Real Madrid's next move

Real Madrid's next move

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While everyone waits for the news that Cristiano Ronaldo has signed for the club, Real Madrid are busy trying to seal deals for other players.
David Villa looks like the next one to join the elite of Europe in Spain and Marca reckon he'll join the club for 40m euros in the next few days - although Valencia aren't so sure.
We're not totally sure what impact all these signings are going to have on the Madrid dressing room, but surely the likes of Raul, Gonzalo Higuain, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Klass Jan Huntelaar are going to be slightly ticked off that no-one rates them very highly at all.
Chelsea might have to admit defeat on that one, as Villa looks like he'll stay in Spain, but they could coax Paolo Maldini to the club. Not as a player of course, but as a coach. The Daily Star think the 40-year-old has had enough of reading nasty banners about his commitment to Milan at the San Siro, so might just pop off to Stamford Bridge to join his old mate Carlo.
On the other side of Milan, Massimo Moratt has said Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto'o are going nowhere.
"I talked with Laporta but in the end we decided to keep our own players: them Eto'o and us Ibrahimovic," Moratti told Sky Italia. Probably a good idea, but has anyone bothered to tell Zlatan?
Portsmouth are ready to cash in on Glen Johnson, pretty much to anyone who offers something in the region of £15m. Liverpool and Man City are favourites, as news that Chelsea are also interested is surely wide of the mark given his history at the club a few years ago.
The Blues might just let Deco go though, and prime candidate to snap him up is former boss Jose Mourinho at Inter.
Middlesbrough aren't really able to tempt the big names to the Riverside anymore, so Gary Neville is the latest old boy they're trying to recruit. Should Neville head to Teesside he could be joined by fellow United stalwart Paul Scholes, with Boro also reported to be keen on the ex-England international midfielder - so they're pretty much after anyone who was good a few years ago and they can pick up on the cheap.
Bolton, too, have struggled to attract the glamourous players and it's still amazing to most of us that they're chasing Miguel Veloso. He's pretty decent, so if the Trotters can land him for less than £12m and beat a host of Europe's elite to the punch, then they've done well.
And finally, another club with ideas above their station is Sunderland. If the capture of Tottenham's £16m waste of space Darren Bent isn't far from the mark, then trying to lure Robbie Keane away from the club for the second time in a few months is surely bizarre. The Guardian seem to think that an audacious swoop could be on the cards. Yes he might be Irish, but really...