Real Madrid are determined to sign one of Tottenham Hotspur\u2019s most important players, but there is turbulence at the Bernabeu, with Kylian Mbappe brutally criticising his teammates.<\/p>\n
The post-Xabi Alonso era is underway at Real Madrid<\/a>, but things certainly haven\u2019t gone perfectly for interim manager Alvaro Arbeloa.<\/p>\n Los Blancos dramatically lost 4-2 to Jose Mourinho\u2019s Benfica on Wednesday night, which means they\u2019ll have to qualify for the Champions League knockouts via the play-offs. This was a big source of Mbappe\u2019s frustrations.<\/p>\n But the Spanish giants aren\u2019t resting on their laurels and reports suggest they\u2019re planning a blockbuster raid on Tottenham, while a Manchester United star is also on their radar.<\/p>\n Real Madrid determined to sign Tottenham star<\/p>\n There have been few players in world football linked more with Real Madrid in recent years than Tottenham star Cristian Romero<\/a>, and a seismic offer for the centre-back is said to be in the works.<\/p>\n Romero\u2019s defensive partner, Micky van de Ven, is another player Real Madrid are huge admirers of, but the Argentine is reportedly the man their focused on.<\/p>\n A new report from\u00a0Fichajes\u00a0has stunningly claimed that\u00a0Real Madrid are seeking \u2018immediate solutions\u2019<\/a> to fix their recent problems. Club president, Florentino Perez, has therefore \u2018decided to intervene\u2019 by offering\u00a0Tottenham<\/a>\u00a0a hefty \u20ac100m (\u00a386.6m, $120m) fee to convince them to sell Romero.<\/p>\n The belief is that the offer may be too high for Spurs to turn down. Indeed, the report adds that the signing of Romero is seen by Perez as a \u2018vital necessity to inject aggression and character\u2019 into their back four and \u2018the \u20ac100m offered is intended to overcome any resistance from the English club\u2019.<\/p>\n However, while Romero is undoubtedly a player Real Madrid admire, the claims of the supposed \u20ac100m bid must be taken with a pinch of salt.<\/p>\n No other outlets have reported the offer and\u00a0Fichajes\u00a0have a history of making outlandish claims that turn out to have no truth to them.<\/p>\n Therefore, while Romero is a player to keep an eye on, it still seems unlikely he\u2019ll be leaving Tottenham this month.<\/p>\n Want more breaking transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google <\/strong><\/a>to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Mbappe highlights major \u2018problem\u2019 for Real Madrid<\/p>\n The 4-2 defeat against Benfica on Wednesday couldn\u2019t have been more painful for Real Madrid, with Mourinho heaping the pressure on his former side, who must now win in the play-offs to continue their Champions League campaign.<\/p>\n Mbappe<\/a>, though, can hold his head high. He notched a brace on the night, putting his team in front before getting one back later on when his side were behind, to make it 3-2.<\/p>\n But Benfica were certainly the better team, and managed to qualify for the play-offs themselves, but only on goal difference, after goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin, incredibly scored a crucial header in the 98th-minute to make it four for the Portuguese giants.<\/p>\n These are difficult times for Real Madrid, and Mbappe didn\u2019t hold back in venting his anger.<\/p>\n \u201cIt isn\u2019t about quality, and it isn\u2019t about tactics. It\u2019s about having more desire than your opponent,\u201d Mbappe told reporters, as cited by\u00a0GOAL.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cYou could see that everything was on the line for Benfica, and you couldn\u2019t see that for us, and that\u2019s a problem. Before the game, both teams had something to play for: us being in the top eight, and Benfica being among the 24. We saw it from Benfica, but you didn\u2019t see it from us.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have a clear explanation. It wasn\u2019t the same [at Benfica] as against Villarreal, and that\u2019s a problem. We aren\u2019t being consistent in our play. We have to solve that. We can\u2019t do it one day, and then not another. A team of champions doesn\u2019t do that. We have two more games, and that hurts a bit. We wanted to have time in February to work on our play, and instead we\u2019ll play the play-offs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we did today was not normal. We had a clear goal of finishing in the top eight to have two fewer games and lighten the load, but we started very poorly.<\/p>\n \u201cThey deserved to score first. We had one chance and scored. I thought that would get us into the game, but it was the opposite. They were better and if they had gone into the break 5-1 up, it wouldn\u2019t have surprised anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cWe came out with the intention of changing what had happened. We conceded a goal that hurts a little because it came from a direct play, and from there the game was over. When you\u2019re a goal down, you try to push, but the opponent wastes time and that\u2019s part of the game. We didn\u2019t set the pace or show enough creativity to create clear chances.\u201d<\/p>\n Real Madrid \u2018serious\u2019 about signing Man Utd star<\/p>\n