Jose Mourinho is said to be facing something of a striker shortage at Real Madrid. Having lost Gonzalo Higuain to a slipped disc, the Portuguese tactician has been left with Karim Benzema as his only first-choice front-man; it has often been left to Cristiano Ronaldo or even Angel Di Maria to deputise alongside the French attacker.
Obviously this situation is just unacceptable to President, Florentino Perez. The fact that, under Mourinho, Real often play with one striker anyway is irrelevant; one recognisable striker at the Bernabeu simply won’t do.
Now, they can’t get Fernando Torres, a former Athletico Madrid man, they missed out on Wayne Rooney, and not that they’d ever admit it, but they probably can’t afford Carlos Tevez. So, what to do?
Well, according to the Spanish media, los Bandidos are targeting Dimitar Berbatov instead. Now, this is ever so slightly tenuous: fichajes.com reports that TuttoMercato.com reveals that the “Spanish media” claim that Real will make a bid of around £13m for the in-form Bulgarian.
Whether we choose to believe this or not, it’s certainly a surprising rumour. Perhaps more surprising, even shocking, is the fact that Berbatov has hit 14 goals in 15 games this season.
So, at that price, he’d be a steal, and Manchester United would be mad to let him go.
12 months ago, Alex Ferguson may well have been tempted.
How times change.
