Fabio Capello has revealed that Real Madrid have a staggering €500 million (£430m/$560m) to spend in the upcoming summer transfer window.
The retired tactician managed Los Blancos twice, in the 1996-97 and 2006-07 seasons, winning La Liga on both occasions.
The Italian now works as a pundit and divulged that he had been reliably informed of Real Madrid’s hefty transfer budget to work with this summer.
“I was in Barcelona and I was told that this year Real Madrid have €500m to spend,” Capello said to Sky Sports Italy.
“I asked, ‘Are you sure?’
“The answer was yes and that came from someone who knows a lot about Real Madrid.”
Madrid have endured a poor season – they sit third in La Liga, were knocked out of the Champions League at the first knockout stage by Ajax and were eliminated in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey by arch-rivals Barcelona.
They have struggled to cope with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus and have since sacked two managers – Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari – bringing the extraordinarily successful Zinedine Zidane back less than a season after his departure.
As a result, a major overhaul of the squad looks likely and, in particular, some ‘Galactico’ signings to turn the team’s fortunes around.
Since the arrival of James Rodriguez in 2014 following his World Cup exploits in Brazil, Los Blancos’ transfer business has been relatively understated – but it appears that things are set to change ahead of next season.
Chelsea winger Eden Hazard has long been a target and the club finally look set to land him in this window, while links with Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba have also emerged.
The pair would likely fetch over £100m each, but if Capello’s reports on the size of the club’s transfer kitty are to be believed, this should be no obstacle.
This may be due, in part, to the club being yet to reinvest the money received for the likes of Ronaldo and even Alvaro Morata, with the futures of Gareth Bale and James – on loan at Bayern Munich – also as yet undecided. Selling even one would be a considerable boost to Los Blancos’ already significant funds.
