Real Madrid are reshaping their squad after two seasons that fell short of expectations. Incoming business has included Denzel Dumfries and at least one more defender is anticipated. A deep-lying midfielder remains on the transfer agenda and there is always the possibility of another “Gal\u00e1ctico” forward, with Michael Olise among those linked.<\/p>\n
Less discussed has been the centre-forward depth. According to AS, Mourinho would like to sign a \u201cplan B\u201d striker to deputise for Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 and provide impact from the bench. The Athletic also report that Mourinho is keen for another \u201cpure striker\u201d, though they add any arrival would probably require at least one current forward to leave.<\/p>\n
The backup centre-forward is a specialist role. Real Madrid are unlikely to prioritise heavy spending on it while other areas take precedence, so any recruit must accept limited minutes and aim to make them count. Joselu set the benchmark: he scored 18 times in all competitions for Madrid during his one season, including a Champions League semifinal double.<\/p>\n
Candidates drawn from recent reports and the season just finished:<\/p>\n
Mateta \u2014 Age 28, 16 goals in 2025\u201326, contract expiry 2027. One of the Premier League\u2019s best strikers over the past three seasons, Mateta nearly joined AC Milan in January only for a knee issue to scupper his medical. He finished the campaign at Crystal Palace, scored the winner in the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano and earned a place in France\u2019s World Cup team. The 6’4″ target man knows Mbapp\u00e9 from international duty and has one year left on his Palace contract.<\/p>\n
Budimir \u2014 Age 34, 19 goals in 2025\u201326, contract expiry 2027. Only Mbapp\u00e9 has scored more La Liga goals than Budimir over the past two seasons. After a journeyman career he became prolific following a move to Osasuna. His physical profile would offer a different attacking focal point, and his contract situation could make him an inexpensive short-term option.<\/p>\n
Vlahovi\u0107 \u2014 Age 26, 10 goals in 2025\u201326, contract expiry 2026. Set to become a free agent after running down his Juventus deal, Vlahovi\u0107 reportedly hit an impasse with Juve over salary demands. He remains a solid all-round striker, comfortable on the floor as well as in the air, and still carries a decent goal record. Atl\u00e9tico Madrid have also been linked.<\/p>\n
Jackson \u2014 Age 25, 11 goals in 2025\u201326, contract expiry 2033. After a mixed season on loan at Bayern Munich as Harry Kane\u2019s backup, Jackson\u2019s Chelsea future is unclear. Tall, lightning quick and with experience of scoring in Spain, he offers pace and physicality, though inconsistency as a finisher is a concern for a role with limited chances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mourinho wants a plan B striker to back Mbapp\u00e9; four candidates are profiled with contract notes etc<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[987],"tags":[983,1305,1304],"class_list":["post-15325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-madrid","tag-agents","tag-bench-selection","tag-benching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}