Mesut Oezil retires from German national team; Real Madrid spends £98m to buy Ronaldo's replacement?

Real Madrid spent £98m to buy Ronaldo's replacement?

Despite not being called up to the World Cup squad, Mauro Icardi is still an undeniably classy striker. He has caught the eye of La Liga giants Real Madrid.

At the recent unveiling of defender Alvaro Odriozola, president Florentino Perez promised to create a blockbuster this summer. There are many names being targeted. And Mauro Icardi, 25 years old, is a name that is very suitable for Los Blancos after many years of impressing in La Liga.

Mauro Icardi has tied Ciro Immobile as Serie A’s joint top scorer in 2017/18 with 29 goals. However, he was not called up to Argentina’s squad for the 2018 World Cup. There are rumours that this decision was not based on “professionalism”.

Real are now ready to make an offer for Icardi after making an approach in January. According to Marca, the former Sampdoria man is valued at £98m (€109.5m). Icardi has scored 100 Serie A goals in 159 appearances for Inter. He is a prolific goalscorer and would be perfect to fill the void left by Ronaldo.

New developments in Hazard's deal to Real Madrid

Real Madrid are confident of landing Eden Hazard, after the Belgian midfielder publicly spoke about his "favorite destination" after his successful World Cup in Russia. Marca reported that the White House has reserved the number 7 shirt for the Chelsea star, after selling Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus.

Eden Hazard wants to go to Real Madrid but Chelsea will not let him go easily.

The Evening Standard reported that the C1 champions are preparing to "offer" Hazard 112 million pounds.

However, the ambition of boss Perez to bring Hazard to replace Ronaldo is not so optimistic. According to the latest news from the Mirror, Chelsea is very tough, not wanting to lose the trump card, even if Real Madrid offers 170 million pounds.

Chelsea "spot" French star to replace Hazard

According to The Times (UK), new coach Maurizio Sarri is considering striker Anthony Martial as the number one target to replace Eden Hazard if the Belgian winger moves to Real Madrid.

According to The Times, new coach Sarri is considering Manchester United striker Anthony Martial as an ideal replacement. In addition to Chelsea, Martial is also in the sights of another European giant, Bayern Munich.

Experts believe that MU will only accept Martial leaving if they receive the full amount of 89 million pounds (equivalent to 100 million euros). However, the London team believes that they can own the French striker at a "softer" price, because the contract between the 22-year-old star and the "Red Devils" only lasts until June 2019. Along with that is a 1-year extension clause.

Mesut Oezil retires from German national team

Midfielder Mesut Oezil has announced his retirement from international football at the age of 29. The reason: he felt he had been subjected to racism and disrespect, even by officials of the German Football Federation (DFB).

“When the team wins, I am German, when we lose, I am just an immigrant,” Ozil wrote in a letter of several hundred words on his personal page when announcing his retirement from international football. The midfielder also mentioned the racism he faced when he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May.

Ozil was part of the German team that crashed out of the 2018 World Cup in the group stages and has been the subject of criticism for his poor form and his meeting with Erdogan. Some DFB officials have suggested that he is of Turkish descent and has not been playing his best for Germany, although Ozil has not been that bad and has said that the photo-op with Erdogan was not that serious.

Hamsik will become Ancelotti's new Pirlo

Losing Jorginho to Chelsea is a big loss for Napoli in terms of expertise, but Carletto is considering letting Hamsik replace the Italian international in midfield.

Hamsik has had a fairly successful season in terms of attack, scoring 7 goals in Serie A 2017/18, surpassing Diego Maradona to become the greatest goalscorer in the club's history, and reaching the milestone of 100 goals in Serie A.

But Hamsik only had 1 assist in Serie A last season, while this is an important criterion to evaluate the effectiveness of midfielders. Even in the 2006/07 season when Hamsik was still a young player, the Slovakian midfielder had 4 assists in Serie B with Brescia.

Clearly, playing in an advanced position (usually as a left midfielder in a 4-3-3) is not suitable for a player who is entering the twilight of his career, where he often has to compete with younger players. Last season, coach Maurizio Sarri often substituted Hamsik around the 60th minute, which is also a sign that the age of 31 is starting to weigh on Hamsik's legs.

Hamsik will play in Jorginho's place in the upcoming friendlies against Chievo and Liverpool. If he succeeds in this new role, Hamsik is expected to maintain the form and fitness necessary to continue playing top-flight football until at least the age of 35!

Pear Flower