Sell to sign - Real Madrid are prioritising departures

Sell to sign. That's the clear message at Real Madrid ahead of the next transfer window's opening.

Los Blancos have 37 players on their books already and they need to offload several before they can start bringing in new faces.

Even discussions that had started have been temporarily frozen by Madrid's higher-ups, notably their proposed move for Eduardo Camavinga.

The club already tried last summer to shift some players on but the likes of Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez weren't moveable at the time, forcing their pursuit of Paul Pogba to end in failure.

Now the changing economic environment brought by COVID-19 only emphasises their need to sell, but it could become all the more challenging as a result.

Wages are set to drop, transfer sums will plummet and contracts will likely be shorter as well.

Football's return behind closed doors will lead to reduced income, meaning that money will have to be saved where possible.

The Estadio Santiago Bernabeu accounts for one third of Madrid's income, but they haven't taken in a single cent since the second week of March - now almost two months ago.

Those upstairs at the club are already looking for new homes for a number of their players, but it's been made more difficult by players being reluctant to leave.

Camavinga and Erling Haaland are targets for the summer, but a lot has to happen before either is a possibility.

Future options

As MARCA have been reporting in recent weeks, Camavinga and Haaland are the most wanted players.

They are also players who would fit the model of signing young talent with a view to the future, meaning they could be long-term replacements for Casemiro and Karim Benzema respectively.