Real Madrid Thread!

[FernandoFowler9]

Following on from last night's declarations from Cristiano Ronaldo that he's anxious to move to Real Madrid, blanco midfielder Wesley Sneijder made it clear that he would be welcome in the Spanish capital...

Sneijder, who signed on at the Bernabéu from Ajax at the beginning of last season, feels that the Portuguese ace could be a missing piece of the puzzle for the white club.

With all in the Spanish capital being eager to attain European success, it could be that Ronaldo's experience in lifting the Champions League trophy last season could help to propel Madrid over the finish line.

"I'm sure that with him in the side we'd have a fine chance of winning the Champions League," said the Dutch international.

He continued, "He's a superb player. His greatest assets are speed and pace, but even more than that he showed himself to be a great goalscorer this season. He has everything.

"It would be a pleasure to play with Ronaldo."

[MarkusRevolver]

Hamburg have rejected an offer from Real Madrid for midfielder Rafael van der Vaart.

The Spanish champions have been tracking the Dutchman for the past few weeks and the Bundesliga club have now revealed that an approach has been knocked back, with new boss Martin Jol determined to keep his captain and chief playmaker.

"The offer was absolutely out of the question," Hamburg sports director Dietmar Beiersdorfer told German agency SID.

It is understood that Real's offer was in the region of 7million euros (£5.5million).

Van der Vaart is under contract at Hamburg until 2010 but there is a clause which allows him to leave for a fixed price of 1.5million euros (£1.2million) in the year before his deal expires.

The Holland international has publicly stated that he is happy to stay with Hamburg for another season, but Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder claimed last week that his compatriot was desperate to move to the Bernabeu.



First off, 5.5m for him? Having a laugh surely?

Secondly, i thought the only player that they were going to buy was Ronaldo, who they were defenitley getting, such was how strong their squad was.

[FernandoFowler9]

Real Madrid are considering making a mega offer for David Villa and know that in order for talks to open with the player that would have to be around €40m.

Los Merengues' pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo is seeing president Ramón Calderón lose supporters and he is keen to regain the fans' confidence with another high profile signing.

Valencia looked set to keep hold of their star players when Juan Villalonga took control and stated that Villa and David Silva had been told they were staying.

New contracts were promised and assurances made that the only big name transfers the club would be involved in this summer would be incoming players.

Those plans have collapsed now, however, as majority shareholder Juan Soler has decided not to sell Villalonga his interest and Vicente Soriano has now taken over.

The new man's first words will not have pleased many as it now appears that Soler's plan to sell one of the squad's star players in order to ease debts will be pushed through.

"We cannot assure people that we will not have to sell one of our stars," Soriano told reporters this week.

Madrid could ease the pressure on them this summer with a crowd-pleasing purchase after the Ronaldo saga has soured their international standing and upset some directors and supporters.

Bernd Schuster has asked for a few new faces, but does not want a major overhaul of his squad and is hoping that the new signings will be world