Marca: Real Madrid struggles to sign star, Mourinho's priority not attacker

According to Marca, Real Madrid is currently struggling to sign their desired "Galáctico" superstars.

Real Madrid's "superstar mission" has currently become an impossible task for Florentino Pérez. The Real Madrid president had promised a €150 million offer for a major signing, and he did take action, although no fixed and specific amount was actually offered, but this deal encountered an insurmountable wall.

As Marca previously revealed, Real Madrid's chosen target was Alvarez. However, Real Madrid's proposal didn't even enter the negotiation stage. Atletico Madrid explicitly refused to open any possibility of negotiations and informed Real Madrid that if they wanted to sign the Argentine forward, they would have to pay his release clause, which is €500 million. This figure is unaffordable and completely blocked this path.

Before the public learned that Alvarez was Real Madrid's primary target, the name of Bayern player Olise was also put on the table. However, Bayern also blocked all speculation. Bayern's chairman was firm on this: "If Florentino Pérez wants to make me an offer for Olise, he should forget about it. Olise is not for sale."

Other players linked with Real Madrid in recent weeks also don't seem to have truly feasible operational space. The names of Paris Saint-Germain players João Neves and Vitinha have appeared in transfer market rumors ever since Florentino promised an offer on the program "Horizonte", but their departure from Paris is considered almost impossible. In fact, the agents of both players and Real Madrid's new coach Mourinho, Jorge Mendes, have explicitly stated that neither of them will leave Luis Enrique's team plans: "Vitinha and João Neves were never options for anyone. For Paris Saint-Germain, they are both not for sale, and they are very, very happy in Paris."

Against this backdrop, Florentino Pérez can no longer find easily workable "Galáctico" targets in the transfer market. The biggest question might point to Haaland. It should be remembered that Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme once promised before a notary that if he were elected president, the Norwegian striker would play for Real Madrid. Later, Haaland's father and agent denied this claim, but speculation continues about a possible clause in his contract that could facilitate a future departure from Manchester City. If this possibility is confirmed, Haaland would almost certainly be the only "superstar" who still has a chance to enter Real Madrid's sights, although the difficulty of the operation would still be immense.

However, according to Marca, Mourinho's priority is not to sign an offensive superstar. The Portuguese coach wants to build a solid, balanced team. Following this line of thinking, Real Madrid has already finalized the signings of Konaté and Dumfries to replace Alaba and Carvajal. The next goal is to sign another defender, with Gvardiol and Calafiori both being admired, and at least one midfielder. Mourinho believes that Real Madrid's attack is already well-covered by players like Mbappé and Vinicius Jr.