zinedine Zidane looks set to be hamstrung in the January transfer window as Real Madrid must reportedly raise £84m Credit: Getty - Contributor

REAL MADRID must reportedly raise £84million before the end of the season to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.

It means they are likely to be forced into selling some of their major stars when the transfer window reopens in January.

Los Blancos spent big in the summer with the likes of Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo Goes all arriving.

Hazard was the star signing for an initial £88m - and could rise to £150m - while Real paid in excess of £40m for the others.

Their total spend was just shy of £300m and brought in around £126m from the sales of Marcos Llorente, Keylor Navas, Raul de Tomas, Mateo Kovacic and Theo Hernandez.

But according to Marca, this is a big concern for the club and LaLiga while it is reported that Uefa FFP rules mean they must make up £84m to reduce the huge net spend.

And the way to do that is to sell big in January, which could pave the way for some high-profile names to be let go.

It is no secret that Real Madrid want Gareth Bale out and off the wage bill.

But even if the Bernabeu side can somehow find a team to pay the big bucks to bring in Bale, selling the Welshman alone is unlikely to bring in enough cash to settle the £84m deficit.

James Rodriguez is another player who could be put up for sale - he started the season playing a bit-part role but is currently out injured.

Isco may therefore be a better option for Real Madrid because they are more likely to get the big £84m fee for the 27-year-old playmaker, who has also been linked with moves away in recent transfer windows.

Finally, Raphael Varane is one of their most valuable players and would no doubt be sold for a record fee for a defender - although Zinedine Zidane will be desperate to keep hold of the World Cup winner.

But the need to make up the shortfall also means Real Madrid are on course to miss out on another World Cup winner.

Zidane is a big fan of compatriot Paul Pogba and is understood to still be keen to bring him to Madrid - although now he must surely wait until the summer for that.