This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
As is usually the case, the international break brings about a lot of transfer stories, and one of those from Mundo Deportivo states that Barcelona and Real Madrid are set to go toe to toe for the signing of Napoli’s Fabian Ruiz.
Looking at the player in question, Los Blancos should be all over him.
What’s the word, then?
Real Madrid have been on a hunt for a midfielder for a while now.
Ever since the summer transfer window, Los Blancos have seemingly wanted to incorporate a big-name midfielder into their squad and Zinedine Zidane only had one name on his mind: Paul Pogba.
Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
But with that project failing, they have turned to Christian Eriksen – whose contract is expiring next summer – and it seems that the Danish star is definitely on the agenda for January already, per AS.
However, Mundo Deportivo also suggest Real Madrid will rival Barcelona for the signing of the 23-year-old Ruiz, who is playing his football over in Italy.
And looking at all three options Zidane has on the table, Ruiz would definitely be the most sensible one.
Ruiz fits perfectly
Real Madrid’s interest in all three is warranted – after all, both Pogba and Eriksen are big enough names to keep the fans happy.
But what Los Blancos actually need is a box-to-box midfielder, one capable of providing both offensive and defensive backup.
Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…
And sure, Pogba ticks the boxes as well but seeing how they would have to fork out a reported price of €120m (£107.9m), that suddenly turns into a rather expensive exploit, especially if they want to make further purchases in other areas.
Ruiz, on the other hand, would cost a fee in excess of €60m (£54m), according to Mundo Deportivo, which makes him a far more attainable target.
Not to mention that he’s the very definition of a box-to-box midfielder.
This season, he has averaged 2.7 shots and 1.7 key passes per game in Serie A, already netting one goal in the process. But he is also defensively pretty solid with 1.2 tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game.
And not only is he a cheaper alternative to Pogba and a more fitting one than Eriksen – considering Real are actually in no need of an attacking midfielder – but he is also younger than both at the age of 23.
From that point of view, this deal is a no-brainer and the fact that they would be snatching a target away from Barcelona is simply a bonus.
