EURO 2020 is moving to a knockout phase and the excitement is building up. Players who are not in the tournament are on holiday, and are watching the games from the beach or from the yachts, but some managers are not resting. While long time coaches of some teams are on holiday, since they already know their squad and have decided who will be transferred, first year managers are deep into film looking and player evaluating process, as they prepare for the new season. Carlo Ancelotti is starting his second spell at the helm of Real Madrid, and knows some of his players very well, but he is not so familiar with the others and has to make an evaluation, to be prepared for the transfer window.Not Haaland, not Mbappe – but Dominic Calvert-Lewin to Real MadridThis season, Real Madrid will have two goals: trim the squad, and buy one or two big names (read: Mbappe). So, Ancelotti will have to tell the sporting director who is available for transfer, if an offer comes, because, Real don’t have the money they once did before the Covid-19 pandemic.„Real Madrid have 33 first-team players right now. Buying a great player and not selling anyone would leave a lot of debt for the club. The big problem this summer is that only the state-run clubs have money. If Real Madrid sign it’ll be because they’ll have sold a lot before August. It would just be one big signing. No centre-back will sign to cover for Sergio Ramos, nor will another player arrive in midfield. Mbappe and Erling Haaland cannot join at the same time” said a respectable Spanish sports journalist Paco Gonzalez recently.So, who is safe among those 33 players? Let start with veterans, and players who Anchelotti either signed during his first tenure, or were his regulars, or have the undisputed quality: Courtois, Militao, Marcelo, Vazquez, Alaba, Mendy, Casemiro, Kroos, Modric,Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius. Let’s call them ’untouchables’.Mourinho on Hazard – ‘Awful’ in training, would be far better if he was a ‘top professional’The second round of players are the ones who were not given a chance by Zinedine Zidane, but Ancelotti will take their qualities into consideration: Bale, Isco, Hazard, Varane, Ceballos, Diaz, Mayoral, Asensio. And while some of them were doing great when the Italian was the coach the first time (Bale, Isco, Varane), they will still have to fight for their place.„There is a judge and that’s the field. They have to train well and show the coach that they can play for Real Madrid. Gareth has not played much, but he has scored a lot of goals. I know him very well and he is coming back. If he has the motivation to play, he can have a good season, I have no doubts. Hazard is a player who has not fulfilled his full potential but is going to fulfil it“ said Ancelotti shortly after he was introduced as a coach. It has to be added that players in this group are all sellable, and if the offer comes, Real and Ancelotti would not hesitate to sell them and raise money for Mbappe, especially Bale, Isco, Hazard or Varane. Life at Real Madrid after Sergio RamosThen there is the third group of players, the ones who will be sold, the ones who will be substitutes, and the ones who will go out on loan in order to play: Lunin (reserve goalkeeper), Carvajal, Odriozola, Nacho, Vallejo, Odegaard, Rodrygo, Jovic, Mariano, Kubo. It’s reasonable to assume that for example Odegaard will be a substitution to Modric, who at 35 will not be able to play all the games all the time. It is also reasonable to suspect that Jovic won’t be sold, but rather loaned out, like Kubo, but off course, things change if an unexpected bid comes. Real won’t be picky this season, they need the money to buy Mbappe and cover the minus in the club’s treasury department.
