Transfer Talk: Comings and goings at Real Madrid and possible Chelsea – Napoli swap deal

Real Madrid is the main focus of attention in today’s papers with some top, top players to quote Harry Redknapp linked to and away from the club. Some of the transfers suggested today would have a huge knock-on for other teams and The Daily Mail are again hankering on the ‘Bale to Madrid’ headline. He has been linked with the club for quite a while with figures within the club making all the right noises to tempt the Welshman to the Spanish capital. The paper quotes Madrid’s sporting director Zinedine Zidane saying that his club will have to break the world transfer record to bring Bale to the club, suggesting they would be willing to do so. That world record of course is held by Ronaldo – he does have something over Messi – and the Portuguese man is again being linked with a move away from the Bernabeu. While he said he was ‘sad’ at the club earlier in the season, he seemed to put his disappointment behind him and was again in blistering scoring form, but rumours are abound of a return to Old Trafford. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez claims 28-year-old forward wants to commit his future to the Spanish club, while The Sun also claim Ronnie may be about to end the speculation by extending his contract. One player that seems likely to be heading for the exit door is Gonzalo Higuain. The Argentinian forward has played second-fiddle to Karim Benzma for a lot of the season and Arsenal were thought to be favourites to sign the striker, but many of the papers are reporting a late bid from Juventus over the weekend. Another player who might be leaving the club is Luka Modric. Scorer of the crucial goal against Man Utd in the Champions League, the Croatian playmaker has not enjoyed the success he had hoped for since leaving Tottenham, though one place he is unlikely to end up is Stamford Bridge. The Sun says he will snub a £30 million move to Chelsea, though why The Special One would spend such a vast sum on a player he wasn’t convinced by at Madrid is dubious. United making eyes at Nampalys Mendy Man United are closing in on Monaco midfielder Nampalys Mendy who will be a free agent in the summer, while Robert Lewandowski could be back on the radar after German media over the weekend said that Borussia Dortmund will refuse to sell him to Bayern Munich. A penny for Wayne Rooney’s thoughts. Rafa Benitez won’t be getting too many Christmas cards from Chelsea supporters, but they could be excited with what The Express are commenting on this morning. They believe that the new Napoli boss would be interested in a swap deal with want-away striker Edinson Cavani and Fernando Torres. His relationship with El Nino is well-known and Chelsea have been tracking the Uruguayan forward for some time, so this deal would make sense. And it isn’t too often we can say that with any authority.